What Is Role-based Access Control? All You Need To Know

With cybercrime on the rise and our data increasingly digitized, protecting against security breaches has never been more critical. The first step towards this is limited authorization.

By implementing an enforced policy of role-based access control, your business can strengthen its overall security. It ensures that your most valuable assets remain safe from unauthorized users, both within your own company and externally. 

Typically, fewer employees are given permissions to view or edit confidential data, while broader access is given for general information. 

Not only does this access control approve or deny any type of access to the data, it also defines how the user interacts with the data, such as view-only or read/write access. To access information, employees must login to the network or application with their user credentials, which are verified to prove identity. 

If credentials need to be updated due to a forgotten password or other simple error, self-service password reset (SSPR) software can be used to resolve the issue rather than contacting the IT or security team. But if the system is unable to verify the user roles, the employee may be locked out of the system until further intervention. This type of access control helps safeguard against breaches or cyberattacks.

Types of role-based access control

Not every RBAC framework is the same. Organizations can choose based on different criteria such as authority, responsibility, and job competency. 

While privileges assigned to each role often remain constant, a user’s role may change as their job responsibilities evolve. However, this may still be limited to the access needed for the work, for example, the ability to view confidential files rather than download and edit them. 

Here are three types of role-based access control that an organization could choose according to its needs.

Core RBAC

Although not often used as a standalone model, core models outline the essential pieces that each role in the RBAC framework must adhere to. It’s the foundation for the other two models, with rules that account for the role. The core RBAC model includes:

• Assignment: Users can only have access and privileges that relate to the specific role they’re assigned.
• Authorization: The system is configured to give each user role the required level of access.
• Permission authorization: Users can only apply their privileges to the active role that they’ve been given.

Hierarchical RBAC

Building on the foundations of core RBAC, hierarchical models introduce a tier-based system of access control for each role. This reflects the more complex nature of access required within organizations and is beneficial in small companies where employees need different privileges.

Here are the most common example of user roles in hierarchical RBAC:

• Guest: Users with guest-level access have very limited view permissions and, likely, no read/write abilities.
• Regular user: Most employees fall into this category. They’ll have more permissions than a guest, but little to no managerial-level privileges to make broader changes in the system.
• Power user: Managers usually hold on to this role, with privileges of those below them as well as additional permissions to make wide scale changes within the system.
• Administrator.:This level of access is only held by a handful of employees, most often the IT or security team. They have access to all parts of the system and can make changes that impact everyone else further down the hierarchical chain.

Constrained RBAC

A constrained RBAC system can quickly become complicated, but it’s beneficial for adding additional separations from the core model. These duties are split into static and dynamic.

• Static Separation of Duty (SSD): Under this system, a single user cannot hold mutually exclusive roles. For example, a single user would not be able to make a purchase for the company and also approve it in an expense tracking system; this must be completed by two different employees.
• Dynamic Separation of Duty (DSD): The opposite of SSD, a DSD system can have users with conflicting roles. But there is still a degree of separation, as these users aren’t able to perform both roles within a single session. While this helps to bypass the two-person role of SSD, it still maintains a level of security.

Examples of role-based access control 

Every field and organization will implement role-based access control differently. In education, for instance, administrators in the system may be office staff who need access to all student financial and academic records, compared to teachers who will likely not need to view student finance records but should have the ability to both read and write academic data.

In healthcare, office staff may only require access to appointment scheduling and confidential mailings, whereas doctors and other medical staff can see more detailed views of patient medical records. This is particularly important in the healthcare industry to remain compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

In e-commerce, the user roles can be set based on administrators who focus on managing orders, customer accounts, process returns, issue refunds, or based on individuals looking at marketing analytics data. 

How to implement RBAC in your business

For any business thinking about launching an RBAC security system, there are several basic steps that must be followed. These include:

• Defining roles within the system. Since role permissions are based on the role, rather than the individual user, defining each role and its access control accurately is vital. Hierarchical RBACs are a good place for most businesses to start, as each role can be clearly defined and built on the further up the hierarchy you go. These are known as inheritance hierarchies, where more senior users automatically inherit the permissions of the role below them.
• Assigning users to one or more roles. Users should be assigned at least one role, but depending on their job, they may be required to have multiple roles either permanently or temporarily. For instance, if a manager is out of the office for an extended period of time, the next most senior individual may be given temporary administrator or managerial access to data in the system.
• Continually monitoring user activity. Regularly auditing both role permissions and user activity is essential for maintaining high security levels. This ensures that no users have more access than they need to in order to complete their job, which keeps confidential data protected as much as possible.

Benefits of role-based access control

RBAC is one of the most commonly used approaches to identity and access management control, particularly for large businesses with hundreds, if not thousands, of employees. It’s one of the easiest security measures to implement, while offering scalability options as the business grows.

Increased security

As with most access management solutions, RBAC follows the principle of least privilege access, a crucial part of zero trust security. This means that users have the lowest level of access they need to do their job. By limiting access to the network, businesses are able to minimize the threat of a data breach or leak.

RBAC also means that should a cyber attack occur, access to the system can be shut down at the level the hack occurred rather than the entire system at once. For instance, if a junior employee falls victim to a phishing scam, the attackers will only gain access to access information at that permission level. Not only does this mean that the threat surface is reduced, but it also allows other employees to continue with their work undisturbed if they have a higher permission level.

Improved compliance

Every organization must comply with some federal, state, and local regulations regarding their data usage. But for certain industries like finance and healthcare where data is highly confidential, additional compliance is necessary. Through RBAC framework, administrators can track which users have access to different parts of the system and can more easily trace back user behavior should an incident take place.

Simplified workflows

Assigning permissions based on job responsibilities, rather than on a per-employee basis reduces bottlenecks and the need to ask IT and security teams to update permission levels.

This greatly improves both the onboarding and offboarding process when changes are made to the team, along with providing easier access for third parties who may need to collaborate on files within the system. Overall, RBAC provides greater efficiency at all levels of the organization. 

Best practices for role-based access control

Before rolling out RBAC into your business, ensure the new workflow is as efficient as possible from the start. Some of the areas that you should consider are:

• Creating a list of current devices and systems. Every device, hardware, software, and application that you use should be noted and assigned some form of security, even if it’s as simple as a password login.
• Writing a clear role policy. Whether you’re implementing a new system or updating your existing RBAC, you need to document any changes being made. This means that new and current employees are all aware of role definitions and any other important security features they should know about. 
• Continually adapting your process. Particularly if you’re implementing RBAC for the first time, adjustments will need to be made as individuals begin to access the system within their role. Changes may be needed for privileges in certain roles, while you may need to adjust roles of each individual several times until the right fit is made.

Access granted!

One of the most important functions within your organization is the security and protection of your data assets. Now that you know what role-based access control is, you can feel confident that confidential information is secure while still giving your team the resources they need to complete their work.

Go beyond protecting your business files with application-shielding software that prevents external code injections into your applications that could give hackers access to your network.

Edited by Monishka Agrawal