Identity security & governance for Google Cloud Platform
GCP IAM roles inherit from Organizations down to Projects and resources, and directory-level tools miss how permissions compound across the resource hierarchy. Oleria maps IAM bindings, service account key inventory, and Cloud Audit Logs into a continuous identity security graph.
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Key Takeaways
- GCP access flows down from Organizations and Folders to Projects and individual resources through inherited IAM roles, and directory-level tools that check only account status miss how permissions compound across the resource hierarchy to create unintended effective access.
- Service account keys with Owner or Editor roles at the project level create standing cloud infrastructure access that never expires and is never reviewed, representing the most common GCP identity-based breach vector in externally-facing environments.
- Oleria connects through a dedicated service account, maps GCP IAM bindings, service account key inventory, and workload identity configurations into a continuous identity security graph, and layers Cloud Audit Logs activity to show which permissions are actively used versus dormant.
- Continuous GCP access certification through Oleria identifies service accounts with key sprawl, over-privileged project-level role bindings, allUsers and allAuthenticatedUsers grants that expose resources publicly, and inherited permissions that exceed current workload requirements.
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Stop privilege escalation, stale service account keys and public buckets
Oleria's Google Cloud Platform (GCP) integration gives security teams one view of who and what can access cloud resources, how that access is inherited, and whether it is used. It brings GCP identity governance into a single, continuous identity security graph.
Access in GCP flows down from Organizations and Folders to Projects and resources, and overlapping roles quickly hide who can really do what. Oleria connects through a dedicated service account and adds Cloud Audit Logs to show what is used.
Why is GCP access so hard to govern?
Directory-level identity and access management (IAM) tools only check account status. They miss how permissions inherit:
- Service account key sprawl. Service accounts with broad Owner or Editor roles run with unmonitored API access and unrotated user-managed keys.
- Inherited over-privilege. Roles granted at the Organization or Folder level cascade to every Project below, unseen.
- Exposed storage buckets. Permissive IAM bindings or legacy access control lists (ACLs) can expose Google Cloud Storage (GCS) data publicly or to all authenticated users.
- Silent impersonation. Unmonitored Service Account Token Creator or Service Account User bindings enable lateral movement across projects.
What Oleria shows you in Google Cloud
How security teams use Oleria with Google Cloud
- Shrink service account blast radius. Find unrotated keys and restrict high-privilege non-human access.
- Close public buckets. Inspect GCS bucket bindings continuously and revoke public or domain-wide exposure.
- Cut off impersonation paths. Track Token Creator usage to remove lateral movement routes.
- Right-size unused roles. Compare granted IAM roles with Cloud Audit Logs and downscope permissions unused for 30, 60 or 90 days.
How does Oleria connect to Google Cloud?
Oleria connects in minutes with a dedicated Google Cloud IAM service account, created at the Organization level or in a primary Project. The account gets read-only roles such as Security Reviewer and Cloud Asset Viewer. Oleria takes an initial full snapshot, then runs continuous incremental syncs.
For step-by-step setup, read the Oleria GCP integration guide.
GCP identity governance FAQs
What is GCP identity governance?
GCP identity governance is the practice of controlling which users and service accounts can access Google Cloud resources, and whether they still need that access. Oleria supports it by mapping IAM bindings across the GCP resource hierarchy and comparing granted roles with Cloud Audit Logs to find unused or risky access.
Can Oleria scan every project in a GCP organization?
Yes. When the Oleria service account is deployed at the GCP Organization level, Oleria automatically discovers and governs IAM permissions across all child Projects. Security teams get one view of inherited and direct access across a multi-project Google Cloud estate, instead of checking each GCP Project separately.
How does Oleria manage service accounts in Google Cloud?
Oleria discovers every GCP service account, tracks active and stale service account keys, and identifies impersonation paths across projects. Security teams can see which non-human identities in Google Cloud hold broad roles, then use Oleria to revoke IAM bindings or disable risky service accounts.
Can Oleria find public Google Cloud Storage buckets?
Yes. Oleria inspects Google Cloud Storage (GCS) bucket IAM policies to surface buckets exposed to allUsers or allAuthenticatedUsers. Security teams can then revoke the public or domain-wide bindings from Oleria, closing GCS exposure without waiting for a periodic cloud audit.
How do you find unused IAM permissions in GCP?
Oleria correlates granted GCP IAM roles with real-time Cloud Audit Logs. Oleria then flags standing permissions that have not been used for 30, 60 or 90 days, so security teams can downscope Google Cloud roles to what each identity actually needs.
See who and what can really reach your Google Cloud data. Book a demo.
