AWS Certified Security Specialty SCS-C02 Practice Test

Using AWS IAM roles for security primarily benefits by providing temporary security credentials, which enhance the security posture of an application or service. When an IAM role is assumed, it grants the entity (such as an AWS service, an EC2 instance, or a user) temporary security credentials that allow access to specific resources according to defined permissions.

The use of temporary credentials minimizes the risk of long-term credentials being compromised, as these are short-lived and automatically expire after a designated period. This aspect is crucial for maintaining secure access controls and is especially important in cloud environments where resources and permissions can frequently change.

Furthermore, because roles can be assumed by various entities and provide permissions dynamically, they simplify the management of access controls, allowing developers and system administrators to implement the principle of least privilege effectively. This means that users and services only have access to the resources necessary for their specific tasks, reducing the chance of unauthorized access or security breaches.

Other aspects, such as easy billing management or resource sharing, are important for overall AWS management but do not specifically relate to the security benefits that IAM roles provide through their functionality of issuing temporary credentials. Automated scaling refers to capacity management and also does not tie directly to the security capabilities afforded by IAM roles.