Mastering Iam: Digital Identity & Security Principles

IAM essentials: identity, access control, cloud IAM, Zero Trust, cryptography, governance, and future identity trends.

What you'll learn

Define digital identity fundamentals, attributes, and management processes in modern IT ecosystems.

Apply AAA principles (authentication, authorization, and accounting) to secure identity workflows.

Design and implement RBAC, ABAC, and PBAC access control models for scalable permission management.

Configure directory services (LDAP, Active Directory, Azure AD) for centralized identity stores and policy enforcement.

Requirements

Basic understanding of networking and IT security concepts, familiarity with Windows or Linux administration, and access to a lab environment or cloud account.

Description

Welcome to Mastering IAM: Digital Identity & Security Principles! In this course, you will embark on a journey through the essential concepts, architectures, and practical strategies required to build robust identity and access management solutions. You will learn how to protect user identities, enforce access controls, and maintain compliance with industry standards.First, we explore the foundations of digital identity, examining how identifiers, attributes, and metadata are created, stored, and managed across modern IT ecosystems. You will compare authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) approaches, and understand core identity types such as users, groups, service accounts, devices, and roles.In the Core IAM Models & Technologies section, you will design and implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC), and Policy-Based Access Control (PBAC) models to achieve fine-grained authorization. You will configure directory services including LDAP, Active Directory, and Azure AD, integrate single sign-on and federation protocols like SAML, OAuth 2.0, and OpenID Connect, and automate identity provisioning and lifecycle workflows.You will master cryptographic building blocks that support secure authentication, including public key infrastructure (PKI), digital certificates, hashing, encryption, and asymmetric key management. Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) methods and explore passwordless login options such as FIDO2/WebAuthn and biometrics to enhance security and user experience. Additionally, you will secure privileged accounts with Privileged Access Management (PAM) strategies.Advanced modules dive into cloud identity and hybrid environments, comparing AWS IAM, Azure AD, and Google Cloud IAM features. You will implement hybrid directory synchronization, configure directory federation, and adopt adaptive, risk-based authentication that dynamically adjusts security policies based on threat intelligence and user context. Explore identity analytics, anomaly detection, and machine learning techniques to identify compromised accounts and insider threats.Throughout the course, you will learn how to apply security design principles like least privilege and Zero Trust to reduce risk and limit lateral movement. You will also examine major compliance standards including GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and SOC 2, and learn to design identity governance frameworks with access reviews, certification campaigns, and audit-ready processes.By course completion, you will possess the skills to architect end-to-end IAM solutions, secure cloud and on-premises identities, and prepare your organization for next-generation identity challenges such as decentralized and self-sovereign identity. This course is ideal for security engineers, system administrators, DevOps professionals, cloud architects, and anyone seeking to advance their identity and access management expertise.Hands-on labs, real-world scenarios, and practical exercises are included to reinforce learning. You will work with sample environments, perform configuration tasks, and assess your skills through quizzes and projects designed to simulate common IAM challenges in enterprise and cloud settings.

Overview

Section 1: Intro

Lecture 1 Hello

Section 2: Foundations of Digital Identity

Lecture 2 Digital Identity Fundamentals

Lecture 3 Authentication vs Authorization vs Accounting

Lecture 4 Identity Types and Attributes

Lecture 5 IAM Architecture and Components

Lecture 6 Directory Services and Identity Stores

Lecture 7 Cryptography in IAM

Lecture 8 Security Principles Least Privilege & Zero Trust

Lecture 9 Regulations & Compliance Overview

Section 3: Core IAM Models & Technologies

Lecture 10 Access Control Models RBAC

Lecture 11 Fine-Grained Access ABAC & PBAC

Lecture 12 Federation & Single Sign-On (SSO)

Lecture 13 Standards SAML, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect

Lecture 14 Identity Provisioning and Lifecycle

Lecture 15 Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Lecture 16 Passwordless and Emerging Auth Methods

Lecture 17 Privileged Access Management (PAM)

Section 4: Advanced IAM & Practical Applications

Lecture 18 Cloud IAM Services AWS, Azure, GCP

Lecture 19 Hybrid IAM and Directory Federation

Lecture 20 Identity Governance and Administration (IGA)

Lecture 21 Risk-Based & Adaptive Authentication

Lecture 22 Identity in DevOps and CI CD

Lecture 23 Identity Analytics & Threat Detection

Lecture 24 Future Trends Blockchain & Decentralized Identity

Section 5: Summary

Lecture 25 Summary and Next Steps

Security engineers, system administrators, DevOps professionals, cloud architects, and IT professionals seeking to master identity and access management in enterprise and cloud environments.