Concept / Term · Foundational
Security principle
Giving each person, service or process only the minimum access needed for its job, for only as long as needed.
Field note
Least privilege means granting an identity only the access needed for its current task, for no longer than necessary. It applies to people, applications, devices and automated services.
The principle comes from computer-security design: limiting authority reduces the damage that a mistake, compromised account or malicious action can cause.
Teams replace broad administrator rights with task-specific roles, short-lived elevation and regular reviews of unused permission.
Authentication proves who an identity is; least privilege limits what happens if that trusted identity is misused.
In a sentence“The reporting service can read invoice totals but cannot change customer or payment records.”