What is Amazon Cognito?

Amazon Cognito is a web service that allows developers to incorporate a robust user authentication system into web and mobile applications. The service automatically saves and synchronizes the user information, sparing the developer from writing backend code for user authentication and authorization.

AWS Cognito allows us to add users, register them, and control their access. Users can sign in using identity providers like Facebook, Google, and Microsoft Active Directory.

How does AWS Cognito Work?

AWS Cognito has two main components:

1. User pools: It is a user directory that provides authentication to users. The directory contains login credentials for each user profile.

2. Identity poolshttps://how.dev/answers/what-is-identity-pool-in-aws-cognito: It is a directory of federated identities that can be exchanged for AWS credentials to access AWS services.

Let’s understand how AWS Cognito works with an example. Consider a data API with AWS Cognito for user authentication and access. The user can log in to his account either using his email and password or directly through his Google account.

AWS Cognito assigns the user a user pool token once he is authenticated. Users can sign in using identity providers like Facebook, Google, and Microsoft Active Directory.

This token can be exchanged for AWS credentials to use identity pools. The temporary credentials allow access to AWS resources such as an S3 bucket or API Gateway.

Key features of AWS Cognito

Given below are some of the key features of AWS Cognito:

• Multi-factor authentication: Cognito supports multi-factor authentication using modern methods like a one-time, time-based password.

• Risk-based authentication: Cognito can select the right authentication factors depending on a user’s risk profile. For instance, upon a sign-in request from a new device, the user is prompted for additional credentials.

• Access control for AWS resources: Developers can create roles and assign users to specific roles so that, for each user, the application only accesses resources that the user is authorized to access.

• Encryption: Cognito encrypts data in transit or storage to provide additional security.

Common use cases of AWS Cognito

Some use cases of AWS Cognito are as follows:

• Enable users to log in with their preferred social or enterprise identity provider.

• Manage user access to AWS services like S3, DynamoDB, or API Gateway using temporary credentials.

• Allow users to pick up where they left off by syncing their data across devices.

• Support authentication for applications catering to multiple organizations or user groups.