What Are the Three Main Components of a Role-Based Access Control Solution?

For any organization, protecting its own data, systems, and assets from unauthorized access should be among its top priorities. This is especially true in industries like healthcare or financial services, where organizations not only have to protect their own resources but also demonstrate compliance with local, state, and federal regulations around safeguarding their customers’ sensitive personal data.

Role-based access control, or RBAC, is a widely-used framework for granting (and restricting) user access to systems and assets on a role-by-role basis. Often combined with attribute-based access control (ABAC), effective RBAC policies help companies to mitigate security risks, streamline and simplify operations, and ensure compliance and audit-readiness.

Keep reading for an overview of RBAC, including the difference between RBAC vs ABAC, role-based access control best practices, and what to look for when evaluating RBAC solutions for your business.

Why Is Role-Based Access Control Important?

The proper implementation of an RBAC model provides several distinct benefits, including:

• Greater security for a wide range of data, systems, and assets.

• Streamlined operations, which leads to increased productivity as well as cost savings.

• Enhanced audit-readiness for compliance with applicable local, state, and federal requirements.

What Are the Principles of RBAC?

The development of an effective role-based access control framework typically starts with three foundational principles:

• The principle of least privilege means restricting individual user’s access controls and permissions based on what’s essential for their specific role, helping to mitigate security risks and reduce the prevalence of over-provisioning.

• Next, separation of duties further reduces security risks through restrictive internal controls that define and restrict access, preventing unauthorized access and reducing the chances of fraudulent activity or even human error.

• Finally, data abstraction enables organizations to manage role-based permissions without revealing any sensitive information that’s not essential.

What Are the Four Levels of Access in RBAC?

An effective, well-rounded RBAC implementation typically consists of four distinct types or levels of access, which build off of each other starting with the first level.

• (Level 1) Flat RBAC is the simplest, foundational level of access. It applies the three primary rules RBAC (role assignment, role authorization, and permission authorization).

• (Level 2) Hierarchical RBAC incorporates another layer or complexity by aligning access control and permissions with internal, organizational hierarchies.

• (Level 3) Constrained RBAC takes flat and hierarchical RBAC yet another level deeper by supporting separation of duties functionality.

• (Level 4) Symmetrical RBAC rounds the basic RBAC framework with capabilities for monitoring, reviewing, and adjusting specific controls and permissions over time.

What Is an Example of RBAC vs ABAC? 

While it’s important to understand the difference between RBAC and attribute-based access control (ABAC), it’s also important to note that organizations commonly use both frameworks at once—rather than choosing one over the other.

Here’s a simple example of how RBAC and ABAC are different, and yet work together. Consider the needs of an organization’s marketing department. There are certain assets and resources that anyone who works in (or with) the marketing department might need access to view, but not everyone needs the same level of access as those in management roles (or above). 

In this example, a basic RBAC implementation would be the best place for this company to start. By applying the principles of least privilege, separation of duties, and data abstraction—in coordination with the four access levels of RBAC—the organization can enhance security and streamline operations. 

So let’s say this company is starting a new marketing campaign. While everyone in the department will need access to certain systems and resources, only departmental leaders need the functionality and access to create new campaigns or make adjustments to an active campaign. 

So, where does ABAC come into play? The easiest way to differentiate between the objectives of RBAC vs ABAC is that RBAC determines who can access certain assets, while ABAC determines what individual users can do with that access. It’s best to think of attribute-based controls as adding a dynamic component to the RBAC framework, enabling companies to set much more specific controls. For example, ABAC controls might limit who can access sensitive campaign data based on time and location (granting access only to on-premises employees during operational hours, for example).

What Are Some Role-Based Access Control Best Practices?

A few best practices for creating an effective RBAC framework include:

1. Consider your organization’s objectives and priorities as a starting point. Common, high-priority RBAC objectives include enhancing security, streamlining workflows, and documenting access controls and permissions.

2. Taking inventory of your existing systems, applications, and resources. For each asset, think through who will need access—and to what level(s).

3. Defining specific roles and assigning permissions, including role-based as well as attribute-based controls. This will take some time and effort the first time, but by creating and documenting your policies you’re essentially creating a role-based access control policy template you can update and re-use as needed. As you define roles and permissions, keep the four levels of access control (described above) in mind.

4. Evaluating RBAC solutions and their features to ensure that you’re getting the most value out of the solution you choose. As new solutions enter the market, it’s always worth re-evaluating how well your current RBAC solution is serving your needs so you can move to a new solution if it presents more value for your organization.

What Should I Look for in a RBAC Solution?

Evaluating different RBAC solutions, like virtually any category of software, can feel overwhelming if you’re just trying to compare features lists against each other. It’s much easier to compare solutions and understand their value by starting with the basics. When it comes to RBAC solutions, there are three main components to consider:

1. Does it accommodate users, roles, and permissions in a way that makes it easy to define, manage, and update them as user roles evolve and new systems or applications are adopted? Don’t be afraid to ask direct, specific questions when evaluating solutions, or to schedule demos to see what different solutions look like in action.

2. Is it a comprehensive solution, capable of supporting the core principles of RBAC and the four levels of access, as well as ABAC? It’s best to think through your objectives and priorities before you start comparing solutions, so you can focus on the features and functionality that best align with your specific use case(s). The best RBAC platforms are also built to support integrations with other IT service management solutions.

3. Finally, it should make IT teams’ lives easier by supporting automation and self-service. These features can have a major impact on security as well as productivity, while reducing the number of user access request tickets that require their attention.

Explore Lumos and RBAC

Whether you’re looking to streamline onboarding and offboarding processes, empower employees with functional tools for self-service access requests, or even automate access reviews, Lumos can help. 

For more information about RBAC implementation, you can download an in-depth RBAC guide on our website. You can also learn how our versatile platform can enhance your organization’s security, streamline key workflows, and save money by reading some customer stories. Ready to see the platform in action? Request a live demo!