Group Privilege Assignment Using Least-Privilege Access Levels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional user access management in cloud environments is complex and insecure due to overly permissive privilege assignments, leading to increased processor usage and decreased security.
Innovation Solution
Assigning privilege levels to groups of users rather than individuals, with a focus on least privilege levels to simplify management and enhance security.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If privilege levels are assigned to individuals, then access control precision is improved, but management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges individual privilege assignments with group memberships to create a hybrid access control model. Users inherit privileges from their groups while maintaining individual assignments, combining the precision of individual control with the simplicity of group-based management. This resolves the contradiction by allowing administrators to manage groups rather than individuals while maintaining precise access control through the inheritance mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments access control into multiple levels: group-level privileges and individual-level privileges. This segmentation allows the system to handle access control at different granularities - group level for simplicity and individual level for precision. The segmentation enables the system to achieve both low management complexity (through group-level management) and high access control precision (through individual-level overrides).
2Ease of operation
If overly permissive privilege assignments are used, then ease of operation is improved, but security deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-defining group privilege levels and least-privilege policies before users access resources. The system proactively assigns the minimum necessary privileges to groups and individuals, preventing excessive permissions from being granted in the first place. This preliminary configuration ensures that ease of operation is maintained through intuitive group-based access while security is enhanced through built-in least-privinciple enforcement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates feedback mechanisms that monitor and evaluate privilege usage patterns. The system analyzes access logs and usage data to identify when users are accessing resources they don't actually need, then provides feedback to administrators to adjust privilege assignments. This feedback loop maintains ease of operation by allowing flexible access where needed while automatically tightening security controls based on actual usage patterns.
Data Source
AI summary
According to examples, an apparatus may include a memory on which is stored machine-readable instructions that may cause a processor to determine, for each of a plurality of members in a group, a respective least privilege level for a resource and determine, based on the determined respective least privilege levels, a privilege level to be assigned to the group for the resource. The instructions may also cause the processor to assign the determined privilege level to the group for the resource and apply the assigned privilege level to the members of the group for the resource.