What is access control?

If you’re trying to understand what access control is - you’ve come to the right place. Whether you're building a new app or maintaining legacy systems, getting access control right is crucial. In this piece, we’ll break down this crucial element in securing modern applications.

You’ll learn what access control is, why it’s essential, and how it operates within application environments. We’ll also explore some common challenges developers face when implementing access control and review the types of technologies and software that can streamline the process. By the end, you’ll have a clear understanding of access control fundamentals, and you’ll be equipped with insights on selecting the best approach for your applications.

Understanding access control

At its core, access control is your application's bouncer. It decides who gets in, who doesn't, and what they can do once they're inside. But unlike a nightclub bouncer who only checks IDs, modern access control systems handle complex permissions across distributed systems, microservices, and cloud environments.

Access control enables developers and administrators to establish clear boundaries around sensitive data, functionalities, and services, making sure that only authorized users can perform specific actions. In any secure software environment, access control is vital to maintaining both data integrity and user privacy.

Importance of access control

We get it. Access control isn't the most exciting part of building applications. You'd rather work on that cool new feature or optimize your CI/CD pipeline. But here's the thing - one misconfigured permission can expose sensitive data or create security vulnerabilities that could compromise your entire system… And explaining a data breach to your board is not a fun experience.

Access control is critical for securing applications, protecting user data, and enforcing organizational policies. With the increasing amount of sensitive information stored and managed digitally, it is essential to restrict access based on roles and responsibilities. Implementing access control means minimizing security risks, preventing data breaches, and complying with industry regulations like GDPR or HIPAA.

A well-designed access control system not only keeps unauthorized users out but also helps audit and monitor user actions within the application. This visibility and control support compliance and offer valuable insights into user behavior, which can be beneficial for improving the overall security posture of an application.

How access control works

Let's get technical. Modern access control systems operate on multiple layers. Authentication verifies identity through credentials, tokens, or multi-factor authentication. Authorization determines what authenticated users can actually do. Audit (accounting) provides the paper trail of what they did.

Roles and permissions, which are a critical element of authorization - allow administrators to set permissions at a group or individual level. For instance, admins, editors, and viewers may have different access levels.

And then there are policies and rules - which can be part of both authentication and authorization. Authentication policies will define under which conditions 2FA step-up is required. While authorization policies will define, based on someones roles, groups, identity and specific resource - under which conditions access is granted.

Each of these elements is configured to ensure the system can effectively control access to data, files, or services. This layered approach enhances security by implementing rules and checks at multiple levels.

Implementing access control

There are several ways to implement access control within an application, and the approach depends on the application’s architecture, the sensitivity of the data, and the organization’s security requirements.

Role-based access control (RBAC) organizes permissions according to user roles, and works well for applications with clear, hierarchical organizational structures. It's straightforward to implement and maintain.

However, if you're dealing with complex, context-dependent permissions, you might want to consider attribute-based access control (ABAC). ABAC gives you more flexibility by considering attributes like time, location, or device type when making access decisions. For instance, you might want to restrict certain actions to office hours or specific IP ranges. The trade-off? ABAC can be more complex to implement and maintain.

Many organizations implement access control using third-party solutions, which offer pre-built components for managing roles, policies, and permissions. These solutions can be integrated into the application to simplify access management and ensure robust security measures are in place. Alternatively, you may opt for custom-built access control mechanisms, though these can be resource-intensive to build, manage, and maintain over time.

Common challenges with access control

To be honest - implementing access control is tricky. One of the biggest challenges we’ve seen teams face is permission sprawl - managing permissions at scale. As your application grows, you'll accumulate roles and permissions. Without regular auditing and cleanup, this can become unmanageable.

Another challenge is the principle of least privilege, which means granting users only the minimum level of access necessary. While it's a crucial security concept, implementing it without disrupting user workflows requires careful planning. Start with minimal permissions and gradually add them based on actual usage patterns.

Balancing security with user experience is another issue that can come up. Too many access restrictions can frustrate users and lead to potential bottlenecks. On the other hand, if the access control system / solution you are using does not have sufficient capabilities - you’ll be stuck trying to shoehorn 100+ users into 3 roles, which definitely won’t keep the security team happy.

Finally, compliance with regulations can add complexity. For many organizations, access control must meet industry standards or regulatory requirements, which can involve regular reviews and audits.

Available access control technology and software

The market is flooded with access control solutions, and choosing the right one can be overwhelming. They can be categorized into Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems, IGA (Identity Governance Administration), PAM (Privileged Access Management), and externalized authorization.

The goal is not to pick one, but pick a combination, depending on the requirements of your application.

Whether you go with established players or open-source alternatives, consider these factors to make sure you’re choosing the right access control technologies - joiners-movers-levelers process, directory integrations, approval workflows, change management, and self-service account management.

When it comes to choosing an externalized authorization solution which is much more deeply integrated into your applications, the focus needs to be more technical in nature - first, think about scalability. Your authorization solution should grow with your application. Second, consider developer experience. The best security tools are the ones that developers actually use correctly. Finally, look for solutions that provide good audit logging and monitoring capabilities - you'll thank us later when you need to troubleshoot permission issues.

“Cerbos allows our team to focus on getting rid of technical debt and other business use cases instead of wondering how to write a policy evaluation language." - Rob Crowe, Principal Engineer @ Utility Warehouse. Cerbos user.

For simple applications just relying on the coarse-grain roles coming from the IdP may be enough, but for applications with dynamic or complex access requirements, externalized authorization which takes a policy-based approach is a much better fit. It isn’t an either/or decision though - some organizations opt for hybrid approaches, combining both RBAC and ABAC elements to balance simplicity and flexibility.

Conclusion

Access control isn't just about security and data protection. It's about enabling your users to work effectively while protecting sensitive resources. Take the time to design your access control system thoughtfully. It's much easier to implement proper access control from the start than to retrofit it later.

For teams looking to implement robust, scalable authorization without the headache of building everything from scratch, check out what we're doing at Cerbos. We've designed the solution specifically to address the challenges discussed here, making it easier for developers to implement and maintain sophisticated roles and permissions.

And here’s a parting thought - access control is evolving. With the rise of zero trust architectures and the increasing complexity of modern applications, we're seeing a shift toward more dynamic, context-aware access control systems. Keep an eye on emerging standards and tools in this space.