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Cybersecurity vocabulary · Authentication and Access Control

Authorization

Meaning in cybersecurity, with examples

/ˌɔːθərəˈzeɪʃən/nounCore term

In cybersecurity, authorization means: The process of deciding what an authenticated user or system is allowed to do, such as which files they can read or which actions they can perform.

In Turkish: yetkilendirme, yetki denetimi

How it is used

Always comes after authentication. Developers and auditors talk about authorization checks, permissions and roles; a missing check is an authorization flaw. Often written 'authZ'. British texts may spell it 'authorisation'.

Example sentences

  1. The API checks authorization on every request, not just at login.

  2. This finding is an authorization issue: users can edit records they should only be able to view.

Common collocations

  • authorization check
  • authorization flaw
  • require authorization
  • written authorization
  • authenticationThe process of checking that a user, device or system really is who or what it claims to be, for example with a password, a code or a fingerprint.
  • access controlThe rules and technical measures that decide who or what can use a system, view data or enter a place, and what they are allowed to do there.
  • least privilegeThe principle that every user, program or system should get only the minimum access it needs to do its job, and nothing more.
  • role-based access controlA way of managing permissions in which rights are given to roles, such as 'accountant' or 'admin', and users get access by being assigned to a role.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Authentication and Access Control

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