Introduction

Giving someone access is easy.
Taking it away when they no longer need it? That’s where many organizations slip up.

ISO 27001 Control 5.18 ensures access rights are granted only when justified, regularly reviewed, and removed when no longer required keeping your systems clean and your risk low.

Summary of Control 5.18: Access Rights

🔒 Control Title: Access Rights
📘 Source: ISO/IEC 27002:2022, Section 5.18
🧩 Control Category: Organizational
🔍 Attributes:

Control Type: #Preventive / #Detective

Security Properties: #Confidentiality, #Integrity, #Availability

Cybersecurity Concepts: #Identify, #Protect

Operational Capabilities: #Access_Management

Security Domain: #Protection_and_Defense

🎯 Control Objective

To ensure users, devices, and systems are granted access rights that are:

• Justified by a legitimate business need
• Proportional to their role and responsibilities
• Reviewed regularly and revoked when no longer needed

Implementation Guidance

1) Formal Access Request Process:

• All access requests must be approved by management or data owners

2) Assign Based on Roles:

• Use Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) or Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) to avoid one-off permissions

3) Document Access Rights:

• Maintain records of who has access, to what, and why

4) Periodic Access Reviews:

• Conduct quarterly or biannual audits to remove outdated or excessive rights

5) Prompt Revocation:

• Remove rights immediately when someone leaves or changes roles

6) Special Handling for Privileged Accounts:

• Apply extra controls like MFA, session monitoring, and just-in-time access

Why This Control Matters

Without proper access rights management:

• Users may retain unnecessary high-level permissions
• Departed employees or contractors could still access systems
• Attackers who compromise one account might gain far-reaching access

With strong access rights governance:

• Permissions always match current job needs
• Insider threats and accidental misuse are minimized
• Compliance audits are smoother

🔍 Common Pitfalls to Avoid

• “Temporary” access becoming permanent because no one reviewed it
• Granting admin rights “just in case”
• Not tracking who approved the access
• Skipping periodic reviews

💡 Canadian Cyber’s Take

At Canadian Cyber, we help organizations create clear access governance processes that make it easy to grant, adjust, and remove rights quickly without creating security gaps.
We also integrate automated reviews and alerts to catch excess permissions before they become a problem.

🚀 Ready to Keep Your Access Rights in Check?

We can help you build ISO 27001-compliant access rights management that adapts to your business needs while keeping risks low.
👉 Click here to get started.

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