What Are the Different Types of Access Control?

Cybersecurity is a top priority for organizations in both private and public sectors. According to a survey of network experts, 43% of cybersecurity professionals believe the UK is more vulnerable to cyberattacks now than it was five years ago. That’s just in the UK, but this spells bad news for businesses everywhere.

Access control methods are a vital aspect of cybersecurity that work to reduce the amount of exposure your sensitive data has to the outside world. However, access control can also be critical to enable business users of all sorts by granting them access in real-time based on whatever their current jobs are.

In this guide, we’ll discuss why access control is a crucial part of any business, the different access control system types, and the pros and cons of each.

What is Access Control?

Access control is about creating small silos where restricted parts of businesses are off-limits to everyone except specific groups or subsets of the workforce. The primary principle of all three types of access control systems (role-based, attribute-based, and policy-based) is that people should only have access to what they need to carry out their duties.

Protecting essential data—such as trade secrets, personal information about customers or employees, and business strategies—allows companies to remain compliant with data protection laws and reduce their risk of suffering a breach.

Different types of access control assign access based on individual day-to-day needs. The underlying features of any access control type will be to ensure someone is who they say they are and to log it in a permanent record any time someone enters the system.

Understanding how an access control system functions is crucial for implementing effective security measures. So, what are the components of access control?

Identification

This process involves recognizing the user or entity that is trying to access the system. Identification is typically done through unique identifiers like usernames or employee IDs.

Authentication

Once identified, the access control system verifies the user’s identity. This involves checking credentials such as passwords, biometrics, or security tokens to ensure that the user is legitimate.

Authorization

After successful authentication, the system determines the access level to be granted to the user. It checks the user’s permissions against predefined rules or roles to decide what resources they can access.

Access Enforcement

This process enforces the access control policies by allowing or denying access based on the authorization results. It ensures that users can only access the resources they are permitted to access.

How Many Types of Access Control are There?

In cybersecurity, there are several types of access control, each designed to meet different security needs and organizational requirements. Typically, the three types of access control are:

1. Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
2. Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC), and
3. Policy-Based Access Control (PBAC)

However, methods can range beyond these three approaches. Some types are better suited for large enterprises, while others are more tailored to smaller, specialized environments.

Ultimately, the right type of access control model depends on the specific security challenges and needs of your organization, as each access control type offers its own advantages and drawbacks.

What are the Three Main Types of Access Control?

Let’s discuss the pros and cons of the three types of access control systems, so you can make the right choice for your team.

1. Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

RBAC is a well-known and popular type of access control. The RBAC authorization system allows owners to assign access to the network based on defined user profiles. These profiles are based on their roles, such as managers, temporary contractors, and heads of departments.

Access privileges revolve around a person’s job title. However, exceptions can be made when necessary.

Pros:

1. Transparent hierarchical structure
2. Additional owner control
3. Achieves compliance
4. Easy to monitor
5. Simple to review

Cons:

1. Unsuitable for industries requiring higher levels of security
2. Is not always granular enough, e.g. when the desired output is to be implemented for individuals with unique network access requirements

Read our guide on role-based access control to learn more about why you need it.

2. Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC)

ABAC stems from RBAC but provides access control at a more granular level. The ABAC authorization system allows application or line managers to use attributes, or characteristics, about the access request, entitlement, or user. These attributes can be based on desired outcomes for what an identity will do with said access, what the resource or system being requested is, the location of the request, and more.

The ABAC system will be able to identify how users use access within the environment and develop a baseline for what is needed and what is not. Another easy way to verify this access is through certification campaigns.

Pros:

1. Granular level of security
2. Provide access to a variety of roles and people based on attributes of the request, e.g. location
3. Achieves compliance
4. Simple to review

Cons:

1. Challenging to get off the ground
2. Time consuming to define the variables of attributes that are necessary

3. Policy-Based Access Control (PBAC)

PBAC evaluates access rights and entitlements that can be adjusted based on new corporate policies. As organizations change, they will often write new policies to ensure that access rights are consistent, appropriate, and secure.

While PBAC and ABAC are very similar, the key difference here is that in the former, policies inform the Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) solution what to do and how to enforce access. The attributes react to the IGA solution and inform the engine how to provide access.

Pros:

1. Granular level of security
2. Reactive to organizational policies implemented for access rights
3. Achieves compliance
4. Simple to review
5. Standards-driven

Cons:

1. Time consuming to define policies that apply broadly and specifically

Other Types of Access Control

While RBAC, ABAC, and PBAC are the three main types of access control models used by most businesses, there are other less common methods that organizations can use:

Discretionary Access Control (DAC)

In this access control method, access permissions are determined by the resource owner, who can grant or restrict access to others at their discretion.

Mandatory Access Control (MAC)

Access is granted or denied based on the sensitivity of the information and the security clearance levels of the users, without input from individual users.

Rule-Based Access Control

Under this method, decisions on who gets granted access are made based on a set of predefined rules or policies, such as time of day or type of transaction.

Identity-Based Access Control (IBAC)

IBAC grants access based on the identity of the user and their individual credentials.

Time-Based Access Control

Permissions are assigned based on specific timeframes, allowing users to access resources only during defined periods of time.

Context-Based Access Control

Access decisions take into account the context of the access request, such as location, device used, or user behavior patterns.

Break-Glass Access Control

This method allows users to bypass regular access controls in urgent situations, typically with the action being logged and monitored. This provides access to resources in times of emergency.

Risk-Adaptive Access Control (RAdAC)

Access is dynamically adjusted based on the current risk level, evaluating factors like user behavior, network conditions, and potential threats.

The Importance of Access Control in Cybersecurity

Access control is basic cybersecurity in action. While nothing can prevent breaches entirely, it can make a huge difference in risk reduction by mitigating lateral movement. For example, if an employee gets hacked, and if they are limited to only accessing systems based on their job in marketing, access control acts like a fire door to contain the damage and stop it from spreading.

Meanwhile, the cost of data breaches is rising. According to IBM, the cost of a data breach stands at $4.35 million – a new record that seems to be broken with each passing year. And that’s only the financial cost, breaches have a serious impact on a company’s reputation and consumer trust. It underlines the severity of the threats companies face from a cybersecurity perspective.

Here are the primary advantages of implementing access control:

1. Know who’s coming and going: Security access control systems are designed to monitor who is coming and going. Use it to prevent bad actors from accessing restricted information, applications, and databases undetected.
2. Keep track of all identity activity: Access control lets you monitor how employees, third-party contractors, auditors, and others are accessing your network, including the access requests they make. Various access control types can be used to track what people are doing on the network in real-time.
3. Secure sensitive data: You can also limit who can access sensitive business systems and critical data, such as internal or trade secrets, or data that must be contained due to compliance mandates.
4. Reduce thefts: To mitigate the risk of cyber theft, access control lets you narrow the number of people who can access valuable information.
5. Enhance cybersecurity: Access control also benefits broader cybersecurity policies by securing business resources and limiting the dissemination of virtual credentials by strangers and insiders alike.
6. Multi-property protection: Your access control solution of choice can help you protect multiple departments, subsidiaries, and networks simultaneously, as part of a unified system.

Additionally, during audits, one of the things that auditors look at is who can access sensitive information, like credit card information housed in a server, to be PCI compliant. Limiting the number of personnel who can read or download such information is crucial to creating a smaller target for both internal bad actors and external cybercriminals.

Take Back Control of Your IT with Omada

Cybersecurity requires several layers to achieve a defense-in-depth (DiD) strategy. Omada is a market leader in identity security offering a cloud-based identity governance and administration solution.

To find out more about how we can help strengthen your organization’s cybersecurity posture and improve compliance, request a free demo today.