The principle of least privilege is widely considered to be a cybersecurity best practice and is a fundamental step in protecting privileged access to high-value data and assets.
The principle of least privilege (PoLP) is an information security concept in which a user is given the minimum levels of access – or permissions which are needed to perform his/her job functions.
The principle of least privilege extends beyond human access. The model can be applied to applications, systems, processes or connected devices that require privileges or permissions to perform a required task. The enforcement of Least privilege actually ensures that all the non-human tools have the requisite access needed – BUT nothing more.
In order to enforce it effectively, least privilege requires a way to centrally manage and secure privileged credentials, along with flexible controls so that you can balance cybersecurity and compliance requirements with your operational needs and the end-user needs.
What is Privilege Creep?
Let us assume that your organization chooses to revoke all administrative rights from its business users. However, your IT team will often need to re-grant privileges so that your users can perform certain tasks.
For example, many legacy and home-grown applications which are used within your enterprise IT environments, will require more privileges to run properly. It would happen with many commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) applications too. For your business users to run these authorized and necessary applications appropriately, your IT team has no choice but to give local administrator privileges back to these users. Am I right?
But the problem is that once these privileges are re-granted, these are rarely revoked, and over time, your organization may end up with a situation, in which a large number of your users would be holding local administrator rights again. This is what is known as Privilege Creep. And, it is not a good situation to be in!
Because, “privilege creep” reopens the security loophole associated with excessive administrative rights and makes those organizations that likely believe they are well-protected, actually more vulnerable to all kind of threats.
Thus, by implementing least privilege access controls, your organization can help curb this evil of “privilege creep” and ensure that your human and non-human users only have the minimum levels of access required.
Why is the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP) Important?
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It reduces the cyber-attack surface.
Most advanced attacks today rely on the exploitation of privileged credentials. By limiting super-user and administrator privileges (that provide IT administrators will unfettered access to target systems), least privilege enforcement helps to reduce the overall cyber-attack surface.
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It stops the spread of malware.
By enforcing least privilege on endpoints, malware attacks (such as SQL injection attacks) are unable to use elevated privileges to increase access and move laterally in order to install or execute malware or damage the machine.
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It improves end-user productivity.
Removing local administrator rights from business users helps to reduce the risk, but enabling just-in-time privilege elevation, based on policy, helps to keep users productive and keeps IT helpdesk calls to a minimum.
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It helps streamline compliance and audits.
Many internal policies and regulatory requirements require organizations to implement the principle of least privilege on privileged accounts to prevent malicious or unintentional damage to critical systems. Least privilege enforcement helps organizations demonstrate compliance with a full audit trail of privileged activities.
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Guys, what do you think of Principle of Least Privilege?
Kindly leave me your thoughts in the comment section.
This Article Was Written & published by Meena R, Senior Manager - IT, at Luminis Consulting Services Pvt. Ltd, India.
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