Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) is an access control paradigm that defines access rights based on attributes (characteristics or properties) of users, resources, and the environment. In ABAC, access decisions are made by evaluating policies against the attributes of the entities involved in the access request. These attributes can include user characteristics (such as department job title), resource attributes (like classification levels and owner), and contextual information (such as time of access request and location). ABAC provides a high degree of flexibility and granularity in access control, allowing for dynamic and context-sensitive policies. This approach is suitable for complex environments with diverse and changing access requirements. ABAC can enforce fine-grained control, where policies specify detailed conditions under which access should be granted.
This method can handle diverse scenarios from simple to highly complex, making it applicable in various domains such as healthcare, government, and finance. However, implementing ABAC can be more complex than simpler models like RBAC, as it requires defining and managing many attributes and policies.