What does access control mean
Access control means having control over who has access to which company spaces, resources, information, systems, networks, or data in an organization. It means allowing or restricting access somewhere. For companies and organizations, access control is a necessity from the perspective of physical and information security.
Definition of Employee Access Control
- Employee access control involves limiting access to various parts of a company, workplace, rooms, buildings, or other properties.
- It also encompasses access to information, systems, applications, or specific parts thereof.
- The goal is to prevent unauthorized physical access, track valuables, and maintain security within the workplace.
- Every company’s software, applications, and cloud services should implement access control
Why Employee Access Control Matters
- Unauthorized physical access can lead to theft, destruction, vandalism, and harm to employees.
- Unauthorized access may also result in safety threats and fines, especially when dealing with sensitive data, equipment, or chemicals.
- Incorrect access permissions could lead to self-harm, equipment damage, or unauthorized sharing of information.
- Understanding who has access is crucial for emergency situations (e.g., evacuation counting).
How to Control Employee Access
- Determine and enforce access rights to different parts of the property (e.g., buildings, rooms, facilities, equipment, systems, sensitive areas).
- Maintain records of keys issued, access cards, and authorizations (e.g., power of attorney).
- Automate access to applications using identity management systems (e.g., LDAP, AD).
- Ensure security for workplace, rooms, or buildings.
- Employee access management covers the entire employee lifecycle, including onboarding, job changes, and departures.
In summary, employee access control is essential for maintaining security, preventing unauthorized access, and safeguarding both physical and digital assets within an organization.
What are the ways to control access
- technical means such as keys, cards, physical control, passwords, logins, and so on
- legal means, such as contracts, NDA, enforcement through policy or directive
What does it mean to have access control under control
1. You must correctly identify authorized persons
- Access control is based on accurate identification and authorization of individuals. This involves granting or revoking access rights based on job roles and responsibilities.
- Employees: Access should be granted to employees based on their specific job functions.
- External parties: Access to external individuals or third parties should be granted only after verifying their identity and signing appropriate contracts.
- This approach ensures that only authorized individuals have access to sensitive systems and data.
2. You must have technical means to grant or deny access
- Technical means provide some physical or digital barrier or protection
- This means keys, entry cards
- In the digital world, it is the use of some digital identity to verify users, such as a login
3. Support with legal means
- Legal means can supplement or replace technical means
- These include, for example, NDA, contracts, amendments, penalties
4. Correctly set processes for assigning, changing, and revoking permissions
- You assign permissions based on job
- You revoke permissions as soon as the work is done.
5. You must have everything correctly described in
- Access Control Policy
- Password Issuance Policy
- Key Issuance Policy
What does unauthorized access mean
Unauthorized access means a breach of confidentiality. It arises as a result of poorly managed access, namely
- assigning authorization to the wrong person, or
- not revoking access when changing job positions or when an employee leaves
- some violent act - attack, theft, burglary, and so on
Basic principles of access control
- Control physical access to spaces and computer networks
- Limit access to unauthorized users
- Limit access to data or services through application controls
- Limit what can be copied from the system and stored on storage devices
- Limit the sending and receiving of certain types of email attachments
- Ensure that individuals have access only to data and services for which they are authorized.
What common processes are important for access control
In practice, access control in organizations fails mainly in assigning, changes (not done legally) or revoking permissions (permission is not revoked). It is mainly about the processes of joining and leaving an employee
- Assigning permissions is part of onboarding
- Revoking permissions is part of offboarding
How Aptien supports an access management in the company
Aptien.com can potentially help with access management in several ways, depending on the specific features it offers. Granting and Revoking Access: Aptien could offer functionalities to grant or revoke access to specific systems, data, or functionalities within the platform based on user roles or individual permissions. Here are some possibilities:
Permission Management during Onboarding:
- Job Assignment: Upon hiring, during onboarding you could assign a pre-defined role based on the new employee's job position.
- Streamlined Access Provisioning: With role-based access control (RBAC), Aptien could simplify the onboarding process by assigning access to necessary resources based on the assigned job
- This eliminates the need for manual configuration and reduces the risk of errors.
- Onboarding Tasks and Training: Aptien might offer tools to manage onboarding tasks and training materials specific to different job roles.
- This ensures new hires receive the necessary training and permissions relevant to their position.
- Authorizations for External Parties: The platform might allow managing access for external parties, such as contractors or vendors, by defining specific permissions based on signed contracts.
Permission Management during Offboarding:
- Automatic Access Revocation: When an employee leaves, Aptien could automatically revoke access to all systems and data based on their previous job role. This ensures that former employees no longer have access to sensitive information.
- Offboarding Workflows: The platform might offer features to streamline the offboarding process by providing automated workflows for tasks such as collecting company property, updating user accounts, and finalizing payroll.
- Audit Trail: Aptien could maintain an audit trail of access changes, documenting who had access to what systems and when. This helps maintain compliance and accountability in case of security incidents.
Benefits of Using Aptien for Access Management
- Improved Efficiency: Automating access provisioning and revocation saves time and reduces administrative burden.
- Reduced Risk: RBAC ensures employees only access necessary resources, minimizing security risks.
- Enhanced Compliance: Aptien's audit trail helps demonstrate adherence to data security regulations.
- Streamlined Onboarding & Offboarding: Simplifies the employee lifecycle by automating key access management tasks.