What is least privilege?
Least privilege is the principle that every user, application and AI agent should have only the access it needs to do its job, for only as long as it needs it. Anything more is risk with no business value.
How it works
In practice it means role-based access, regular access reviews, separate admin accounts, just-in-time elevation for privileged tasks, and removing access when people move or leave.
Access tends to grow over time as people change roles and projects. Least privilege is a continuous effort that runs alongside every role change.
Why it matters
When an account is compromised, its access decides the damage. Least privilege limits the blast radius of every mistake and every stolen credential.
