What it means
They are commonly issued through roles, federation, managed identity systems, or security-token services and can include audience, device, network, or session restrictions.
Why it matters
Short credential lifetime reduces the period in which a stolen secret can be reused and improves revocation and attribution.
Practical focus
- Prefer federation and role assumption over static access keys
- Limit session duration to operational need
- Bind credentials to specific workloads, audiences, and permissions
Common mistakes
- Issuing temporary credentials with permanent administrator scope
- Caching tokens beyond their intended lifetime
- Failing to monitor unusual role assumptions
Certification relevance
This subject appears in or supports the following certification bodies of knowledge: