Managing Role-Based Access Control for Your Organization Effectively

Role-based access control is a tool your organization can use to enhance its digital security. If there were ever a time to focus on the protection of your organization’s data, the time would be now.

Cyberattacks are on the rise, and they are becoming more advanced. So, it pays to be on the ball when it comes to your organization’s digital security plan. At Assertiv, we enhance businesses’ digital security with Identity and Access Management (IAM).

Part of what our IAM solution provides is role-based access control (RBAC). In this article, we give you the full rundown of this avenue of digital security. Read on to find out what it is, how it can help your organization and how to effectively put it in place.

What Is Role-Based Access Control?

Role-based access control is the assigning of user access permissions based on organizational roles. It’s as simple and as complicated as that.

Effective RBAC requires workplace analysis. It should include the categorizing of roles based on responsibilities and access requirements. Once role-based access permissions are set, they can then get assigned to users that do that role. This provides them with access to only what they need to complete their work.

By providing access based on roles rather than allowing an entire organization free roam of your network, you significantly lower your risk of digital security breaches.

The Benefits of Role-Based Access Control

It’s vital that access within an organization is allocated on a need-to-know basis. By limiting access to business data, it’s much easier to maintain digital security. Below we discuss some of the other benefits of implementing role-based access control.

Reduces Admin & IT Support Tasks

Role-based access control allows for more streamlined processes. Predefined role-based profiles and their access rights can be easily assigned and unassigned to users as they come onboard, change roles or leave the organization.

This automation reduces a lot of time spent on these processes by your admin and IT departments. It also decreases the risk of human error. The Assertiv IAM platform facilitates role-based access control paired with effortless password management.

Increases Operational Productivity

Other lower-level methods of access control are difficult to manage from both an admin and user perspective.

By implementing RBAC, you can create a far clearer organizational network structure. This autonomy and better user experience increase employee productivity.

Helps Meet Compliance Regulations

Businesses must meet privacy and confidentiality regulations set by their governments. The RBAC model helps businesses follow these regulations. It does this by easing the management of who has access to what data, and how it gets used.

When it’s time to review access, only a handful of roles need reviewing. This is in comparison to tens, hundreds or thousands of users in a scenario where RBAC is not in use. Combined with a vigilant review process, access automation tools such as Assertiv also make detection of unauthorised access easier. As a result, an organization has less chance of failing to comply.

Implementing Effective Role-Based Access Control

Does RBAC sound like something your organization needs? Here are the steps involved in implementing effective role-based access control.

Assess Current Inventory

Begin by listing all the secured software and applications that your organization uses for daily operation. Then make a list of every user who has access to each piece of software or application.

This will give you a good overview of your current data inventory and who has access to what.

Assess Your Workforce

This step involves defining the roles within your organization and then putting them into categories based on common access needs. Your organization might not have a formal list of roles. But you can define them without much issue through a team/management discussion. When defining roles, aim to keep it simple and strategized.

You may have, for example, a general user role which includes the most basic of access like email and intranet. Then a client services user role which may have access to email, intranet and your CRM software. The basis of your role definitions and access tiers will depend on the specific nature of your organization.

Time to Assign

By now you will have a list of roles with clear definitions and their associated set-up access rights. The next step is assigning your staff to these roles.

Before implementing RBAC, it’s important to communicate the change to your staff. This ensures that they understand the new system and will avoid issues down the track.

Assertiv makes implementing role-based access control into your organization simple. The centralized dashboard makes assigning roles and managing access a breeze. And the user-friendly interface allows for better user experience from the get-go. This means a reduced number of teething problems for your business to endure.

The Adaptation Phase

In the initial phase, your RBAC system may need some tweaking to get it working like a well-oiled machine. Use this phase to assess your role definitions and how their access rights are affecting operations.

It’s advisable to not make one-off changes for users that may have unusual requirements. Getting into a habit of doing this is a quick way to unravel your role-based access control system. A better approach is to tweak existing roles or, where necessary, create a new one.

Review and Adapt

It’s important to conduct a regular review of your role-based access control system. This ensures that it continues to serve your organization as it evolves. During the review, assess your defined roles, their responsibilities and access rights.

This allows your organization to adapt to any organizational changes that may affect the efficiency of your current RBAC structure.

Need Help?

Role-based access control is not new news. The first RBAC model dates back to 1992. So, why do businesses continue to sit on this great approach to improving their digital security? Maybe because it’s not as simple as it seems.

But, identity and access management solutions like Assertiv take the hard work out of it. We give you the tools to confidently introduce RBAC amongst many other features to improve your digital security and enhance your operations.