As enterprises grow towards their digital maturity in these times of cloud-based systems and strict online security, most digital security systems are based on a two-step process. The first step is authentication, which determines the user identity, and the second stage is authorization, which then dictates what content the said user is allowed to access.
What is authorization?
Authorization determines what each user is allowed to access on your website, be it content or features. Upon verifying a user’s identity through the authentication steps, authorization determines their permissions.
Setting up permissions on your website will allow you and your company to directly control what users can see and do on your platform. Without these permissions, users would all have the same access to content on your site (this includes the sensitive information that belongs to other users). Also referred to as rights and privileges, permissions are access details given by the company that define access rights to a network’s content.
What can permissions do?
Prevent users from accessing accounts that aren’t theirs. Permissions ensure that users can only access and modify what you want them to have access to.
Restrict free accounts from accessing premium content by ensuring that users only have access to the content or features they paid for.
Ensure that internal accounts only have access to the information they need; your employees also need permissions even if they have access to more sensitive data than the average user; staff still need to have restrictions on what they can and can’t do.
Pelcro’s Authorization Types
Role-based access controls (RBAC): A method of restricting network access based on users’ roles within an enterprise. RBAC allows companies to give employees access to the information they need to do their job, while limiting access to information that doesn’t relate to their duties.
Access Control List (ACL): A function that watches incoming and outgoing traffic and compares it with a set of defined privileges. ACLs are like Stateless Firewall, only restricting, blocking, or allowing the packets that are flowing from source to destination.
Final thoughts
Both authentication and authorization are vital pillars of cybersecurity that help protect companies from potential cyberattacks. Authorization is a method to check the privileges of a user, granting access to specific resources.
Effective authorization and permission settings are critical for the success of any digital-based company. The security on your platform is one of your business’s most essential features, and it all starts with your company’s 2-step security process.
Are you wondering if Pelcro is the right company to manage your website’s subscriptions, memberships, and user authorization systems? Get started with one of our free trials, or schedule a demo with one of our experts to find out.