What is the purpose of AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)?

The primary purpose of AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) is to control user access to AWS services and resources. IAM allows organizations to create and manage AWS users and groups and define permissions to allow or deny their access to specific AWS resources. This capability is fundamental for maintaining security in cloud environments, as it ensures that only authorized users can perform specific actions on AWS services.

Through IAM, you can set granular permissions, which means you can enforce least privilege access—granting users only the permissions they need to perform their functions. IAM also supports various authentication methods, including multi-factor authentication (MFA), which enhances security.

While the other options mention important AWS functionalities, they do not describe the core focus of IAM. For example, creating and managing encryption keys relates to AWS Key Management Service (KMS), monitoring network traffic generally involves using AWS services like Amazon CloudWatch or VPC Flow Logs, and managing billing and cost management is a function of the AWS Billing Dashboard. Therefore, the emphasis of IAM is distinct and focused on access control, making it a critical component of security in AWS environments.