Realtimecampaign.com Talks about Why One Should Make the Move to Attribute Based Access Control Systems
Many companies today make use of role-based access control (RBAC) systems. However, they are learning the benefits of attribute-based access control (ABAC) systems. With this type of system, user access is granted based on attributes rather than a person’s role within the organization. This allows for more control over who can access what information. A company such as Cyral can help understand this more.
How Does an Attribute-Based Access Control System Work?
The system looks for certain attributes or characteristics when determining whether to provide access to a user. These attributes fall into four categories. The system may look for an attribute that describes the person requesting access to the data. This may be their age, department, job title, or something else. To learn more about these attributes, check over here.
At times, the attributes center around the resources being accessed. Action attributes describe the third category, as the system determines whether to provide access based on what the user would like to do with the information. Finally, environmental attributes look at the context of the request.
For example, an international company may wish to limit access to users in one country. They would permit access based on this environmental attribute. If the specific conditions relating to the attribute are not met, access would be denied. Why would a company want to restrict access to information based on attributes rather than roles within the organization?
Problems with Role-Based Access Control Systems
When a company adds new applications, new access control policies are needed. However, they aren’t always put into place. The same holds when an application is updated. These serve as only two of many problems seen with this type of access control system that can be overcome with the help of attribute-based access control. This may be why many experts are saying that companies should be Evolving beyond RBAC: Why ABAC is the future.
Targeted Security
According to RealtimeCampaign.com, granting access based on attributes rather than roles allows for a more targeted approach to security. It looks at several variables rather than simply the role of the person requesting access. The person responsible for securing the databases determines which attributes are needed to access different parts of each database. This increases the level of security.
Easy Adjustments
When a change needs to be made to a database and who can gain access to it, an ABAC system allows the administrator to take a policy and apply it to multiple attributes. For instance, the administrator may decide that only those on the sales force who have closed a specific number of deals can see certain information. As this is an attribute rather than a role, it can apply this policy to all databases. This tightens access points quickly and easily while reducing the number of user roles the IT team must create.
The administrator needs to define all attributes, which could be in the hundreds of thousands, before implementing the system. In addition, rules and policies must be established. Only then can the program be implemented. However, once it is in place, the administrator can easily scale it, and the level of security cannot be achieved with other access control systems. This alone is enough to have many business owners wanting to make the move to an ABAC system right away.
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