Exploratory Survey of Access Control Paradigms and Policy Management Engines

This article presents an in-depth exploration of access control paradigms and policy management engines, aiming to provide insights into their functionalities, strengths, and limitations. The study examines three prominent access control paradigms: Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), Attribute- Based Access Control (ABAC), and Relationship-Based Access Control (ReBAC), elucidating their principles and real-world applications. Furthermore, the article evaluates major policy management engines, including Google Zanzibar, AWS Cedar, and Open Policy Agent (OPA),delineating their architectures, purposes, and strengths. Through this comprehensive analysis, key observations emerge regarding the evolving landscape of access control mechanisms and the critical role of policy management engines in orchestrating access control policies. The findings underscore the importance of aligning access control mechanisms with organizational requirements and use case scenarios, while also highlighting avenues for further research and experimentation in exploring novel approaches to access control and policy management with direct or complementary use of AI.