What is Access Control?
Access Control is a security strategy that regulates who or what can view or use resources in a particular environment. It is a fundamental concept in security that minimizes risk to the business or organization. The term 'Access Control' encompasses a wide spectrum of solutions, such as locks, booms, turnstiles, biometric systems, and time zoning, all aimed towards permitting or denying authorization to premises or data.
Why Access Control Exists
The existence of Access Control systems is necessitated by the need to protect important, confidential, or sensitive information and data from unauthorized access. In the current digital age, where data breaches are rampant, properly implementing and maintaining access controls systems can prevent unauthorized access, theft, alterations, or even deletion of crucial data. The purpose of Access Control is to ensure that only authorized individuals or processes have access to specific resources.
Who Needs Access Control
From small businesses to large enterprises, Access Control is vital for all. Industries that deal with sensitive data, such as financial institutes, healthcare, government entities, educational institutes, and technology companies, especially need strict Access Control systems to prevent data breaches. Similarly, residential properties, commercial buildings, and critical infrastructure facilities also require Access Control for maintaining security.
How is Access Control Used
Access Control can be employed both physically and digitally. In the physical world, it governs access to buildings, campuses, rooms, and physical IT assets. In the digital realm, it's used for controlling access to computer networks, system files, and data. Two broad types of Access Control systems are 'Discretionary Access Control (DAC)' where the owner decides on who is allowed access and 'Mandatory Access Control (MAC)' which is system-enforced access policy determined by an organization.
Access Control in Cloud Infrastructure
In the context of Cloud Infrastructure and Software as a Service (SaaS), Access Control has evolved significantly. It now includes Identity Access Management (IAM), which involves assigning different permission levels to individual network users, ensuring that every user only accesses relevant data required for their role. This framework thereby supports the Least Privilege Access principle, granting users minimum levels of access required to complete their tasks, thus minimizing the potential damage from any security breach.
