Access Control and Identity Management, 3rd Edition



Principal Components of Access Control

There are three principal components of any access control scenario:

• Policies—The rules that govern who gets access to which resources
• Subjects—The user, network, process, or application requesting access to a resource
• Objects—The resource to which the subject desires access (e.g., files, databases, printers, and physical facilities)

Any time you have to decide whether to allow or deny access by a subject to a resource, you have entered the access control problem domain.

Access Control Systems

A well-defined access control system consists of three elements:

• Policies—Clear statements of the business requirements regarding access to resources
• Procedures ...