The principle of least privilege states that users, applications, and systems should only have the minimum level of access necessary to perform their intended functions. This reduces the attack surface and limits potential damage from compromised accounts.
Implementation strategies:
Role-based access control (RBAC): Assign permissions based on job functions
Just-in-time access: Temporary elevation of privileges when needed
Regular access reviews: Periodic audits to remove unnecessary permissions
Separation of duties: Split critical functions across multiple people
Default deny policies: Start with no access and explicitly grant what's needed
Example: A database administrator might have read-write access to development databases but only read access to production databases, with write access granted temporarily through an approval process when maintenance is required.
Rewriting in plainer words…
This answer doesn't lend itself to a diagram - it reads best . No credits were charged.
