Recovering from Accidental Plain Text Password Upload

BD.

The first step a cloud administrator should take after accidentally uploading a password for an IAM user in plain text is to remove the published plain-text password. This should be done immediately to prevent unauthorized access to the affected user's resources. The administrator should then change the password for the affected IAM user to a new, strong password. This will ensure that the user's resources are secure and that there is no unauthorized access.

A. Identifying the resources that are accessible to the affected IAM user is important, but it should not be done before removing the plain-text password and changing the password for the affected user. This step can be taken after the immediate security concerns have been addressed.

C. While it is important to notify users of a data breach, this step is not necessary in this situation as the password was accidentally uploaded and there is no evidence that any unauthorized access has occurred. However, the cloud administrator should review their security protocols to ensure that similar incidents do not occur in the future.

E. Deleting the affected IAM user is not necessary in this situation, as the user's resources can be secured by changing the password. Deleting the user may cause unnecessary disruption to the user's workflow and could result in the loss of important data.

In summary, the first step a cloud administrator should take after accidentally uploading a password for an IAM user in plain text is to remove the published plain-text password, followed by changing the password for the affected user.