> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.plerion.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# AWS service account overview

> Learn how Plerion uses a dedicated AWS service account to simplify Cloud Workload Protection Platform (CWPP) deployments with centralized, agentless management.

With the [AWS service account integration](https://app.plerion.com/settings/integrations/add/AWS/CWPPServiceAccount), you can centralize the deployment of Plerion infrastructure for advanced use cases such as **Cloud Workload Protection Platform (CWPP)**. Instead of deploying appliances into every AWS account, a single service account manages and runs the scanning infrastructure on behalf of multiple target accounts.

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## About AWS service accounts

A service account is a dedicated AWS account used only for deploying Plerion infrastructure and managing its capabilities. It provides:

* **Centralized management**\
  Deploy appliances once in the service account and use them to scan multiple AWS target accounts.

* **Agentless scanning**\
  Appliances run only in the service account. They are granted permissions to scan resources in linked target accounts.

* **Flexible regional coverage**\
  You choose which AWS regions the appliances operate in. Only assets in enabled regions are scanned, allowing you to focus on the regions relevant to your environment.

* **One-time setup**\
  Once created, the service account can be reused across multiple AWS integrations in the same tenant.

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## Key terms

* **Service account**\
  The dedicated AWS account where Plerion infrastructure and appliances are deployed.

* **Target account**\
  Any AWS account that grants permissions to the service account appliances so its assets can be scanned.

* **Appliance**\
  An AWS EC2 instance launched in the service account to perform scans. Appliances send results back to Plerion.

* **Plerion Control Plane**\
  The backend system in Plerion’s own AWS environment that orchestrates appliances, manages scans, and stores results.

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## Next steps

* [Prerequisites for an AWS service account](/guides/integrations/aws/service-account/prerequisites)
* [Getting started with an AWS service account](/guides/integrations/aws/service-account/getting-started-with-aws-service-account)
* [Linking target accounts to an AWS service account](/guides/integrations/aws/service-account/linking-target-accounts-to-service-account)
* [Updating AWS service account stack](/guides/integrations/aws/service-account/updating-aws-service-account-stack)