When organizations adopt remote work, they face increased cybersecurity risks. Privileged Access Management (PAM) helps mitigate these risks by reducing the attack surface, minimizing insider threats,
The main difference between Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) is how they grant access to users and resources. RBAC focuses on granting access to users based on their roles within an organization, while ABAC grants users access based on their characteristics, such as their environment.
Continue reading to learn more about RBAC and ABAC, their crucial differences and which form of access control your organization should use.
What is role-based access control?
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) limits user access to systems, networks and additional resources by granting them only what’s necessary for their specific role. At its core, RBAC relies on the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP) to ensure that users are only granted access to what they need to do their jobs effectively. For example, imagine that everyone in your organization, from customer support staff to IT teams, has the same access to all sensitive information. If one employee’s account becomes compromised, a cybercriminal would then be able to steal data at higher levels of your organization than the employee should have had access to. When your organization implements RBAC, employees will be unable to access anything beyond what is required for their role. This way, if a data breach or cyber attack were to occur, a cybercriminal would be limited to the data and information that only the impacted employees have access to, instead of the entire organization.
What is attribute-based access control?
Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) determines who can access systems, networks and data based on attributes associated with security standards, organizational resources and a user’s environment. Unlike RBAC, ABAC goes beyond a user’s role and considers factors outside of their identity to authorize access to resources, such as their characteristics, environment and device. For example, let’s say your organization’s financial analyst needs to review financial data, but you only want them to view this sensitive data when they are in the office and during business hours. ABAC ensures that only users with the correct job title and department can view or edit reports, authorizing users to view sensitive information within certain parameters to enhance the safety of your work environment.
The key differences between RBAC and ABAC
Even though both RBAC and ABAC manage permissions and access controls, they have significant differences that determine how access is granted.

RBAC is role-based; ABAC is attribute-based
The most obvious difference between RBAC and ABAC lies in their names: RBAC is role-based, while ABAC is attribute-based. This means that RBAC grants access based on a user’s role in an organization, while ABAC grants access based on a user’s attributes. For example, with RBAC, an HR staff member can access employee payroll information, but someone on the sales team cannot because it doesn’t pertain to their role. ABAC defines the characteristics and factors needed for an authorized user to access certain resources, such as a doctor being able to access patient records only if they are in their hospital during work hours and the patient is theirs.
RBAC has static permissions; ABAC allows fine-grained control
Once an employee’s role is categorized with RBAC, those permissions remain the same until updated by an administrator. If you have an employee on your marketing team, they will be granted all marketing-related permissions with RBAC, even if they also need access to sales data or financial information. However, ABAC bases its controls on multiple characteristics, which allows for more control and flexibility because a user’s permissions aren’t as difficult to change. Let’s say the same employee on your marketing team who usually works in the office suddenly has to shift to a remote environment. ABAC will allow you to change the characteristics of their permissions by no longer requiring them to be in the office to access certain data or resources.
RBAC is less adaptable to changes; ABAC adjusts quickly to attribute changes
It’s much easier to change or update an employee’s permissions with ABAC than with RBAC. With RBAC, imagine you promote someone on your finance team to a manager role, which requires them to have more access to data. To make this update with RBAC, you would have to create a new role and reassign that employee to a role with limited but updated access. This tedious process is simplified with ABAC, which would automatically adjust based on an employee’s new title by granting them the necessary permissions based on their role and additional factors. By making quick adjustments with ABAC, you save time and can easily change permissions rather than modifying entire roles and reassigning employees to specific titles.
RBAC struggles with many roles; ABAC scales better with attributes
If you work in a large organization, you may have many departments with different job titles within each. As your organization grows, new roles will need to be created. RBAC struggles with an abundance of roles because each role requires unique access to certain resources and materials, so administrators must monitor and manage these roles and their authorized permissions. By implementing ABAC, a large organization can grant access to resources based on varying attributes, such as which department someone is in, where they are working from and their unique job title. ABAC is more scalable for large organizations because new users can be granted access based on their specific attributes without creating entirely new roles and assignments.
RBAC is easier to implement than ABAC
Implementing RBAC is much easier than ABAC due to its simpler structure, making it better suited for small businesses. Using RBAC means that each role needs to be defined and assigned with appropriate permissions, limiting who can access certain resources or data. While RBAC’s structure is easy to manage on a smaller scale, ABAC is much more difficult to implement because its attributes can vary dramatically. In a large organization, you will need to determine what attributes will grant certain privileges and which resources employees can access based on those attributes. Implementing ABAC requires extensive planning and time to evaluate which attributes are necessary for different types of information, systems and resources.
Should you use RBAC or ABAC?
Whether RBAC or ABAC is the right authorization model for you largely depends on your organization’s size, budget and security needs.
When to use RBAC
- You are a small or medium-sized organization
- Your organization has structured groups and few distinct titles
- You don’t expect to onboard a large number of new employees
When to use ABAC
- You are a large organization that continues to grow
- Your organization has employees working in multiple locations and time zones
- You want flexible and granular policies that can change as security needs evolve
Enforce access controls with a PAM solution
An easy way for your organization to implement either authorization model is by using a Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution. Most PAM solutions give administrators full visibility into which users are accessing your network, applications, systems and devices. By controlling who can have access, especially to sensitive data, you can manage and control the security of any privileged accounts with a PAM solution like KeeperPAM®.
Request a demo of KeeperPAM today to better protect your organization’s data and manage access controls with ease.