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.

14. Access Control Administration

14.2. Decentralized Access Control

  • A decentralized access control administration method gives control of access to the people closer to the resources
  • In this approach, it is often the functional manager who assigns access control rights to employees.
  • Changes can happen faster through this type of administration because not just one entity is making changes for the whole organization.
  • There is a possibility for conflicts to arise that may not benefit the organization as because different managers and departments can practice security and access control in different ways.
  • There is a possibility of certain controls to overlap, in which case actions may not be properly proscribed or restricted.
  • This type of administration does not provide methods for consistent control, as a centralized method would.