# What is least-privilege authorisation in operational technology?

- Link: https://www.agilicus.com/faq/what-is-least-privilege-authorisation-in-operational-technology/
- Published: 2026-05-11T15:50:57+00:00
- Author: Don Bowman

Least-privilege authorisation is a security principle where users and devices are
granted only the minimum level of access necessary to perform their specific functions.
In an operational technology environment, this means a technician might have read-
only access to telemetry data but no permission to change engineering configurations.
By strictly limiting access rights, organisations can prevent accidental changes
and ensure that if a set of credentials is compromised, the potential damage is 
contained. See our [comparison of granular access vs. legacy methods](https://www.agilicus.com/compare/port-forwarding/).

For more information, see [Industrial Cyber Security Best Practices](https://www.agilicus.com/white-papers/industrial-cyber-security-best-practices/).