What is Least Privilege?
The Principle of Least Privilege is one of the most fundamental concepts in information security, stating that every user, application, and system should have access to only the resources absolutely necessary for their specific function. By limiting access rights to the bare minimum, organizations significantly reduce the potential damage that can result from accidents, errors, or compromised accounts an attacker who gains access to a low-privileged account can do far less damage than one who compromises an administrator. Implementing least privilege requires regular access reviews, role-based access controls, just-in-time provisioning, and automated removal of unnecessary entitlements as users change roles or leave the organization.