In a traditional access control policy, user permissions are defined based on their role and the resources they access. Often, data teams are tasked with establishing a standard for defining and implementing these policies across their data landscape.
In contrast, ABAC provides more control variables than role-based access control by enabling policies to be created that take into account object and action attributes as well as environmental and contextual information. Providing more fine-grained access control and adhering to the principle of least privilege, ABAC can help protect sensitive data and reduce security risks.
Improved Security
Attribute based access control is a flexible authorization model that allows organizations to determine who can access data, apps, and resources. It uses attributes like user profile information to make granular security decisions based on context.
ABAC systems intelligently study how attributes interact in an environment and develop rules that establish which features are warranted access based on whether specific conditions are met. The result is more granular access controls that comply with the principle of least privilege and protect sensitive data.
For example, a sales rep who wants to access a file with sensitive customer data can be granted permission based on their username, age, job title, and organization. However, an accountant who wants to access the same file can only be permitted if they are a member of a VIP rewards program.
Another benefit of ABAC is protecting data, apps, and resources from unauthorized use or destruction. Attribute-based policies can be easily enforced to restrict what types of actions are possible and what type of data is accessible.
As an added benefit, ABAC helps organizations meet regulatory requirements, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). For example, suppose a customer’s data is stored in a retail app. In that case, an ABAC rule could only grant access to that data to customers who have consented to share their personal information with the store.
Enhanced Compliance
Attribute-based access control uses a set of attributes to determine permissions on objects, users, and resources. These attributes include subject/user, action, object, and environmental (context) attributes.
Typically, these attributes are based on username, ID, age, job title, organization, department, security clearance, etc. They also identify the action a user wishes to take regarding a resource or object. Common action attributes include read, transfer, delete, and view.
As a result, attribute-based access control is much more granular than role-based access control and adheres to the principle of least privilege. It is also less complex to implement than RBAC and can be applied in small-to-medium-sized organizations without the risk of “role explosion.”
While ABAC may take longer to deploy than other methods, it provides significant security benefits and cost savings for many industries. It is an effective solution for protecting sensitive data, preventing unauthorized access, and managing consent.
By incorporating ABAC into your authorization policies, you can enforce access controls in real-time and add more context to the decision-making process. This enables fine-grained business logic and increases security and flexibility. At the same time, you can reclaim substantial IT bandwidth by automating provisioning and eliminating hours of manual management and data entry.
Reduced Costs
One of the most significant benefits of implementing attribute-based access control in your organization is that it can reduce costs. Traditionally, organizations have had to manually enter information into multiple systems, which could be more efficient and scale as the organization grows or changes. Moreover, it is easy for data breaches to occur when the wrong users access sensitive data.
Attribute-based access control takes a dynamic approach to managing access by examining user and resource attributes unique to each individual and the environment in which they operate. These attributes can include the user’s name, role, department, security clearance, and more.
ABAC evaluates these characteristics at runtime to determine what features and data a user can access. This allows businesses to make decisions quickly and efficiently without compromising security.
ABAC policies are more scalable and can be applied to hundreds of resources, including servers, databases, and clusters. It also provides excellent policy creation and enforcement flexibility, enabling decision-makers to create policies that meet specific business demands.
Another cost-saving advantage of ABAC is that it avoids role explosion, which can be a major headache for organizations trying to establish granular policies with RBAC. In the case of a new employee or internal role change, data teams can automatically update permissions rather than having to predetermine and create a new set of roles for each user. This makes it easier for small-to-medium-sized organizations to implement RBAC and is more efficient than managing thousands of parts across the entire organization.
Increased Flexibility
Attribute-based access control provides several benefits for an organization. These include increased flexibility, scalability, and lower administration costs.
Attributes are labels and properties that determine what users can do or what data they can see. They can be based on the subject, object, environmental conditions, or policies.
For example, a company may assign employees roles, such as supervisor or marketing, and then define permissions and restrictions on those roles. In this way, employees are restricted to the data and information they need to do their job, minimizing the risk of unauthorized use of data.
Another benefit of attribute-based access control is that it can be easily adjusted to meet changes in the business environment. This makes it an excellent option for onboarding new subjects, permitting external partners, and changing the rules of an organization.
Attributes can come from various sources, including internal and external, as well as multiple systems. This allows for a flexible enforcement model that adapts to changing risk levels as the environment changes and the business grows. For instance, if a user’s team membership changes, access rights automatically change to reflect the changes. This reduces the administrative work needed when new subjects join the organization. Similarly, if employees are promoted to a different position, their access permissions automatically change to reflect the new role.
