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'''Attribute-based access control''' ('''ABAC'''), also known as '''policy-based access control''', defines an [[access control]] paradigm whereby access rights are granted to users through the use of [[Policy|policies]] which combine attributes together. The policies can use any type of [[Attribute (computing)|attributes]] (user attributes, resource attributes, object, environment attributes etc.). This model supports [[Boolean Logic|Boolean logic]], in which rules contain "IF, THEN" statements about who is making the request, the resource, and the action. For example: IF the requestor is a manager, THEN allow [[File system permissions|read/write access]] to sensitive data.
Unlike [[Role-based access control|role-based access control (RBAC)]], which employs pre-defined roles that carry a specific set of [[Privilege (computing)|privileges]] associated with them and to which subjects are assigned, the key difference with ABAC is the concept of policies that express a complex Boolean rule set that can evaluate many different attributes.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014 |url=http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/SpecialPublications/NIST.SP.800-162.pdf |title=SP 800-162, Guide to Attribute Based Access Control (ABAC) Definition and Considerations |publisher=NIST |accessdate=2015-12-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305222004/http://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/specialpublications/NIST.sp.800-162.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-05 |dead-url=yes }}</ref> Attribute values can be set-valued or atomic-valued. Set-valued attributes contain more than one atomic value. Examples are ''role'' and ''project''. Atomic-valued attributes contain only one atomic value. Examples are [[Classified information#Clearance|clearance]] and [[Information sensitivity|sensitivity]]. Attributes can be compared to static [[Value (computer science)|values]] or to one another, thus enabling relation-based access control.
Although the concept itself existed for many years, ABAC is considered<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.axiomatics.com/attribute-based-access-control.html |title=Attribute Based Access Control (ABAC), ''axiomatics.com'' |accessdate=2016-07-05}}</ref> a "next generation" authorization model because it provides dynamic, context-aware and risk-intelligent access control to resources allowing access control policies that include specific attributes from many different information systems to be defined to resolve an authorization and achieve an efficient regulatory compliance, allowing enterprises flexibility in their implementations based on their existing infrastructures.
Attribute-based access control is sometimes referred to as '''policy-based access control''' ('''PBAC''') or '''claims-based access control''' ('''CBAC'''),<ref>[http://genericiam.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/rbac-first-abac-next-or-what.html RBAC first – ABAC next, or what?, 2015, Horst Walther, ''GenericIAM Blog'']. Retrieved on 2016-08-30.</ref>g which is a Microsoft-specific term.<ref>[http://www.hpl.hp.com/techreports/2009/HPL-2009-30.pdf Karp, Alan, Harry Haury, and Michael Davis. "From ABAC to ZBAC: the evolution of access control models." ''International Conference on Information Warfare and Security''. Academic Conferences International Limited, 2010]. Retrieved on 2016-08-30.</ref> The key standards that implement ABAC are [[XACML]] and [[ALFA (XACML)]].
== Dimensions of attribute-based access control ==
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