Access control to data is essential when your business is storing confidential or proprietary data. Anyone who has employees that connect to the internet must have robust access control measures in place. In its most basic form, access control is an exclusive restricting information to a set of users and in certain circumstances according to Daniel Crowley, head of research at IBM’s X-Force Red team, which is focused on data security. There are two main components, authentication and authorization.
Authentication is the process of confirming that the person to whom you want to gain access to is the person they claim to be. It also includes verification using a password, or other credentials required before granting access to a network, an application, file or system.
Authorization is the process of granting access to certain areas based on the specific roles within a business, such engineering, marketing, HR and more. Role-based access control (RBAC) is one of the most widely used and effective methods to restrict access. This type of access is controlled by policies that define the required information to perform certain business functions and gives permission to the appropriate roles.
If you have a standard access control policy in place it is easier to monitor and manage changes as they happen. It is crucial that the policies are clearly communicated to employees to help them handle sensitive information carefully. It is also recommended to have procedures in place for revoking access to employees who leave the company, change their role, or are terminated.