What happens when an unauthorized account tries to access the IAP-protected App Engine app?
When an unauthorized account attempts to access an IAP-protected App Engine app in the Google Cloud Platform, several security measures are in place to prevent unauthorized access and protect the application and its resources.
Firstly, Google Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP) acts as a security layer for App Engine apps. IAP verifies user identity and checks if the user has the necessary permissions to access the app. If an unauthorized account tries to access the app, IAP denies the request and prevents any further interaction with the application.
When an unauthorized account attempts to access an IAP-protected App Engine app, the following steps occur:
1. The request is first intercepted by the IAP service before reaching the App Engine app. This interception occurs at the edge of Google's infrastructure.
2. IAP checks if the request has a valid identity token or OAuth2 access token. These tokens are issued by Google and are used to authenticate and authorize the user.
3. If the request does not have a valid token or the token is missing, IAP denies access to the app and returns an HTTP 401 Unauthorized response. This response indicates that the user is not authenticated and does not have the necessary permissions to access the app.
4. In addition to token verification, IAP also checks if the user account has been granted the necessary IAM (Identity and Access Management) roles to access the app. IAM allows administrators to define fine-grained access controls for Google Cloud resources.
5. If the user does not have the required IAM roles, IAP denies access to the app and returns an HTTP 403 Forbidden response. This response indicates that the user is authenticated but does not have the necessary permissions to access the app.
6. If the request passes token verification and IAM role checks, IAP forwards the request to the App Engine app, allowing the user to access the protected resources.
It is important to note that IAP provides a robust and scalable security solution for App Engine apps. By using IAP, unauthorized accounts are prevented from accessing the app, reducing the risk of unauthorized data access or malicious activities.
When an unauthorized account attempts to access an IAP-protected App Engine app, IAP intercepts the request, verifies the user's identity token or OAuth2 access token, checks for the necessary IAM roles, and either denies or allows access to the app based on the verification results.
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