Introduction

Access must be used as a tool or power to derive authority or privilege in an enterprise. If access to all enterprise resources is distributed equally amongst everyone, maintaining cybersecurity to protect confidential information and data would be impossible. Everyone in the company would have access to everything equally. Thus, tracing the root cause of any data breach would be impossible. This led IT admins to impose access controls and RBAC, which stands for Role-Based Access Control.

Definition of Access Controls and RBAC

As the name suggests, access control employs systems and policies to restrict confidential data packages and information for different employees and other acquaintances. RBAC is one of the main forms of access control. It restricts employees’ network access and resources per the enterprise’s degree of authority and the chain of command.

Example and Use case of Access Controls and RBAC

Technically, RBAC can also be used to designate distinct user roles for every user. For instance, it can be implemented to promote a user to an administrator or temporarily create a user account authorized to access specific network resources for a fixed period of time. End users, employees, for example, may even get promoted at times and their level of authority changes. In some cases, they may be authorized to access a greater volume of data to carry out their daily tasks. In such cases, RBAC can be a helpful tool to reduce the restriction of particular user accounts only.

Advantages of Access Controls and RBAC

1. Increases efficiency:

RBAC reduces the need for using different tools to register new users, create passwords, and provide authorization when the company hires a new employee or promotes someone. RBAC internalizes all of these processes and implements restrictions on each user account individually through all the private networks without any errors(e.g., provision of access). This reduces the administrative workload for IT admins.

2. Improving compliance with governmental cybersecurity laws:

With an RBAC system up and running, the company can ensure confidentiality of all information and data, including third-party information. This improves compliance with the basic IT law and makes the enterprise more ethical.