Access Control Fundamentals

In information security, access control is imperative to ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Controlling who has access to a system and the breadth of access a user has is vital to ensure the security of systems and data on the systems. Read this article to understand the terms access control, access, subject, and resource. Note the challenges, the principles, the criteria, and the practices used in access control.

11. Access Control Technologies

11.5. Thin Clients

Introduction

Thin clients are diskless computers that are sometimes called as dumb terminals.
It is based on C/S technology where a user is supposed to logon to a remote server to use the computing and network resources.
When the user starts the client, it runs a short list of instructions and then points itself to a server that will actually download the operating system, or interactive operating software, to the terminal. This enforces a strict type of access control, because the computer cannot do anything on its own until it authenticates to a centralized server, and then the server gives the computer its operating system, profile, and functionality.
Thin-client technology provides another type of SSO access for users, because users authenticate only to the central server or mainframe, which then provides them access to all authorized and necessary resources.