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Access control devices properly identify people, and verify their identity through an authentication process so they can be held accountable for their actions. Good access control systems record and timestamp all communications and transactions so that access to systems and information can be audited at later dates.

Reputable access control systems all provide authentication, authorization, and administration. Authentication is a process in which users are challenged for identity credentials so that it is possible to verify that they are who they say they are. Once a user has been authenticated, authorisation determines what resources a user is allowed to access. A user can be authenticated to a network domain, but only be authorized to access one system or file within that domain. Administration refers to the ability to add, delete, and modify user accounts and user account privileges.

Access Control Objectives

The primary objective of access control is to preserve and protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information, systems, and resources. Many people confuse confidentiality with integrity. Confidentiality refers to the assurance that only authorized individuals are able to view and access data and systems. Integrity refers to protecting the data from unauthorized modification. You can have confidentiality without integrity and vice versa. It's important that only the right people have access to the data, but it's also important that the data is the right data, and not data that has been modified either accidentally or on purpose.

Availability is certainly less confusing than confidentiality or integrity. While data and resources need to be secure, they also need to be accessible and available in a timely manner. If you have to open 10 locked safes to obtain a piece of data, the data is not very available in a timely fashion. While availability may seem obvious, it is important to acknowledge that it is a goal so that security is not overdone to the point where the data is of no use to anyone.

Access Control Technologies

There are different types of access control technologies that can all be used to solve enterprise access solutions. Tokens, smart cards, encrypted keys, and passwords are some of the more popular access control technologies.

Biometric devices authenticate users to access control systems through some sort of personal identifier such as a fingerprint, voiceprint, iris scan, retina scan, facial scan, or signature dynamics. The nice thing about using biometrics is that end-users do not lose or misplace their personal identifier. It's hard to leave your fingers at home. However, biometrics have not caught on as fast as originally anticipated due to the false positives and false negatives that are common when using biometric technologies.

Smart or Proximity Cards are plastic cards that have integrated circuits or storage receptacles embedded in them. Smart cards with integrated circuits that can execute transactions and are often referred to as "active" smart cards. Cards with memory receptacles that simply store information (such as your bank ATM card) are referred to as "passive." Whether or not a memory card is a type of smart card depends on who you ask and what marketing material you are reading. Used to authenticate users to domains, systems, and networks, smart cards offer two-factor authentication — something a user has, and something a user knows. The card is what the user has, and the personal identification number (PIN) is what the person knows.

A token is a handheld device that has a built-in challenge response scheme that authenticates with an enterprise server. Today's leading tokens typically use time-based challenge and response algorithms that constantly change and expire after a certain length of time, e.g., one minute. Like smart cards, tokens use two-factor authentication. However, unlike smart cards, the two-factor authentication is constantly changing based on timed intervals — therefore, when a password is entered, it cannot be reused, even if someone sniffing the wire detected it in transit.

Encrypted keys are mathematical algorithms that are used to secure confidential information and verify the authenticity of the people sending and receiving the information. Standards for encrypted keys have been created to make sure that security requirements are taken into account, and to allow technologies made by different vendors to work together. The most widely used standard for encrypted keys is called X.509 digital certificates. Using digital certificates allows you to stipulate who can access and view the information you are encrypting with the key.

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