Updated Jul 2025

SigV4 Terminology

Security Token
Temporary, limited-privelege credentials provided by the AWS Security Token Service (AWS STS) to authenticate IAM users.

Credentials Provider
AWS IoT Core has a credentials provider that allows you to use the built-in X.509 certificateexternal_link as the unique device identity to authenticate AWS requests. This eliminates the need to store an access key ID and a secret access key on your device.