Granular permission control - do organizations need it?

Every software developer has faced the need to set up a permission management system for their product. While it's tempting to develop broad access to keep things simple, such an approach can lead to significant security risks. Would you really risk data breaches by choosing the simpler option?

That's where granular permission control comes into play, offering a way to define access down to the smallest details.

So, the granular permission control allows companies to define who can access specific resources (databases, files, features), what they can do with them (view, read, edit), and under what conditions. Unlike broad permission control, which takes a one-size-fits-all approach, granular control gives you the ability to match access permissions to individual roles and responsibilities.

Why is it so good? It means less risk of unauthorized access and greater peace of mind for you.

What is granular permission control?

Let's start with the definition: granular permission control is a detailed and specific approach to managing user access within a company, allowing for a precise definition of access permissions.

For example, in an analytics product, you don’t want everyone to see all the source data. Granular permission control helps with that.

• So executives might have edit access with the ability to generate reports containing sensitive financial data.
• The marketing team can have edit access for high-level business metrics.
• While junior analysts can have view-only access to non-sensitive information.
• The Head of Data can have super-admin access, with the ability to edit and view all the data.

As you’ve probably noticed, granular permission control is all about zooming in on the exact needs and assigning permissions accordingly.

The benefits of such detailed granular permission control are stronger security, reduced risk of unauthorized access or potential data breaches, and compliance with regulations. This last one is critical for companies in regulated industries.

Why organizations should care about permission control

In 2018, Marriott disclosed a data breach affecting up to 500 million Starwood hotel guests! The breach had actually been going since 2014 (hackers gained access to the guest reservation database). This incident clearly shows how risky long-term unauthorized access can be for any organization.

Why could this be so damaging? The problem is that this type of data breach can cause significant damage to a company’s brand reputation, user trust and eventually sales pipeline. So permission control is not just a nice-to-have—it's a must-have.

This is where user access and permissions assistant tools come handy. These tools help companies maintain a secure environment, ensuring that only authorized users have access to the critical and sensitive data. One of such permission control tools is Cerbos, an authorization management solution for authoring, testing, and deploying access control policies for organizations of all sizes.

Companies should take permission control seriously—not just to prevent data breaches, but to boost security, safeguard organization's data, keep things running smoothly by giving employees only the access they need, and stay compliant with legal standards.

Benefits of granular permission control

Granular permission control brings many benefits to both security and efficiency. The most important benefits for engineering teams are stronger data protection, improved compliance with regulations, better access management processes, reduced workload for dev teams, and better auditing & monitoring. Let's talk more about each benefit.

1.Stronger data protection

• Minimized unauthorized access to sensitive, strategic, and critical data. Employees only have access to the data they need to perform their job, which reduces the potential for accidental or malicious data breaches.
• Data leaks are easier to prevent. For example, if an employee doesn’t have access to download or share certain information, the risk of that data being exposed outside the organization is reduced.

2.Improved compliance with regulations

• Granular permission control makes compliance easier. It helps meet strict data access rules in regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA.
• Detailed audits are easier to run as well. This is invaluable during regulatory audits and can help demonstrate compliance with data protection regulations.

3.Improved access management processes

• Simpler permission control management so employees can perform their tasks without unnecessary delays caused by waiting for access permissions from the engineering team.
• Reduced workload for engineering teams, as the engineering department receives fewer requests to change permissions and can focus on their core initiatives.

4.Better auditing & monitoring

• Tracking user activities is much easier with granular permission control. Developers can quickly identify who accessed specific data or performed certain actions (which is crucial for debugging security issues).
• Faster responses to suspicious behavior. If an unauthorized attempt to access sensitive data occurs, engineering teams can act swiftly to mitigate any potential threats.

Best practices for implementing granular permission control

After so many benefits, you're probably looking to jump right into implementing granular permission control. To help you get started, here are some best practices:

1.Start by defining clear roles and permissions

• Each role should have specific access permissions that align with the responsibilities of that role. You might need to collaborate with product managers and people leaders to define permissions.
• Avoid over-permissioning users just for convenience (fewer requests to the engineering team is not the main goal here). Instead, focus on what each role genuinely needs to perform its duties.

2.Follow the Principle of Least Privilege

• Somewhat similar to our previous point, the principle of least privilege dictates that users should have the minimum level of access necessary to complete their day-to-day tasks.
• It can be tempting to grant broad permissions to avoid dealing with access issues later on, but this can lead to security risks.

3.Review and update permissions

• Unfortunately, permission management is not "a set-and-forget" task. You need to run regular audits of user permissions to ensure they are still appropriate.
• Employees' roles and responsibilities can change over time, so their access permissions should be reviewed as well.

4.Automate where possible

• Leverage user access and permissions management tools to automate permission assignments & updates.
• Automation reduces the risk of human error and ensures consistency in permission management. Tools like Cerbos can make permissions updates a one-click task.
• Automated tools can also help monitor user activities and generate reports, making it easier to identify and respond to potential security issues.

5.Educate your team on the importance of permission control

• Security and permission management is not something that's on top of people's mind. So you need to add training & presentations on the importance of permission management and data security.
• When all team members understand why access permissions are managed the way they are, they are more likely to comply with security protocols.
• Also, when "the negative scenarios" of data breaches and other issues are well explained, it adds more motivation to avoid those. As a result, the whole company can become more secure.

Final words

Granular permission control is more than just a security measure; it's a strategic approach to managing user access that can help your engineering team in many ways!

If you want to spend more time on a strategical level, consider learning typical authorization designs, zero trust concepts, and tips on preventing broken access control.