What are two main types of access control?
While access control via physical barriers, like locked doors, may still have a place in the workplace, the rise of remote and hybrid work revealed the criticality of access control for protecting digital and cloud-based assets. Strong digital access controls are now vital to ensuring security in a work-from-anywhere environment. However, access control is not one-size-fits-all; company size, function, existing infrastructure, and other factors influence how
businesses should control resource access. In this article, we’ll outline the most common access control methodologies and explore the advantages and drawbacks of each. Before diving into different types of access control, let’s define a few terms and acronyms you’ll see throughout this article. Discretionary access control (DAC) assigns privileges based on rules specified by users. Most file systems default to DAC by assigning access control to file creators, who can then assign access parameters to others. Typically, they maintain full control over these settings and can change them at any time. Note that DAC systems usually
have a super admin role that can supersede a user’s ownership. Windows and macOS file systems default to DAC: the user is automatically assigned ownership when they create a file, allowing them to view, edit, and share the file at their discretion. While taking the burden off of IT can be helpful to IT teams in the short-run, this lack of centralized management can generate problems down the road. If IT ever does decide to change access control approach or needs to centralize resources, they will likely have a hard time doing so when users have
generated and assigned access ad hoc.
Environments where users can share data at will, without supervision, are particularly susceptible to ransomware. Further, user-driven access also obscures central visibility and control, which prevents IT administrators from managing all of the organization’s resources and poses additional security risks, as IT admins cannot mitigate threats to resources they don’t know about or can’t access. Mandatory Access ControlMandatory access control is common in government and military organizations.With mandatory access control (MAC), the operating system enforces access permissions and restrictions, which are created by a system administrator and based on hierarchical security levels. System administrators configure access rules by assigning security levels to both subjects and objects, and subjects can access anything equal to or lower than their assigned security level in accordance with the prescribed hierarchy. Mandatory Access Control ExampleMAC’s format is well-suited to environments with global levels of security, like government organizations, where restrictions are based on clearance level. In such instances, a document could be assigned a “top secret” security level, and only users with top secret clearance levels would be able to access that document. Mandatory Access Control Benefits
Mandatory Access Control Drawbacks
Rule-Based Access ControlRule-based access control is commonly used with networking equipment.Rule-based access control (RuBAC) uses rule lists that define access parameters. RuBAC rules are global: they apply to all subjects equally. This makes them well-suited to networking equipment like firewalls and routers as well as environments that require strict global policies, like content filtering. Typically, RuBAC policies don’t allow for implicit access; instead, they usually function on an implicit deny basis, only making allowances where rules explicitly say to do so. (Note that some systems can modify these rules.) Rule-Based Access Control ExampleA firewall might be given a list of white-listed IP addresses and only grant access to those addresses. Rule-Based Access Control Benefits
Rule-Based Access Control Drawbacks
Role-Based Access ControlRole-based access control schemas are often similar to organizational hierarchies.Role-based access control (RBAC) uses roles and user groups to determine access privileges. With RBAC, system administrators assign roles to subjects and configure access permissions to apply at the role level. From there, systems can automatically grant or deny access to objects based on the subject’s role. With RBAC, privileges mapped to roles tend to remain static, and roles assigned to subjects tend to change more frequently. For example, people may move in and out of a managerial role, but the access privileges granted to managers tend to stay the same. In an environment without much change, this can create a successful set-it-and-forget-it access control process; in an environment where people and roles change frequently, RBAC can quickly become a headache. Role-Based Access Control ExampleA system administrator could restrict financial data access to only C-suite users and the finance team. If someone transferred from the sales department to the finance department, their role change might revoke their CRM access while granting them access to financial data. Role-Based Access Control Benefits
Role-Based Access Control Drawbacks
Attribute-Based Access ControlAttribute-based access control allows for flexible and granular policy creation.Attribute-based access control (ABAC), also known as policy-based access control, is similar to role-based access control, except that it uses the more broad and flexible attribute rather than role to form policy rules. While a user may be assigned one or two roles — like remote worker and admin in a typical role-driven identity management structure, they could be assigned essentially limitless attributes to define and qualify their access parameters. These attributes would not have to influence their position in the organization’s identity management structure. ABAC evaluates attributes at the time of the attempted login. Because attributes can span a wide array of information, this allows ABAC policies to account for context and real-time information, like the user’s location at the time of login. Overall, ABAC facilitates complex rules that allow IT admins to create contextual and strategic policies. This makes it a great candidate for disparate and highly variable cloud environments. Attribute-Based Access Control ExampleAttributes can be created to define the scope of someone’s access, like office branch to inform someone’s badge access and Wi-Fi permissions. Attributes could also be created to carry over integration information — e.g., JumpCloud makes users’ AWS role names an attribute as part of its SSO integration with AWS to carry this information over. In addition, conditional access policies are often attribute based: e.g., if a user logs in from a trusted device and from a trusted geographical location, then the user may be granted access. Attribute-Based Access Control Benefits
Attribute-Based Access Control Drawbacks
Which Access Control Model Is Right for My Environment?Businesses should look for solutions that uphold Zero Trust by applying the principle of least privilege (PLP) at every access point. This requires an access control strategy that can associate users with permission levels, which includes MAC, RuBAC, RBAC, and ABAC. MAC is a highly specialized strategy that applies well to government and military structures, but falls short elsewhere. RuBAC can apply PLP to an extent, but its rigid format makes it a bit less dynamic than RBAC and ABAC, and therefore less able to intelligently apply PLP. RuBAC may be sufficient for certain parts of your environment, like firewalls and email content filtering. RBAC is common in popular market solutions. However, as the world becomes more remote and cloud-first, ABAC’s intuitive policy creation and maintenance are making it the more secure and efficient choice. ABAC’s flexibility also allows it to integrate easily with third-party platforms that use RBAC by associating roles with attributes. To learn more about why ABAC wins out against other access control methods, check out our blog, The Immediate Benefits of Attribute-Based Access Control. What are the types of access control?Three main types of access control systems are: Discretionary Access Control (DAC), Role Based Access Control (RBAC), and Mandatory Access Control (MAC).
What are the two main types of access control lists ACLs Mcq?Standard and extended access control lists (ACLs) are used to configure security on a router.
What is the most common form of access control?Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
As the most common access control system, it determines access based on your role in the company—ensuring lower-level employees aren't gaining access to high-level information.
What are the two main types of access control lists ACLs )?( 1 point?There are several types of access control lists and most are defined for a distinct purpose or protocol. On Cisco routers, there are two main types: standard and extended. These two types are the most widely used ACLs and the ones I will focus on in this and future articles, but there are some advanced ACLs as well.
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