Managing access control via Active Directory can be a perilous process for any IT administrator. It\u2019s too easy to fall behind in user lifecycle management or mistakenly overprovision users, which is a caveat anyone who\u2019s used nested groups understands. This legacy approach doesn\u2019t make user-based determinations and demands administrative overhead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Attribute-based access control (ABAC), however, works differently: it provides an instant cross-check of users within a group to the apps and resources they need. ABAC is, by nature, a better match for today\u2019s threat environment than legacy directory access controls, which is beneficial in an era when Zero Trust principles demand greater diligence. Nested groups had their time and place, but are no longer necessary (or even desirable) if your organization is living in a SaaS-based environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ABAC is a method of granting and managing user access to IT resources to support environments that require more contextual awareness than simple user-centric parameters such as their assigned role. Used by cloud providers and identity and access management (IAM) solutions, ABAC is being used all around us to bring order to IAM chaos, which can include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Older access control methods such as role-based access control (RBAC) would only consider if an employee has the corresponding rights within a given system to access it. Active Directory (and even Azure Active Directory) maintains a similar posture as traditional RBAC, where group membership determines access rights. What\u2019s more, groups can be nested within groups, which without management can violate Zero Trust principles when trust is intrinsic within the access control model itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s a stark contrast with ABAC, which would essentially provide a \u201cfirewall\u201d of intelligent decision making to protect access to IT resources. It applies an \u201cif\/then\u201d logic that determines the risk that\u2019s presented by a user at a given time. For example, it could prevent access to an application deemed \u201chigh value\u201d by an employee who is authorized to access it but<\/em> is away on vacation and using unsecured public Wi-Fi at a coffee shop to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ability to apply these conditions to group membership drives IT efficiency and delivers more proactive security controls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In general, ABAC applies business logic to group members<\/a> by using attributes as conditions<\/em> of group membership, which creates distinct advantages over legacy group management approaches. While the ABAC model typically performs dynamic mapping, JumpCloud\u00ae<\/sup> instead applies logic by suggesting appropriate membership to user groups, which admins ultimately have control over. Learn more in this access control case study<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n JumpCloud has taken the best of ABAC and applied it to the creation and maintenance of groups. That\u2019s a necessity given JumpCloud manages access to many different types of endpoints across a variety of platforms. ABAC examines users\u2019 attributes before granting users access to services, and the platform can even automatically suggest membership status and keep pace with changes such as a transfer to a different department or manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow JumpCloud Applies ABAC to Group Management<\/h2>\n\n\n\n