Basic access control

Imagine you have a special toy that you really love and you want to share it with your friends, but you only want the ones you trust to play with it. What do you do? You create a rule – only the friends you trust are allowed to play with the toy.

Access control is the same idea, but for grown-ups and computer systems! It's a way to decide who is allowed to access a certain thing, like a file or a computer network.

Basic access control is simply the process of deciding who is allowed to access what. It has three main parts: authentication, authorization, and accountability.

Authentication is like asking for a password or a secret code to prove who you are before you can enter a certain area. Authorization is the permission to enter that area once you've been authenticated. Accountability is keeping track of who went where and when, so you can keep your toy safe and sound.

So, access control is like a set of rules or a group of bouncers that decide who is allowed into a special room or access to something important, like your favorite toy. Just like you are careful with your toy, computer systems use access control to keep certain information or areas safe from people who shouldn't have access to them.