AWS Cognito - Certified Solutions Architect Exam Guide

Key AWS Cognito Concepts for the Exam

User Pools

A user pool is a user directory that allows you to store user profiles and provide sign-up, sign-in, and access control features. AWS Cognito User Pools are used to manage user authentication and authorization.

• Sign-Up and Sign-In: Offers customizable sign-up and sign-in workflows, including support for MFA and passwordless sign-in.
• User Management: Automatically handles user registration, password recovery, and account verification.
• Security Features: Supports MFA, account recovery, and password policies to ensure secure access to your applications.

Identity Pools (Federated Identities)

Identity pools enable you to create unique identities for your users and authenticate them with federated identity providers, such as Facebook, Google, or your own SAML-based provider. Once authenticated, users are granted temporary AWS credentials to access your AWS resources.

• Federated Authentication: Allows users to sign in using external identity providers or enterprise directories.
• Guest Access: Supports unauthenticated guest access, allowing users to interact with your application without requiring a login.
• Temporary AWS Credentials: Provides secure, temporary credentials for users to access AWS services like S3, DynamoDB, etc.

Integration with Other AWS Services

AWS Cognito seamlessly integrates with other AWS services, making it easy to add user management, authentication, and authorization to your applications.

• API Gateway: Securely authenticate and authorize API requests using AWS Cognito User Pools.
• Lambda: Use Lambda triggers to customize authentication flows, such as implementing custom challenges during sign-in.
• AppSync: Manage user access and permissions in your GraphQL API with AWS Cognito.

Security Features

AWS Cognito offers several security features to protect user data and ensure secure authentication.

• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): Supports SMS-based and TOTP-based MFA for added security.
• Encryption: Encrypts user data at rest and in transit using AWS KMS.
• Compliance: AWS Cognito complies with various security standards, including HIPAA, GDPR, and SOC 2.

Common Exam Scenarios

• Implementing user authentication and authorization for a web or mobile application using AWS Cognito User Pools.
• Using Identity Pools to manage access to AWS resources based on federated user identities from external identity providers.
• Integrating AWS Cognito with API Gateway to secure API endpoints with user authentication.
• Customizing the authentication flow using AWS Lambda triggers to meet specific application requirements.

Exam Tips

• Understand the difference between User Pools and Identity Pools, and when to use each.
• Be familiar with the security features provided by AWS Cognito, such as MFA, encryption, and compliance with industry standards.
• Know how to integrate AWS Cognito with other AWS services, such as API Gateway, Lambda, and AppSync.
• Practice setting up and configuring AWS Cognito User Pools and Identity Pools for different authentication and authorization scenarios.