What Does “Least Privilege” Mean?
“Least privilege” is a principle in computer security and access control which states that individuals or systems should only have the minimum level of access or permissions necessary to perform their job role. This principle aims to minimize potential damage caused by accidental or intentional misuse of privileges.
For example, someone in service delivery likely does not need access to the accounting system, and vice versa. By employing the principle of least privilege, you would restrict access of employees to the systems and data that they need for their own departmental work. This can be accomplished by implementing role-based access control in the access management tool such as Active Directory (AD) as a start. Additionally, you can segment the network in such a way that data cannot flow across logical network segments, for each department as an example, so that if a threat actor gets into one network segment, they can not cross over into the other segment.
By limiting the access that employees have to only the things they need, organizations can reduce the risk of unauthorized access, data breaches, and other security incidents. In practice, this means granting users or systems access only to the resources, systems, or data they need to fulfill their specific roles or responsibilities, rather than providing unrestricted access by default.
