If your company is involved in data that is considered confidential or proprietary, controlling access to that data is essential. Any company that has employees connected to the internet must have strong access control measures in place. Daniel Crowley, IBM’s X Force Red team head of research, explains that access control can be used to restrict access to specific people and under specific conditions. There are two key components: authentication and authorization.
Authentication is the process of making sure that the person trying to gain access to is who they claim to be. It also includes the verification of passwords or other credentials technologyform com that must be supplied prior to granting access to a network, application, file or system.
Authorization is the process of granting access to certain areas based on the specific functions in a company like HR, marketing, engineering etc. Role-based access control (RBAC) is one of the most commonly used and effective methods to restrict access. This kind of access is governed by policies that determine the required information for certain business tasks and gives permission to the appropriate roles.
If you have a standard access control policy in place it is simpler to manage and monitor changes as they occur. It is crucial that the policies are clearly communicated with employees to make them aware of how to handle sensitive information with care. There should be procedures in place for revoking access to employees who leave the company, change their roles, or are dismissed.