Access control to data is vital for any business that has sensitive or proprietary information. Access control is a must for any business that has employees who are connected to the Internet. Daniel Crowley, IBM’s X Force Red team https://technologyform.com/online-data-rooms-as-a-part-of-the-technological-innovations/ head of research, explains that access control can be used to selectively restrict information to certain people and under specific conditions. There are two main components: authorization and authentication.

Authentication is the process of verifying that the person to whom you want to gain access to is the person they claim to be. It also involves the verification of a password or any other credentials needed prior to granting access to a network, application, file or system.

Authorization is the process of granting access to certain areas based on specific roles within a business like marketing, HR, engineering, etc. The most effective and widely used method to limit access is to use access control based on roles. This kind of access is controlled by policies that identify the information required to perform certain business functions and assigns access rights to the appropriate roles.

It is simpler to manage and monitor any changes when you have an access control policy that is standard. It’s important to ensure that the policies are clearly communicated to employees to encourage the careful handling of sensitive information, as well as to have procedures for revocation of access when employees leave the company and/or changes their job or is terminated.