An organization is similar to an intricate ecosystem; each department is in charge of a particular niche, and when all the departments coexist and intercommunicate, it forms a productive and harmonious business environment. Organizations are also comparable to complex machinery in that the effectiveness of each part contributes to the performance as a whole.
That being said, what’s the best way for network administrators to look after their organization and ensure that it functions at its fullest potential? The answer is applying the appropriate care for each different facet or component of the organization through role-based access control (RBAC).
What is role-based access control?
Role-based access control is a technique where access privileges and permissions are assigned to users based on their role or function within the company. A network can contain a copious amount of resources, which must be protected in order to safeguard the integrity of the business. If all the resources were simultaneously available to all the employees, then each employees’ actions would have to be meticulously tracked along with all the information that they have access to. This process can be tedious, and leaves room for error. On the other hand, if a significant portion of resources are banned from employees and they need to request permission every time to access relevant information, productivity could take a heavy hit.
Role-based access control can help organizations achieve the balance needed where permissions and resources are concerned. Admins must assign basic permissions, enabling each employee to access resources required only for their particular job.
Effective employee onboarding and automated auditing
When it comes to the security of RBAC, it’s recommended that the preliminary permissions are configured for the employee at the time of their joining, whether that’s the work force in general, a new department, a project, or a team. After the role-based access control configurations are set, the rest of the security itinerary, such as keeping track of the user actions and files viewed, can be carried out in an automated fashion.
Efficient tracking and easy spotting of discrepancies
With RBAC, tracking employee actions becomes much easier; since each individual only has access to a certain cluster or set of relevant information, they only need to be audited with respect to what portion of that information and for what purpose it was accessed. If a particular employee attempts to access information prohibited to them, that discrepancy can be quickly pinpointed. If the employee tries to access prohibited information for a plausible reason, then the RBAC security permissions are flexible in that they can be easily modified to accommodate the new needs of an employee. However, if it was an attempted insider attack, RBAC security can also be used to find the relevant details of this malicious action so disciplinary measures can be taken.
Using Device Control Plus to administer role-based access control
A robust role-based access control is the ideal solution to assign appropriate permissions for each staff member while also upholding organizational security, all while maintaining an optimal level of productivity. One of the fundamental steps to enforcing effective role-based security is by first controlling the actions of users and their peripheral devices, since these tools are commonly used for data viewing, extraction, and creation. Device Control Plus allows admins to build policies for specific departments, teams, projects, etc. so they can be quickly assigned to existing and new employees. These policies can permit specific employees to utilize only certain devices to access relevant information, ensuring that malicious actions can be prevented and employees are equipped with sufficient data for their roles.
To start implementing RBAC security in your organization, download a 30-day free trial of Device Control Plus, or feel free to schedule a demo.
