Enterprises face increasingly sophisticated attacks, like advanced persistent threats, from well-financed organized crime syndicates and rogue nation-states. To further compound matters, the prevalence of insider threats has heightened the need to enforce security so that only the right people can access the right resources. XACML has emerged as a robust identity and entitlement management for enterprises at scale. What is XACML? eXtensible Access Control Markup Language (XACML) is an XML-based language that creates secure access control policies, used primarily for attribute-based access control (ABAC) authorization solutions. XACML is standardized by the technical committee of the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) consortium. XACML is designed to work with another OASIS standard known as the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML). The cornerstone of SAML is sharing security information revolving around authentication and authorization across systems. What are XACML use cases? Enterprises must enforce security access or risk compromising their intellectual property, proprietary information, and vital company secrets. Here are a couple of other pivotal XACML use cases: Trusted Security: The primary use of XACML is to enforce security access policies on anyone who wants to use or otherwise take action on a digital resource. Interoperability: To foster the objective of trusted security, XACML promotes interoperability between authorization implementations using common terminology. Consistent implementation: XACML’s standardization is a unifying factor that allows organizations to deploy across-the-board security policies instead of splintered policy implementation for various access points like email and internet gateways. Flexibility: XACML can be used where organizations prefer a more flexible approach than the static permission model of role-based access control (RBAC) systems. A wide array of implementation options: XACML is deployed in various online and cybersecurity components such as enterprise security applications, enterprise digital rights management (EDRM), and assorted web services. How Does XACML Work? Unlike RBAC solutions, XACML is attribute-based, which provides security teams more latitude in defining access permissions. However, it isn’t constrained to only using attributes but also incorporates policies. XACML is implemented as an access control framework through a fine-grained architecture comprising a distinct set of components: Policy Enforcement Point (PEP): To access a resource, a user makes a request to an asset that contains or protects the resource, like a web server, database, or file system. This asset is known as the Policy Enforcement Point (PEP) in XACML jargon. Upon receipt of the user request, the PEP will subsequently form its own request. The PEP request consists of the resource requested, the requester’s attributes, the action to be undertaken on the resource, and other relevant information. After this, the PEP sends the request it has formed to a Policy Decision Point (PDP). Policy Decision Point (PDP): The role of the PDP is to evaluate the request sent from the PEP against the policy that applies to it. To do so, the PDP retrieves descriptive attributes such as the user’s role, security clearance, and the requested document’s data classification. The PDP loads the XACML policies and gauges them against the request attributes to arrive at a decision. As a result of this evaluation, the PDP decides whether to grant or deny the request. The PDP’s answer is, in turn, returned to the PEP, which enacts the decision to grant or deny the resource to the requester. Policy Information Point (PIP): To arrive at a decision, the PDP often queries the PIP to gather the descriptive attributes of the user or to obtain any missing data snapshot of the request from the attribute store. Policy Administration Point (PAP): The role of the PAP is to manage the PDP, PIP, and all relevant policies so their functionality works effectively. XACML Policy Elements, Language Structure, and Syntax While XACML is attribute-based, it hinges on a combination of several high-level components: Rules Policies Policy sets Attributes Target Rules A rule serves as the basic component of a policy. A rule is written with Boolean logic to enhance its delivery of a desired policy outcome. The boolean expression allows the rule's target to be evaluated on its own merits. A rule engine is a program that examines established rules and subsequently proposes a set of behaviors — defined by policies expressed in XACML — and how to adequately comply with them. Policy A policy consists of a rule or a set of rules and a specified algorithm. In addition, a policy could feature optional obligations or advice expressions. Policy set A policy set is a group of policies that can be distributed to several locations. Attribute These are named values of various types considered in the authorization decisions. Target A target is a boolean statement that identifies the request or set of requests the XACML rule, policy, or policy applies to. The Benefits of Using XACML As an access control standard, XACML provides many advantages, such as the following:

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The sanctity of patient/doctor confidentiality in the digital age requires strict security measures to safeguard healthcare data. This requires balancing data protection and privacy with a low-friction, privileged access environment that prevents unauthorized access to patient records. What Is Healthcare Data Security? Healthcare data security is the process and framework that ensures electronic health records (EHR) are stored securely to prevent unauthorized access to patient information. Apart from the data, healthcare data security also extends to the devices, computers, endpoints, and networks used by healthcare providers and third-party vendors. The Risk Factors in Healthcare Data Security Generally, EHR face the same risks as intellectual property and sensitive corporate data. However, privacy issues are more resonant with patient data, coupled with the confidentiality of its personally identifiable information (PII). In addition to medical data, patient records often contain financial details like bank accounts and credit card information. This is worth a lot of money in the black markets of the dark web, making it a prime target for criminals who subsequently use it for identity theft fraud. Protected health information (PHI) is as varied as DNA samples, fingerprint scans, digital files, and database records. The multifaceted nature of healthcare data, ranging from structured and unstructured variety, significantly adds to the challenge of protecting it. As a result of the massive amount of lucrative patient data it stores, the healthcare industry is one of the biggest targets for cyberattacks. Unfortunately, most hospitals and healthcare providers face an asymmetric battlefield regarding healthcare data security. Unlike large enterprises, most healthcare providers lack the resources and expertise to equip themselves with cutting-edge cybersecurity to thwart advanced persistent threats. This lack of resources and expertise results in a failure to continuously keep patient data secure. Below are some of the risk factors that compromise healthcare data security: The Use of Legacy Systems Hospitals are notorious for using legacy systems. By their very definition, legacy systems are antiquated. This risk posed by their outdated nature is compounded by the fact that technological change moves with rapid speed and velocity. A legacy system comes in the form of old apps, network protocols, and operating systems. This obsolete technology is often riddled with security flaws that offer hackers abundant security loopholes to exploit, and yet because they are often discontinued, they lack technical or customer support to address those security flaws. Inadequate Hardened Security of Medical Devices Medical devices like X-rays and MRIs are also a potent vectors of attack for hackers. Although they provide lifesaving treatment and store patient data, medical devices typically lack the hardened security perimeter of network devices such as computers and laptops. To compound the problem, like most IoT devices, their endpoints are increasingly connected to the internet, providing an easy entry point for hackers to gain access. Moreover, once these devices and their installed software reach their end-of-life, vendors stop providing the necessary support and updates to keep them secure. Unsecured or Poor Wireless Networks With the prevalence of electronic records and the digitalization of healthcare operations, hospitals and care providers need network access to function. However, without diligently securing these wireless networks, patient data can be compromised through packet sniffing and man-in-the-middle attacks. In addition, patients and medical staff routinely need to access EHR remotely, opening up more opportunities for endpoint attacks. Improper Patch Management and Security Protocols The proliferation of medical and computing devices in hospitals makes keeping track of regular software patches and upgrades challenging. Risk factors posed by insufficient security protocols are poor password management–especially on systems containing PHI–and using default passwords and factory-settings configurations on both network and medical equipment. Healthcare Data Security Standards The importance of healthcare has compelled authorities around the world to establish strict security standards in storing and handling PHI. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is applicable in the United States and mandates the protection of certain health information. Maintaining HIPAA compliance ensures that organizations handle patient data carefully to avoid significant fines, penalties, and even lawsuits. The Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST) is globally recognized as a risk management framework. Among other certifications, it offers various levels of adaptive assessment to quantify risks. ISO 27001 / ISO 27799 have emerged as international standards for protecting confidential medical information. ISO 27001 defines best practices and is adopted by organizations in healthcare, financial services, and government dealing with sensitive data. The Most Common Healthcare Data Security Challenges Healthcare is a complex ecosystem, with an astronomical number of devices and medical equipment used daily. This makes it difficult to keep on track of the security needs of individual units. While it's highly sensitive, healthcare data also needs to be securely shared with relevant stakeholders to serve the patient's best interest. These factors create many challenges to effectively secure healthcare data. Below are a few of the challenges that cybersecurity experts need to contend with in the healthcare domain. Data Breaches Some data breaches result from malicious intent, while other data leakages occur inadvertently from improper handling of EHR due to negligence or carelessness. Here are some of the most prevalent cyber threats and vulnerabilities that result in healthcare data breaches: Ransomware attacks Electronic health records vulnerabilities Insider threats from disgruntled employees Unintentional disclosure of patient information Lost, stolen, or misplaced devices Identity fraud Email phishing scams DDoS attacks Best Practices For Safeguarding Healthcare Data? To be effective, healthcare data security solutions need to incorporate the following best practices:

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