What Are the Challenges for Implementing Least Privilege and How to Overcome Them?

Statistically, an estimated 20% of businesses not only struggle with defining and implementing the least privilege but are also unable to identify the true extent of their privileges and security risks that increase as a result. 

There is a very high risk involved if you do not consistently implement the least privilege principle. This article explores the challenges organizations face as they try and apply this security principle and ways to overcome them.

What is Least Privilege?

The least privilege principle requires that an organization creates what is called “lean zones” where every user only has rights granted to them, so they cannot affect the operational activity of other users. At least one person (usually the IT Administrator) is the owner of a certain zone. Every user has access to only the privileges given to them by the administrator and those he does not have authority to grant to anyone else.

Challenges to Implementing Least Privilege

Legacy Applications

Legacy applications will fail in a standard user account. Depending on your organization, such an application can fall into the black hole known as the ‘Permission Denied if it needs administrator privileges.’Your best option here is to decide early in the process which legacy applications should be treated specially.

Advanced Tools

Some applications may not come into the heading of legacy systems but include admin privileges to run properly. Highly advanced people, such as web engineers, who have to run programming language and other privileged apps, typically fall into this category.

Basic Administration Tasks

The problem also lies when one group needs to perform simple tasks like disk defragmentation, linking printer, etc. On the other hand, another user group needs more privileges to perform relatively advanced tasks like disk management and network adapters.

Software Installation 

While most organizations would have a unified structure for installing software programs and upgrades, ad – hoc basis software implementation is not rare. Since most software needs admin privileges to mount, doing it on a locked desktop with admin rights disabled can be challenging.

Overcoming the Challenges to Implementing Least Privilege

Involve Security Personnel

Make sure security professionals have been involved in the design of the solution from day one. It will guarantee that everything happens as it’s supposed. 

Micromanagement Delegation Policy

Ensure that a micromanagement delegation policy has been specified, ensuring that the owner will always remain accountable for any such changes.

Sufficient Training Sessions

Please make sure that there are sufficient training sessions and education programs to ensure that all service users and analysts are fully aware of their assignments and responsibilities and the privileges they hold.

Monitoring Process

Don’t forget to confirm that a monitoring process has been put in place, which audits all account usage frequently and alerts accountability personnel in real-time. Also, check if there are any anomalies in account privilege assignment or usage behavior. It will guarantee that any possible security breaches will be documented immediately to take corrective actions immediately.

Design Login Process and Code of Conduct

The key here is to design the login process and code of conduct. It is a must-have step when trying to use the least privilege principle in any new system you are designing.

Carefully Assigning Rights

It would help if you also were very careful when assigning any rights to an employee. Since giving privileges to more employees may lead to overloading the system and failure to enforce security.

System Designing

Design the system carefully to decide what privileges you are going to grant to employees. Use only those privileges that are necessary for the security of the system. If you do not do this properly, you can get into trouble in the long run. Design the code to minimize the risk of bypassing security measures. One way to do this is to add a capability to enforce the least privilege.

Why Go For Least Privilege?

No single line of defense can keep all the threats at bay. One must understand that there will always be vulnerabilities for your business to become a victim.

It is a problem with the way that technology is constantly changing and evolving. The solution to minimizing your business’ exposure to risk lies in reducing the privileges an employee has at your company’s data center. It is because many attacks exploit common vulnerabilities among multiple systems within a company.

Since companies are required to use the most current IT security practices, it includes increasing the number of digital certificates every year, fixing the security holes that can be found in software, changing firewall settings, and limiting the use of social media.

Wrapping Up

There are advantages to deploying this type of security standard, but implementing one company-wide can take time and effort. Fortunately, many tools can assist you in achieving this goal.