What type of control do advanced IAM policies provide?

Advanced IAM policies offer granular control over permissions for AWS resource access, allowing you to define fine-tuned permissions and which actions can be performed by specific users or groups on designated resources. This is achieved through the use of JSON policy documents that specify conditions, allowed actions, and resources involved.

This level of customization enables organizations to align permissions more closely with their security requirements and business needs, ensuring that users only have the minimum access necessary to perform their tasks (the principle of least privilege). Granular controls can include conditions based on specific attributes, such as resource tags or source IP addresses, which further enhance security and compliance.

In contrast, basic permissions based on user roles tend to apply a more generalized access model without the detailed specifications that advanced policies allow. The option referring to unlimited access contradicts the essence of IAM, which is designed to enforce security and restrict access. Automatic configuration of resource security settings is also not a feature of IAM policies; rather, IAM is concerned with defining who can access what, rather than configuring the security settings of resources themselves.