22/11/2025
đ âOnly What You Needâ â The Cyber Rule We Still Donât Use Enough
Why Least Privilege might save your organization from its next big crisis
Thereâs a simple cybersecurity rule that almost feels too obvious:
Give people only the access they need. Nothing extra.
But hereâs the funny part⌠organizations break this rule every single day.
Sometimes out of convenience. Sometimes out of poor documentation.
And sometimes because âthe last guy had access, so letâs just continue.â
Thatâs how breaches happen â quietly, slowly, and in plain sight.
𧨠The danger we overlook
Most cyberattacks donât start with some genius hacker breaking through the firewall.
They start with excess permissions.
A staff member with more privileges than necessary.
A forgotten admin account.
A vendor with full access âjust in case.â
A new intern who somehow ends up with permissions meant for senior staff.
One wrong clickâŚ
One compromised passwordâŚ
And suddenly that âextra accessâ becomes a direct route into your entire system.
đĄ What Least Privilege really means
Itâs not about distrust.
Itâs about control.
The principle of Least Privilege says:
âGive every user, system, or process only the minimum access needed to do their job â and no more.â
Thatâs it.
Simple.
But powerful.
It reduces attack surfaces.
It limits damage when something goes wrong.
And it forces accountability at every level.
âď¸ How to apply it (starting today)
You donât need a full security overhaul. Just begin with deliberate steps:
* Review who has what access â and remove everything unnecessary
* Separate admin accounts from normal user accounts
* Enforce role-based access controls (RBAC)
* Disable old, unused, or âtemporaryâ accounts
* Use just-in-time (JIT) access for sensitive operations
* Document permissions so access doesnât grow out of control over time
* Revalidate privileges regularly â quarterly at a minimum
Every privilege that isnât needed is a potential weakness waiting to be exploited.
đ My take
Least Privilege isnât about restricting people.
Itâs about protecting them â and protecting the systems they rely on.
In a world where attackers only need one weak point, reducing excess access isnât optional.
Itâs a strategy.
Itâs discipline.
Itâs survival.
âOnly what you need.â
Thatâs how strong systems are built.
