Episode 59 — Prevent serverless privilege overreach with tight identity and resource scopes
This episode focuses on least privilege for serverless workloads, because functions often start small but accumulate permissions as teams add features, and the GPCS exam regularly tests whether you can spot privilege overreach hidden behind “it’s just a function.” You’ll define function identity, permission scope, and resource boundaries, then learn how to map each function’s actions to the smallest set of allowed operations on the smallest set of resources. We’ll cover common overreach patterns such as granting broad access to storage, messaging, or key services “for convenience,” permissions that allow role assumption into stronger identities, and policies that include wildcard actions or resources that expand over time. A scenario follows a function that only needs to read from one queue and write to one database, but is given sweeping permissions that enable lateral movement and data access across environments; you’ll tighten identity scope and validate the function still performs its job while escalation paths fail. This prepares you for exam questions that ask for the best permission design and for real engineering reviews where security must not break reliability. Produced by BareMetalCyber.com, where you’ll find more cyber audio courses, books, and information to strengthen your educational path. Also, if you want to stay up to date with the latest news, visit DailyCyber.News for a newsletter you can use, and a daily podcast you can commute with.
