Tools / Cyber Security Interview Questions
Why is the Principle of Least Privilege important?
The Principle of Least Privilege states that a user, process, or system should only have the minimum access necessary to perform its function, nothing more.
When accounts hold more privileges than they need, a single compromised account, through phishing or a leaked password, gives an attacker a much larger blast radius to move laterally, escalate privileges, or access sensitive data.
- Limits the damage a compromised account or process can cause
- Reduces the attack surface available to malware that inherits the user's permissions
- Makes audits simpler because access maps clearly to job function
It's applied through role-based access control, just-in-time privilege elevation, and regularly reviewing and revoking unused permissions.
What does the Principle of Least Privilege limit?
What happens when an over-privileged account is compromised?
More Related questions...
