GCP IAM
Google Cloud Identity is Google's identity and access management service for GCP (Google Cloud Platform) — managing user identities, service accounts, IAM roles, and policies across Google Cloud resources.
⚙️ How Does It Work?
GCP IAM uses roles (predefined or custom) assigned to members (user accounts, service accounts, groups). Resource policies define which members can perform which actions. Google Cloud also supports Workload Identity Federation for authenticating workloads without keys.
📍 Where Is It Used?
Organizations running workloads on Google Cloud Platform or using Google Workspace as their identity backbone.
💡 Real-World Example
A company migrates to GCP and uses Workload Identity Federation to allow its Kubernetes pods to access BigQuery without any service account keys. Pods authenticate using short-lived tokens — eliminating the key management burden entirely.
🔗 Related Terms
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