For a short time only: Time-based restrictions for enhanced cloud security

If you happen to learn a few of my earlier weblog posts, you understand that I automated the setup (onboarding) for workshops and hackathons. To this point, operating my Terraform scripts to deploy assets and privileges meant permitting entry to them. Because of a (comparatively) new IBM Cloud safety function referred to as time-based restrictions, I can decouple the deployment course of from when entry is feasible.

On this weblog publish, I’m going to present a brief introduction to time-based restrictions. Then, I’ll stroll you thru my use case and the way I applied it:

Overview: Time-based restrictions

Id and Entry Administration (IAM) permits you to shield your IBM Cloud assets. You’ve in all probability discovered to make the most of entry teams, trusted profiles, service and person identities and how one can assign entry. By including time-based restrictions, you’ll be able to scope these entry insurance policies additional to a selected time and date vary (as soon as) or to recurring home windows. The latter could possibly be upkeep home windows—for instance, over the weekend or particular hours throughout the evening. Typical examples for single occasions (as soon as) are ad-hoc upkeep work for some hours or some scheduled longer duties with a given begin and finish.

When creating a brand new coverage, now you can optionally add circumstances for when the entry must be granted. Within the IBM Cloud console’s browser UI, that optionally available step is obtainable (see the picture under). I might have additionally utilized the CLI or API/SDK, however for my automated setup of workshop assets, I picked Terraform:

Situation: Workshops

As mentioned in my weblog “Safe Onboarding for Your Workshops and Hackathons,” I generally have to run short-lived tasks. For these tasks, it’s essential to automate the onboarding and offboarding to at all times arrange the workshop atmosphere the identical means. Contributors ought to have entry privileges associated to their position. Up to now, I’d deploy the assets utilizing Terraform (together with all privileges) and destroy assets and entry after the occasion.

By including time-based restrictions to the entry insurance policies, I’m able to grant entry in phases. As soon as once more, I deploy every little thing with Terraform, together with IAM privileges. Nevertheless, the time-related circumstances ensure that the insurance policies are solely energetic between the beginning and finish occasions. They could possibly be set to align with the workshop begin and the official finish (or some hours/days later). With out destroying the assets, entry to them is mechanically lower off after the workshop.

The next reveals the pattern circumstances that I added to the shared Terraform code. You will discover all of it within the GitHub repository cloud-project-onboarding-terraform and the department workshop_hackathon. The screenshot on the prime of this weblog publish reveals the identical circumstances within the IBM Cloud console.

rule_conditions {
key = “{{atmosphere.attributes.current_date_time}}”
operator = “dateTimeGreaterThanOrEquals”
worth = [“2023-07-19T09:00:00+01:00”]
}
rule_conditions {
key = “{{atmosphere.attributes.current_date_time}}”
operator = “dateTimeLessThanOrEquals”
worth = [“2023-07-26T09:00:00+01:00”]
}
rule_operator = “and”
sample = “time-based-conditions:as soon as”

Conclusion

Time-based restrictions are an ideal addition to the prevailing IBM Cloud safety features. They help you cut back assigned entry to a single time, date ranges or recurring upkeep home windows, thereby lowering the assault floor. For my use case of automated onboarding and offboarding, the time-based restrictions permit me to decouple useful resource and privilege deployment from activating entry. This implies I’ve extra flexibility in when to carry out administrative duties.

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When you’ve got suggestions, options, or questions on this publish, please attain out to me on Twitter (@data_henrik), Mastodon (@data_henrik@mastodon.social) or LinkedIn.