Need to Know or Least Privilege?

About this interactive

Need to know and least privilege both limit, and the Need to Know lesson calls them similar. They limit different things. Need to know limits information: who is told, shown or briefed on something sensitive. The lesson's story is a government employee explaining satellite damage to the media. Saying it was seen through a telescope gave away a classified capability. Keep information to the people whose work needs it, and nobody else can disclose it, by accident or on purpose. A second benefit, in the lesson's words: marking something need to know raises the care of those who do know. It applies even to trusted or cleared people: a clearance makes you eligible, the need decides whether you are told. Least privilege limits permissions: what an account or person is allowed to do, such as install software, reset passwords, change settings, or read but not write. The lesson is fully behind least privilege and only half behind need to know, because sharing information with staff builds trust. It keeps need to know for information that would damage the organization, with national security as its example. A quick test for each card: is the limit on what someone gets to know, or on what someone is allowed to do?

What you'll learn

Tell need to know, which limits who is told or shown sensitive information, from least privilege, which limits what a person or account is allowed to do on systems
Recognize need to know in practice: information withheld even from trusted or cleared people who do not need it for their work, and kept out of statements where it would give something away

Aligned to

CompTIA Security+

4.6 Given a scenario, implement and maintain identity and access management.

ISC2 CISSP

7.4 Apply foundational security operations concepts

NIST 800-53

AC-6 Least Privilege

AC-3 Access Enforcement

Key terms

Need-to-Know: A security principle that limits access to sensitive information only to individuals who require it to perform their job functions, reducing the organizational attack surface.
Least Privilege: A security principle that grants users and systems only the minimum access rights needed to perform their functions.
Confidentiality: The principle that information is accessible only to those authorized to access it.

Topics

Personnel Security Need To Know Least Privilege Interactive Streak Sort

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