week 8
Discussion
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The use of access control as the de facto method in the protection of data is a trend that is fast rising. Access control basically determines who can access what and where and even in the process of having allowed certain users to make use of resources their activities are continually monitored. Access control does not only therefore just lock out intruders from accessing certain data, assets or information but also ensures that those who have the requisite authority to access certain data can only do so under set out constraints and permissions. Hannah K. (2010) is of the opinion that “access control works as a sieve in the prevention of access by people not recognized by the system and also in the management of what those who have been allowed access can do”.
Access control software ensures that there is no data tampering in any way by controlling what type of data can be shared between certain users and within which timelines. The identification and isolation of the user controls helps the system be able to detect any form of malware or viruses which may be used to tamper with the data. Encryption is also a function of access control (Federica, 2018). Encryption protects data from any intended disclosure whenever data may be needed to be transferred within a certain network.
One of the other ways in which access control protects data is by ensuring that in instances where they may be vulnerabilities that can be exploited for example through certain ports or through services they are plugged and made unavailable to outsider requests unless authorized by a system administrator. Insider threats can also be one way in which data can be compromised and access control is one of the best ways to deal with such threats. Access control monitors all the activities that are taking place and by so doing discourages cases where insiders may want to interfere with data.
References
Hannah K. (2010): “Protection of Data in Access Control”.
Federica, P. (2018). Survey on Access Control for Community-Centered Collaborative Systems. ACM Computing Surveys, 51(3):1-38.