Understanding &
Managing
Discretionary
Access
The TAO of Entitlement
Management
Darran Rolls
CTO, SailPoint Technologies
Chief Technology Officer
Chief Information Security Officer
Today’s Agenda
•  Discretionary Access
-  Definition
-  Application
•  The Spectrum of Authorization
-  Static Models
-  Dynamic Models
-  Blended Models
•  Striking the Right Balance
-  What Fits Best Where?
-  Some General Best Practices…
Discretionary Access ?
“Passing or Embedding Control for
an access control decision”
The Spectrum of
Discretionary Access
Discretionary Access Scale
Approval Based - StaticModel Based - Dynamic
Access Control Decisions
Discretionary Access Scale
Discretionary Access Scale
Approval Based - StaticModel Based - Dynamic
Access Control Decisions
Fully Resolvable Policy Based
Discretionary Access Scale
Approval Based - StaticModel Based - Dynamic
Access Control Decisions
Partial of Full Human Interaction
Discretionary Access Scale
Approval Based - StaticModel Based - Dynamic
Access Control Decisions
Balance of Both
Static
“Pertaining to
or characterized by
a fixed or stationary
condition”
www.dictionary.com
“An application access security
mechanism, controlled by local
configuration”
www.darranrolls.com
Distributed…
Heterogeneous…
Static & Isolated…
Who has access to what ?
Centralized Control !
Identity Governance
& Administration
Identity Governance
& Administration
Approvals
Dynamic
“Pertaining to
or characterized by
energy or effective
action”
www.dictionary.com
“An application access security
mechanism, controlled by an
external late binding decision
making process”
www.darranrolls.com
Dynamic Models
ABAC - Entitlements & Context
PIP Attribute
Provider
VDS
PDP
System
System
Target
Target
PEP
PEP
Environment Attributes
+
Rules…
Dynamic Models
ABAC - Entitlements & Context
PIP Attribute
Provider
VDS
PDP
System
System
Target
Target
PEP
PEP
Entitlement
Giving
Attributes…
Environment Attributes
+
Rules…
Entitlement Giving Attributes
Creating High Fidelity Attributes…
High Fidelity Attributes provide assurance that controls and
governance are in place to appropriately manage Entitlement Giving
Attributes…
Dynamic Models
ABAC - Entitlements & Context
PIP Attribute
Provider
VDS
PDP
System
System
Target
Target
PEP
PEP
Environment Attributes
+
Policies…
Policy
Review &
Attestation…
Policy Review & Attestation
Maintaining Integrity…
Policy Controls provide assurance that once developed and deployed,
access policy rules can be considered articles of access attestation
with lifecycle controls & audit
Dynamic Models
ABAC - Entitlements & Context
PIP Attribute
Provider
VDS
PDP
System
System
Target
Target
PEP
PEP
Attributes…
Policies…
Governance
Visibility…
Review…
Change Control…
Audit…
Governance for the Process…
Managing Attributes & Policies
Visibility
• Collection
• Categorization
• Analytics
Review
• Approvals
• Certification
• Policy checks…
Change
• Delegated Admin
• Change
Detection
• Change Approval
Audit
• Reporting
• Activity
• Review
Attribute Integrity Reliability Index
Blended
“To have mixed smoothly and
inseparably together.”
www.dictionary.com
“An application access
security mechanism that
mixes static & dynamic
methods in the
end-to-end process.”
www.darranrolls.com
Just-in-Time
Token Authorization with Governance-based Provisioning
Attribute Integrity Reliability Index
Real-time Approval
Dynamic Manual
Attribute Integrity Reliability Index
Striking a Balance
Blended Access Control Models
Example
IdentityNOWIdentityIQ
Thank You!
darran@sailpoint.com
@djrolls

CIS 2015- Understanding & Managing Discretionary Access: The TAO of Entitlement Management- Darran Rolls