Best Practices for Implementing Role-Based Access Control Systems

The Role-Based model of controlling user access to critical systems is a big win for the modern enterprise in terms of security and especially data protection. The Role-based Access Control market is projected to surpass 15 Billion by 2027, a significant CAGR of more than 12 percent.
However, it’s important to understand the best practices that are paramount if you are going to get the best out of role-based access control systems.
Whether you are already using this model or are in the process of diving deeper so you can get it right in your next project or even within an organization ecosystem, this guide is for you. If you are relatively new to RBAC, please check our quick guide into role based access control.
13 best practices for implementing role-based access control systems
We are glad to share these best practices that are drawn from industry best practices as well as our experience of decades in helping organizations maintain robust, secure access control systems.
1. Determine the goals, always!
It’s important to have a deep look at the business goals of the organization. This helps in designing an effective RBAC policy that can be applied across all roles, with sufficient room to tailor where necessary.
2. Understand the scope
Well, it may not be possible to deploy RBAC on anything and everything. This is mostly due to resource constraints, especially for small and medium businesses or individual projects.
Good thing is, failure to have enough resources does not mean that you should shy away from RBAC. Because of this, it’s important to define a clear scope that is narrow enough to eliminate pressure on resources and wide enough to cover the critical areas.
3. Implement RBAC systems in phases, not all at once
A role based access control system is a work in progress, not a one off event. The focus should be more on getting the implementation right as opposed to finishing the implementation.
This is why we strongly recommend that you do the implementation in phases. This ensures that the risk of disrupting other job functions is on the lower side.
Phased implementation also means that you do not need to grant access to all levels at once. The system allows you to specify the levels that are appropriate for different user groups, depending on the weight of their responsibilities.
4. Establish the RBA policy
The RBA policy is like the nerve of the RBA control system. It spells out the scope of the systems, as well as the objectives and how those objectives will be met.
Most importantly, make sure that the policy is accessible to all the people that are going to interact with the systems.
5. Role design and assignment
Roles are central to RBAC, so we’ll dwell on a couple of best practices that are concerned with role design and assignment.
i. Align roles with the correct responsibilities
Make sure that the roles you create align closely with the responsibilities of those that are assigned the roles.
Example:
In a software development company, the Front-End Web Developer role will focus on coding web applications using HTML, CSS, and JavaScrip. They can also implement designs and collaborate with other team members. Their access permissions should include code repositories, design tools, testing environments, and project management tools. This allows them to fulfill their responsibilities comfortably without unnecessary restrictions or excessive access.
But if this Front-End Web Developer role were to also encompass responsibilities like server management, and database administration, it would become overly broad and blur the lines between distinct roles within the company. Conversely, if it were narrowed down to only coding basic HTML and CSS, it would become overly restrictive and prevent the staff from contributing to the full scope of front-end development. This latter approach could hinder project completion and overall team efficiency.
ii. Apply the least privilege principle
To reduce the risk of unauthorized access, always assign users the minimum permissions necessary to perform their duties.
For example, an employee in the accounting department might need access to financial software and specific budget spreadsheets. But are they going to need access to code repositories or customer relationship management (CRM) systems? Certainly, No!. Excessive permissions could bear the risk of inadvertently exposing sensitive data or functionalities.
iii. Have clear hierarchy in roles
Role hierarchy is central to an efficient RBAC system. The clarity that comes with hierarchical RBAC ensures that the structure is fluid hence avoiding bottlenecks that come with incoherent hierarchies.
For example, the roles at senior manager level should be able to automatically inherit all roles at junior manager level when the need arises, in addition to their privileged permissions.
A well structured hierarchy simplifies administration, which is an essential requirement of RBAC systems.
iv. Dynamic roles
The organization’s needs are ever changing, they are never static. Because of this, we also need to ensure that the role assignment is dynamic and not static.
For instance, instead of assigning roles only statistically on the basis of job titles, consider other items such as participation in projects and temporary access roles.
When you introduce dynamism into role assignment, you automatically create an enabling room for granular control. A user involved in a time-bound project should have their permissions set in a way as to expire once the project period elapses.
Let’s use the example of a developer involved with a sensitive project.They could be granted temporary elevation to specific resources that they need during their involvement. Once the exercise is completed, the user privileges are automatically revoked.
6. Reviews and audits
These best practices relate to how to go about ensuring you are constantly reviewing and auditing the permissions.
i. Reviews
The review part is concerned with the need to regularly take a look at the permissions, ensuring that any changes in roles are also reflected in access permissions.
For example, if a marketing assistant is promoted to marketing manager, their role should be updated to reflect their new responsibilities. What this means is that you might grant them access to additional marketing analytics tools or even the ability to approve campaign budgets. You will also need to remove access to tasks they no longer handle.
ii. Audits
Audits are particularly great for ensuring compliance with RBAC policies. They help you identify potential security gaps, such as users who have retained access to systems they no longer need due to job changes or accounts that could be exploited as a result of being inactive.
For instance, an audit might reveal that a former employee still has access to sensitive financial data. This would indeed be a clear violation of the principle of least privilege that breeds high risk.
7. Integrate Artificial Intelligence
AI is the future, and role – based access management is one of those areas where it’s finding big use.
You can start by deploying AI in places like provisioning and deprovisioning to automatically capture and analyze key events such as department change and project role assignments. This way, the system will automatically adjust the access rights in real-time.
Of course, the clear win here is that you get to eliminate or significantly reduce the risk of human error.
Also Read: Artificial Intelligence in Identity and Access Management and how to deal with common challenges in AI adoption.
8. Training and awareness
Training is important, especially for users and administrators. The purpose of this training is to ensure they are able to effectively apply the policies relating to role-based access control. These policies are critical for the well being of the organization’s systems.
In terms of awareness, the idea is to raise the users’ and administrators’ awareness around the benefits of RBAC as well as the consequences of violating the access control protocols.
9. Documentation
Maintain detailed documentation of everything that needs to be documented. In particular, ensure that documentation to do with roles, permissions, and access policies is in order and always safely kept.
The documentation should essentially include these items:
- Detailed descriptions of each role
- Te specific permissions associated with the roles
- The rationale behind each decision.
A good example of an area where documentation becomes crucial is when there is a change in roles or when some employees leave the organization. When this happens, the documentation acts as a useful tool for redistributing the changed or vacant roles. As the documentation also includes policies, it becomes useful for training purposes.
You should view the documentation as a central reference point, constantly adjusted to ensure it reflects the most current status.
10. Scalability
If the access control system is not scalable, then it’s going to give you challenges ahead when the scope of usage outgrows what you originally started with.
Outgrowing the original scale could mean anything from the addition of new employees and departments to integration with new software.
To avoid this scenario, be sure to have the access control system designed in a way that it’s seamlessly scalable. Choose a system that will easily handle increasing users plus accompanying roles and permissions. Equally important, the system should not struggle to integrate with other systems whenever they need to be introduced to the company’s ecosystem.
11. Robust Incident Response and Remediation
Implement a well outlined and structured incident response plan. Of course, this is so as to ensure that any security breaches or even attempts are always addressed promptly.
This plan should clearly outline the fundamental steps that need to be taken whenever an incident occurs. Core steps include identifying the source of the attempts, containing damage that may already have occurred, and most importantly, how to prevent future attempts from the same source and others.
For example, if the credentials of an employee are compromised and used to access data, the plan could involve these steps:
- Immediately lock the compromised account
- Investigate the extent of the damage (breach)
- Notify affected parties
- Implement additional security measures, like resetting passwords, multi-factor authentication
12. Cultivate a security-conscious culture
You can get everything right on the technical and management side, but things can still fall apart easily in the absence of a security-conscious culture.
Culture setting is more of an influence affair than a top down management affair. It’s not about enforcing rules, it’s about influencing people to adopt a security-first culture.
If possible, identify a champion in every department and encourage them to play the role of whipping the rest of their colleagues.
13. Segregation of Duties (SoD)
Some roles can be too sensitive to be allocated to one individual only. In such cases, we recommend that you explore incorporating the principle of Segregation of Duties, where critical tasks are divided among multiple roles.
This principle helps to prevent the risk that comes with one individual being granted absolute control over certain business processes that are considered sensitive because of the importance they hold for the company.
For instance, the permission to execute financial transactions should be distributed among multiple roles. This prevents fraud by requiring elaborate collaboration over all financial approvals.
Conclusion
We have discussed elaborate best practices for effective role based access control implementation. They are all critical for any organization that desires to ensure efficiency in the management of access rights.
Finally, we advise that you always aim to tailor each best practice to your organization’s unique ecosystem. As well, keep an eye on modern trends to make sure your RBAC model is up to date and remains competitive.