What Are the 4 Models of RBAC?

Role-based access control (RBAC) is an important framework for ensuring that business systems, assets, and data are protected against unauthorized access and other security concerns. Often leveraged in tandem with attribute-based access control (ABAC), successful RBAC implementation provides a wide range of benefits.

Without an awareness of role-based access control best practices, however, it can be difficult to get right. Keep reading for an overview of RBAC, including what it’s used for and why it’s so important.

What Is the NIST Definition of RBAC?

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) defines RBAC as “a model for controlling access to resources by associating permissions with roles, instead of with individual users.” As NIST also specifies, “role permissions may be inherited through a role hierarchy and typically reflect the permissions needed to perform defined functions within an organization.”

What Is the RBAC Model Used For?

The primary purpose of RBAC is to protect sensitive data, systems, and resources from unauthorized access or modification. RBAC models often start with the principle of least privilege. That means it begins by identifying the minimum levels and types of access needed for a given role, which helps to save time and money by avoiding the all-too-common issue of over-provisioning.

Why Is RBAC Important?

RBAC provides organizations with a wide range of benefits, with three of the most impactful being…

• Greater Security for Data, Systems, and Assets: The more applications an organization uses, the greater its need for effective security practices paired with appropriate RBAC models. Through role-based access control implementation, companies can prevent or reduce unauthorized access, keeping systems and resources safe.

• Streamlined Operations (and Cost Savings): As the average company today uses as many as 100+ different applications, RBAC helps companies to reduce the mountain of user access requests that tend to bog down their IT departments, reducing productivity. Modern RBAC solutions like Lumos make it easy to not only define and implement effective access controls, but to unlock further efficiencies through self-service and automation.

• Enhanced Compliance and Audit-Readiness: RBAC empowers IT and system administrators with clear insights into what users are accessing certain resources, putting them in a much better position to monitor and manage access over time. This also helps companies in certain industries—like healthcare or financial services—to ensure compliance with relevant local, state, and federal regulations.

What Are the Four Functions of Access Control?

Within the context of RBAC, access control models provide functionality in four key areas:

1. Controlling Access: Determining what different types of users are authorized to access, modify, or otherwise engage with certain systems and resources.

2. Validating User Identities: Verifying that individual users are who they say they are before access is granted

3. Granting Authorization: Applying pre-determined access policies to grant authorization.

4. Monitoring User Activity: Documenting user activity, including who is accessing certain systems and resources, what they’re using that access for, and whether it poses any potential risk.

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What Are the Different Types of Users in RBAC?

In most organizations, “users” is synonymous with roles, rather than individual employees. For example, some categories of users within an organization could range from administrators (who typically need full access) to standard or even guest users (who will have narrower access). Users can, and often are, categorized by department or function as well—billing or technical support, for example.

What Are the Different Types of RBAC?

There are four different types of RBAC, also described as levels: flat, hierarchical, constrained, and symmetrical. Rather than selecting one type over another, these should be leveraged in coordination with each other, different aspects of a single RBAC framework.

• Flat RBAC (Level 1): Provides the foundation for virtually any RBAC model, applying three core rules of RBAC.

• What Are the Three Primary Rules for RBAC? The primary rules for RBAC are role assignment (assigning users to defined roles), role authorization (determining access permissions based on roles), and permission authorization (authorizing users access to apps and resources based on rules 1 and 2).

• Hierarchical RBAC (Level 2): Goes a level deeper, aligning and integrating access control and permissions based on hierarchies within the organization.

• Constrained RBAC (Level 3): Incorporates controls related to the separation of duty principle on top of “level 1” and “level 2” RBAC.

• Symmetrical RBAC (Level 4): Adds yet another level of complexity to RBAC through periodically reviewing and adjusting users, roles, and permissions as the organization evolves and/or needs change.

Remember, these RBAC “levels” aren’t either-or; comprehensive RBAC solutions incorporate multiple levels to ensure the highest levels of security and efficiency. 

Try Lumos’ RBAC Solution Today

Using a comprehensive RBAC solution like Lumos helps organizations to slash their software spend while enhancing security (two initiatives that seem at odds with each other all too often). Lumos helps organizations to quickly and consistently reduce the number of access requests bogging down their IT team and ensure that key assets are protected. To learn more, download our informative RBAC guide, or reach out to schedule a live demo.