Access control policies are documents that state who can access what data and under what circumstance they can access that data. By delineating who has access and control over what we lower the risk of unauthorized access and potential breaches.

Getting Started

Keep in mind that your access control policy for your business will be different depending on a number of factors. Following a template and adding/removing what is more applicable to your organization will make the artifact more digestible when you or your team review it in the future.

What to include in your Access Control Policy

When creating this artifact you should include the following areas.

• An introduction
• The purpose of this artifact
• The scope that includes everything that is covered by this document.
• Access Control Principles
• Authentication Methods
• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
• Access Control Measures
• Policy Review and Maintenance

Each of these cover essential topics that should be defined and followed by your organization. Working with your IT staff or assigning this artifact to your IT staff is the suggested way of filling out this template.

What should I stay away from

When creating an artifact try and stay away from any super technical jargon. One of the main reasons we create these documents is to have them be readable and follow-able by other individuals.

If you are creating an artifact based on a specific security framework or creating one based on compliance. It is ideal to include sections and content based on that groups requirements. Doing some reading of documentation should tell you what you should include.

Keep these documents available to your team and to the individuals that need to use or view them. Locking these artifacts up only hurts you and the people that should be using them.

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Need Help?

We work with a lot of companies that are unsure what they need to have in place. Identifying which technical documents you need or don't need in your organization can help you when it comes to having an audit or if you want to stay a few steps ahead when an attack happens.