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Cybersecurity is a highly acute issue for all modern organizations that rely on digital technologies. Unfortunately, a great deal of breaches and data leaks happen because of internal threats, including employees’ lack of knowledge, lack of cybersecurity awareness, or simply ignorance of security basics. As a result, the stored and processed data as well as the company’s reputation might be at risk.
The principle of least privilege (PoLP for short) is one of the cornerstones of enterprise security. Below we explain how it impacts the security of the data and how to set it up without disrupting the normal operations.
What is the principle of least privilege?
The least privilege principle is a cybersecurity concept which means a user has access only to those resources and data that are needed to complete an assigned task. In this way the access is limited to the scope of work of a specific user and does not allow to exceed permissions outside this scope.
The PoLP is one of the most important cybersecurity principles as it directly impacts the security of sensitive information and the way it can be managed. Organizations that implement the PoLP significantly increase their security and see fewer security incidents than companies with poor security policies and methods.
Note that the principle of least privilege is not as strict as it might seem. An organization can configure various access levels based on the user’s location or even time of the day, thus making the process flexible and customizable.
Key components of the principle of least privilege
After answering the “what is the principle of least privilege” question, let’s look at its core components:
- Role-based access control: just as the name implies, this security model is used for granting access to various data and resources based strictly on the predefined user role.
- Time-bound access permissions: in this model, the admittance is either limited by time (i.e. is valid for a certain period of time) or is granted only on specific dates and hours.
- Just-in-time (JIT) access: a user can access the needed resources only during a specific time period and once it ends, the access will be denied.
As you can see, all these components are aimed at making the access granular and precise instead of allowing a massive number of users to access critical data at a wide scale.
Why is the principle of least privilege important?
While we will walk through the core benefits of PoLP a bit later, let’s quickly review a few real industry examples that showcase the importance of PoLP implementation.
The first is quite old but still remains a good example of the importance of cybersecurity. Back in 2017, the Equifax company had permissive access controls combined with an open network architecture. Hence, every user was considered as trusted and that, as you can guess, led to massive cyberattacks and data theft.
Another example is Uber data breach during which the hackers managed to access users’ credentials in the code repository. The reason for this attack was poorly managed admittance to the repository and the lack of PoLP implementation.
And one more example, highly relevant to any company operating in a digital environment: phishing attacks. Let’s first look at some numbers: since 2021 and due to the rise of AI, the number of phishing attacks has grown by 49% and 65% attacks target organizations and their sensitive data. So imagine a scenario: an employee opens a suspicious email, clicks on the link, and loads malware in the system. If the least privilege access is not implemented, the malware will spread across the whole network – but if the PoLP is in place, the attack surface will be reduced greatly.
Examples of neglected PoLP at the workplace
Let’s also have a look at how the neglected principle of least privilege looks at a workplace and how your employees might violate it:
- A laptop or a PC is left unattended and not locked: allows unauthorized access
- A document with sensitive information is left unattended: reveal / breach of the sensitive data
- A single account for several users: makes it impossible to identify the person responsible for a malicious or wrong action
- Personal data is used for corporate use: an employee is added to a project via their personal account.
These cases clearly show how poorly configured access can enable the breach of sensitive information and its ensuing misuse by threat actors. Now let’s look at the way the principle of least privilege works and the core concerns related to it.
How does the least privilege access work?
The principle of least privilege operates on the basis of limiting admittance to specific resources, data and applications to an extent that a user needs to perform a specific task. In other words, if an employee needs to do a certain task and requires access to specific resources, they will be able to access only these resources – and nothing else.
It is recommended that organizations implement the principle of least privilege by default as part of the Zero Trust Network Access model. By doing so, you will be able to avoid having overprivileged users and prevent the privilege creep from happening.
What is privilege creep?
It often happens that an organization grants excessive privileges to users and with time, simply forgets to revoke these privileges. This creates a security loophole that later leads to potential attacks and an increased possibility of risks. Hence, privilege creep occurs: the unnoticed spread of granted privileges among unauthorized users.
To prevent privilege creep from happening it is recommended to regularly perform audits of your resources and access configurations as well as of current and outdated users. In this way, you will be able to timely identify if any user is overprivileged and fix it.
Core benefits of implementing PoLP
The least access principle contributes greatly to protecting sensitive information and assets and brings an array of benefits to organizations:
Minimized attack surface
Since PoLP greatly limits access to resources and data, it creates a highly secured digital environment and leaves a very little area for potential attacks. So if a hacker cannot access valuable resources, the impact of a potential attack would be much less compared to the one where privileges are granted to unauthorized users.
Prevented spread of malware
One of hackers’ main areas of interest is infecting the organization’s resources with malware. Hence, the logic is simple: if hackers cannot access resources, they cannot corrupt them. In this way the principle of least privilege significantly contributes to the prevention of malware spread across the organization and minimizes the occurrence of potential risks.
Improved productivity
If employees can access only those resources needed for completing assigned tasks, they will be more productive in their work as they won’t get distracted by irrelevant information or apps. Also, the fewer number of errors leads to less troubleshooting which also increases the level of overall productivity in the company.
Minimization of human errors
A human error is a frequent factor of cybersecurity breaches because sometimes employees are simply not aware of doing something wrong or do not pay enough attention. As a result, human errors create vulnerabilities that might transform into massive security incidents. But with the principle of least privilege in place, employees are less likely to make an error simply because they will operate in a limited digital environment.
Improved compliance
Regulatory compliance like HIPAA or GDPR is a must for the majority of tech companies. And while the process of achieving compliance is complex enough, it becomes even harder if the default security configurations are lacking. The principle of least privilege can significantly facilitate and speed up the compliance process since it directly impacts the security of your data and the way it can be accessed and managed.
How to implement the principle of least privilege at your organization?
The PoLP is a multi-stage process that should be tailored to the specifics of each company. But to give you a general understanding of the process, we will list the basic stages of PoLP implementation – you can use them as a blueprint for your own strategy.
Conduct privilege audits
The first thing you’ll have to do is conduct a thorough audit of your existing privileges. This includes checking authorized and unauthorized users and the levels of admittance that they have. This is important because you need to precisely know your current assets and configurations before introducing any changes
Reorganize your access management
After performing privilege audits, the next step is to review your access management policies and reorganize them. Here are a few things to start with:
- Set all accounts to least privilege
- Eliminate unnecessary privileges
- Isolate privileged user sessions
- Add privileges gradually and only according to the required access
Enable just-in-time access model
As we already wrote, the JIT access model is highly valuable for protecting sensitive information. We recommend identifying resources for which this model might be suitable and enable just-in-time access for each.
Conduct regular security checks
One more thing worth considering is the performance of regular security checks. Even after configuring access privileges and permissions there still might be a chance of a vulnerability or privilege creep happening. To ensure that your system remains secure, you need to regularly test it and review existing access privileges to timely identify risk areas.
Expert Opinion
Following the principle of least privilege does not limit your abilities. It removes unnecessary tools and keeps only the most effective ones that best fit your daily tasks. It also makes team work smoother and more organized by clearly defining responsibilities and protects you from unnecessary mistakes. Additionally, it reduces the risk of vulnerabilities like “man-in-the-middle,” making work more predictable and results closer to what you expect.
Main challenges of PoLP implementation
Finally, let’s talk about potential roadblocks that you might face when introducing the least privileged access in your organization. By understanding and mitigating them in advance, you will be able to significantly reduce any potential negative impact that they may have.
Potential issues with productivity
Remember we talked how the principle of least privilege increases productivity? The other side of the coin is that it can also decrease it – here is how.
When employees face limited access to certain resources, they can become frustrated. This is especially relevant for fast-paced environments like DevOps teams. So what you can do here is try and establish a balance between robust security and sufficient flexibility for employees.
Complexity of digital environments
Many modern companies operate both in the cloud and on-premises, and each computing environment requires its own configuration of access privileges. The complexity and size of digital systems may be a big challenge for security as you need to ensure that all systems in use operate both smoothly and securely. Also note that cloud environments require a specific set of security settings, unique for each provider.
Need for continuous monitoring
One more important thing is the need for continuous monitoring and auditing. Since digital environments are highly dynamic, new and unexpected threats may occur on a regular basis. To proactively mitigate and prevent them from disrupting your operations, you should perform regular monitoring and audits and ensure that all access privilege configurations are relevant and updated.
Final word
In today’s digital environment, it is critical that companies take a proactive approach to cybersecurity. This involves setting up robust access controls and limiting access to sensitive data. The principle of least privilege is among the basic steps that one has to take in order to enforce cybersecurity on all levels of an organization. While it may seem complex, a step-by-step approach can greatly simplify it and provide greater control over the whole process. However, if you still have any questions left, don’t hesitate to contact SoftTeco. Being an ISO 27001 certified company, we know how to set up robust security measures and how to ensure that new implementations align well with your established processes.
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