Roles and Authorization Concept
Avoid compliance problems
Many companies assign roles and authorizations in their IT systems according to tasks and positions without this being clearly described according to a fixed set of rules. In this way, segregation of duties conflicts quickly arise without this being immediately apparent. A clean and structured authorization concept can prevent such difficulties.
WHAT IS AN AUTHORIZATION CONCEPT?
The term authorization concept describes a basic set of rules according to which identities are created and roles and authorizations are assigned within an IT system. The concept should ensure that all users are assigned those roles that really fit their tasks, and that those authorizations and resources that are necessary for these tasks are associated with these roles.
At the same time, the authorization concept should fundamentally ensure that, as far as possible, no compliance conflicts arise as a result of this assignment of rights, and that auditing security is thus maintained. It thus protects your data from misuse and your employees from unintentional errors.
In this sense, an authorization concept is a strategic, central component of holistic identity & access management (IAM).
Why is a role and authorization concept necessary?
Many companies work with an incomplete and non-comprehensive assignment concept for their roles and authorizations. Their maintenance is often still done manually, historically grown roles and responsibilities are not touched, the rights of individual users are not controlled, workflows are not clearly defined.
However, the manual assignment of roles and authorizations hardly does justice to the complexity of IT systems in modern companies. Under such circumstances, which easily arise from changes in day-to-day business, SoD conflicts quickly creep in. This gives rise to potential compliance violations that can be very expensive for the company.
A regularly maintained, holistic and complete role and authorization concept, on the other hand, contains transparent and clear rules that can largely rule out such conflicts. It ensures that all basic rules of compliance are adhered to within a centralized role and authorization assignment. More compliance means more security for the entire company.
Your software is also included in the authorization concept: Who has access rights to which programs, who uses which applications and resources? This is not only relevant to prevent data leaks and misuse of information, but also ensures that you always have an overview of what kind of licenses you need for which programs so that your employees can do their jobs. However, in the spirit of economy and efficiency, you certainly want to avoid over-licensing: So the possibility of good software license management is a positive side effect of a clean and structured authorization and role concept.
What are characteristics of a good authorization concept?
Good authorization management is characterized by a number of features and functions that are organized centrally and transparently in the IAM, for example:
- Central management of all roles and authorizations for all systems
- Assignment of the right roles to the right users
- Central definition of access rules
- Automatic role suggestions, simple role construction
- Role-based assignment of rights
- Automated processes for onboarding and offboarding, creation and deactivation of identities and user groups
- Integration of freelancers and external employees in the assignment of rights
- Automated control for compliance or for possible SoD conflicts
- Documentation and versioning are performed continuously and reliably by the system
The advantages of such an authorization concept are clear:
- Low administrative effort for the assignment and revocation of roles and authorizations
- Significant time savings, especially for highly qualified IT employees
- Not too many rights and licenses; avoidance of over- and under-licensing
- Transparency and clarity of all existing regulations and accesses
- Audit conformity, audit security