Authorization concept

Companies today manage more data than ever before. This includes customer data, business information and even personal data on employees. All of this data requires a high level of protection and should only be made accessible to selected, authorized persons. 

In a nutshell – Authorization concept

However, due to the almost complete networking of all areas of the company these days, the risk of unauthorized persons gaining access to this data is often just one wrong click away. An authorization concept can help to sensibly limit access to information of this kind and access to premises to authorized persons.

  • Authorization concepts regulate access and (data) permissions in companies
  • Great care is required when creating an authorization concept
  • Contradictions must be avoided in a role and authorization concept
  • Such concepts help to increase efficiency in the company
  • There are valuable synergies with access solutions and other systems

What is an authorization concept?

An authorization concept is a set of guidelines for companies that regulates which persons (groups) have access to certain data, systems, applications or premises. The aim is to ensure that all persons (groups) have exactly the rights, accesses and accesses they need to perform their tasks.

In an increasingly dynamic and flexible working environment, a well-designed authorization concept helps to ensure the efficiency of business processes without jeopardizing data integrity within the company. Frequent changes of responsibilities or employees as well as the hybrid use of different clients - if the concept is updated regularly - do not pose a security risk at any time.

Creating an authorization concept – important components

Setting up an IT authorization concept is a complex and detailed process, but it can improve the security of a company's data and premises enormously. It therefore makes sense to work through the following points carefully and step by step. 

Gathering all information 

To begin with, companies should compile a comprehensive list of all employees, their tasks, responsibilities, access, devices and applications used. This list must be as complete as possible so as not to risk critical gaps in the authorization concept. 

When compiling this information, additional persons who are not employees but who have access to data or access to premises in their role, such as external service providers, must also be taken into account. 

Creating employee identities 

In order to be able to grant individual employees specific rights, each employee needs their own digital identity. The department in which they work, which clients they use and which applications they need for their work are stored centrally here. The data accesses relevant to them are also stored here. 

Comprehensive categorization and clear assignment are of central importance for the authorization concept - for example, each (active) end device must be assigned to a specific employee in order to avoid any gaps. 

Defining access and authorization types 

It is necessary to define exactly which authorizations a specific role has. With regard to working on data, for example, a distinction must be made between the following authorizations:

  • No access (no access at all)
  • Read (read content)
  • Create (create content)
  • Change (create, change and delete content)
  • All rights (full access rights)

These authorization types can be specified again for individual areas. For example, an employee with Create rights in the HR area can only edit data in this role that belongs to their department. According to the “need to know principle”, employees receive the least possible amount of authorizations or information required to successfully carry out their activities. 

Using role concepts

Employee roles are a central pillar of a role and authorization concept. The principle behind this: All employees who carry out identical activities in identical premises should be assigned identical roles. Authorizations are never linked to employees, but always to roles. Employees are assigned to the appropriate role and therefore have all the authorizations for this role.

If employees have several roles at the same time, it must be ensured that no contradictions arise - for example, if role A does not allow access to area X, but role B requires exactly this access. A great deal of sensitivity is required when defining access rights for the authorization concept. 

Regular review of concepts 

The quality of all authorization concepts stands and falls with how up-to-date they are. Companies need to ensure that the defined specifications for authorizations are adhered to and that the concept is continuously adapted to innovations and changes in processes. 

For example, the personnel master data stored in our GFOS software can be used to quickly audit all authorizations. Adjustments can be made centrally with just a few clicks. This allows companies to maintain an overview at all times and prevent the risk of “privilege creep” through routine updates. 

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Why do businesses need authorization concepts?

A detailed authorization concept offers companies a wide range of benefits. These range from more efficient processes and short decision-making paths to compliance with key legal requirements such as the GDPR. The following points are particularly important:

Protection of sensitive information 

By professionally implementing an authorization concept, companies can ensure that sensitive information (business / customer / employee data) is only available to authorized persons. Unauthorized persons have neither physical nor digital access to this data, which effectively prevents theft and misuse and represents an important pillar in the company's internal risk management. 

Compliance with legal requirements

The introduction of the GDPR has significantly tightened existing legal requirements in terms of data protection. Companies must ensure that data is collected, stored and processed in compliance with data protection regulations. A well-planned authorization concept enables companies to comply with these legal requirements - both within Europe (GDPR) and beyond (HIPAA, etc.).

Optimization of license usage 

Thanks to the detailed breakdown of all employees, clients and applications, companies know whether there is an oversupply or undersupply of software licenses. This makes it possible to optimally equip the workforce or, if necessary, to sell surplus licenses.

Scalability + predictability 

If businesses have well thought-out authorization concepts, these can usually be scaled without any problems, provided there are no significant changes to the process or structures. In this way, the concept simply grows with the company and offers maximum planning capability in the future. 

Incresing efficiency 

By assigning authorizations in a well thought-out way, employees know exactly which data or areas they can work with - and where they cannot. At the same time, companies no longer have to deal with tedious special regulations and detailed controls, which means that everyone involved has additional resources for their work. 

Authorization types

An authorization concept can be used to define and manage numerous types of authorizations for various roles. The respective roles can be designed very differently. 

Time-based authorization 

Timed authorizations allow access to premises or access to data either only during a certain period of time or for a predefined period of time. This is useful, for example, if external service providers require access to systems such as servers or other areas for a fixed period of time. 

Individual authorization 

Individual authorizations are assigned specifically for individual persons. These rights give people or users separate access rights to data or areas. Although this custom form of assigning rights offers maximum control, assigning such rights to a large number of users tends to be inefficient, time-consuming to organize and prone to errors. 

A well thought-out authorization concept requires precise documentation so that the logic can still be understood at a later date; Image © GFOS Group

Group authorization 

Group permissions are assigned to a group of users who have similar tasks or roles within the company. Changes to the rights can be easily transferred to all employees who have identical roles. For many companies, this assignment practice is ideal as it usually represents a good compromise between efficiency and clarity within the company.

Combined authorization

With this variant, employees have additional individual authorizations in addition to group authorizations. An IT employee may also have access rights to server rooms with particularly sensitive data. Assigning combined authorizations can be practical, but as with the pure assignment of individual authorizations, care must also be taken here to ensure that critical authorizations do not accumulate for individual persons.

Dynamic authorization 

This type is often assigned in large companies that have a large number of employees and a complex IT infrastructure. They are particularly suitable for automatically assigning new roles to employees based on special events (promotion / change of department). 

At the same time, they are ideal if employees are only to be granted access under certain conditions (time of day / active project). If set up carefully, this authorization concept offers maximum flexibility and security - but the setup itself is very complex.

Authorization concepts in the context of access control software

In combination with modular security solutions such as access control systems, individual authorization concepts offer the possibility of effectively protecting companies against unauthorized access. The first step is to decide where (at which terminal), when (based on ID card/access model) and who (personnel/ID card number) should have access.

When assigning authorizations within an access software, three components for the rights must be clarified; Image © GFOS Group

Access authorizations

Access authorizations stored in a system (according to groups / roles) can be used to effectively regulate access to individual rooms, the building complex or the entire company premises. Such access systems are often combined with access cards, transponders or modern mobile access solutions (smartphone / wearable).

The flexibility of these systems is not only practical for employees: if the in-house visitor management software is integrated into the authorization concept, one-off or time-limited access authorizations can also be generated for visitor groups.

Zone-based authorizations

With the help of appropriate access control software and the necessary hardware components such as readers or control units, buildings or facilities can be divided into sub-areas or zones, for which separate authorizations can then be defined. For example, employees in the “Office team” role only have access to offices, people with the “IT team” role have access to all office and server rooms and staff in the “Logistics” access group only have access to storage rooms. 

As the areas to which each role requires access are specifically defined, security incidents caused by unauthorized persons are virtually impossible if the system is set up correctly. 

Time-based access control

With time-based access control, employees can only access certain areas/areas within certain time periods. The system checks whether an employee is authorized for the relevant time period. If they use their RFID chip card to open a door at 7:30 AM and authorization is granted between 7:00 AM and 6:00 PM, the person can enter. If readers are placed at the entrance and exit, it is even possible to check whether the person has left the building again. In an emergency, for example, attendance can be tracked using an evacuation list. 

Event-based access control 

Special events can be defined within the software. If these occur, they trigger special regulations. For example, certain doors can be unlocked in the event of a fire alarm, which facilitates a quick evacuation. On the other hand, a predefined security incident can mean that doors in certain areas can no longer be opened using an electronic locking system. 

Authorization concepts in the context of HR software

Employee data can also be effectively secured against unauthorized use with the help of suitable software solutions. 

Software authorizations / employee self-service 

Software access rights can be controlled very precisely using a role and authorization concept. For example, staff can be given access to data and functions relevant to them in an application, such as for vacation planning or their own time recording. This can be done via an employee self-service portal, for example, which employees can use to easily manage their own data. 

At the same time, the authorization concept provides additional access rights for managers and executives, who receive comprehensive access to evaluation and analysis functions within the personnel controlling software via the identical software. These functions are in turn used by HR managers for workforce scheduling or similar planning tasks.

Increase security with an authorization concept
Use automation within GFOS.Access Control to increase security in your company. Our experts will be happy to advise you and work with you to create a customized concept.
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