What are SharePoint Permissions?

• SharePoint Permissions Definition

  SharePoint Permissions Definition

  SharePoint permissions are access controls that allow you to restrict user rights to ensure SharePoint assets are safe and protected.
• How to manage permissions in SharePoint

  How to manage permissions in SharePoint

  Management of SharePoint permissions involves adding, deleting, and modifying user permissions and access rights. It also requires managing and updating the processes, systems, and applications used to verify the access rights of specific users and SharePoint groups. However, the user roles and their access rights change depending on the tasks they are assigned. SharePoint site administrators need an effective tool to manage and update user permissions efficiently.

  SharePoint access rights management software greatly helps. It can centralize reports and crucial data at a single interface to view user permissions, edit access when no longer required, accelerate cybersecurity investigations, and improve overall system security. The solution can also help reduce the risks of data breaches and demonstrate compliance to meet regulations.
• Default SharePoint permission levels

  Default SharePoint permission levels

  Default permission levels are defined as the set of permissions that allow users to perform specific tasks. SharePoint Server is designed to provide seven permission levels when using the team site template. (other site templates require additional permissions):

  1. View only permissions: Allows users to view application pages and is specifically used for Excel services. Users can view items, create alerts, browse information, and more.
  2. Read permissions: Allows users to view, download, and list items and documents.
  3. SharePoint edit permissions: Users can manage and edit lists and documents
  4. Design permissions: Enables users to edit, add, delete, approve, customize pages, apply themes, borders, and style sheets.
  5. Limited access: Users get fine-grained permissions in limited access and can access shared and limited resources, a specific asset, document library, or a folder. Users cannot access, edit or delete the entire website.
  6. SharePoint contribute permissions: Allows users to edit personal views, manage items, delete, update, modify, and add user information, document libraries, directories, user information, and more.
  7. Full control: Users have full control over the website and are granted all the permission rights.
• Advanced user permissions

  Advanced user permissions

  SharePoint Server includes 33 default user permissions used within the permission levels, which can be configured to perform various tasks. These permission levels provide a general framework to help organizations assign user rights. In some cases, tasks, and scenarios, these permissions might not suit an organization's hierarchical structure needs. Advanced user permissions can be customized to meet specific organization's limitations and tasks. Common types of SharePoint permissions include:

  SharePoint site permissions

  These permissions can greatly impact site configuration, web interface, and personal settings. Administrators can manage, create, and change permission levels on a site and assign access rights to users or groups.

  You can customize site permissions by creating subsites, adding and deleting HTML pages, applying themes and borders, browsing user information, managing alerts, and creating new SharePoint group permissions, and assigning those permissions within the site collection. Users can also utilize remote interface and client integration features.  

  SharePoint list permissions

  Customizing these permissions can directly impact lists, documents, and folder permissions. It can also affect the view of items and application pages.

  The administrator can customize and delete lists, edit items, and override list behaviors. Users can also view, approve, and open items and past versions of documents, lists, and folders.

  SharePoint custom/personal permissions

  SharePoint page permissions can be customized or personalized by adding or removing personal web parts, managing personal views, and updating customized information.
• Best practices for assigning permissions

  Best practices for assigning permissions

  When lists or sites have fine-grained permissions applied to their sub-lists or subsites, it can be difficult to keep track of the unique permissions of each individual or user. Inherited permissions can help simplify the pattern of assigning rights. Organization and management of SharePoint permissions can become easier when there’s a clear hierarchy of permissions and user access rights inherited from the parent. It’s best to arrange lists, subsites, and libraries in a way that they inherit access rights and user permissions directly from the parent.  Here are a few best practices for SharePoint:

  • Identify actively accessed critical data: Assigning permissions to the content-specific data that requires more granular protection like sites and directories consisting of sensitive data is daunting. It involves the identification of actively accessed sensitive data and individuals working on those lines. 
  • Classify and track sensitive data: Creating data-specific groups to access the sensitive data is the best way to avoid giving direct permissions to users. This helps in assigning the permissions to those individuals in a content-specific group and not to the entire department.
  • Categorize and monitor sensitive data: Classification and identification of sensitive data is crucial for proper governance. Once the data is centralized and stored, admins can control access through permission rights and access management.
  • Archive and delete data no longer in use: Limiting the exposure of sensitive data is crucial and admins can do so by reviewing the stale data. They must archive and transfer the data to a location to which a small administrative group has access. Once the data is no longer in use for the organization, it should be deleted.
  • Define standards for access permissions: Adopting the least privileged model ensures access to sensitive data is provided only to those users who need it to perform the tasks. By default, SharePoint provides access to owners (full), members (contribute), and visitors (read).
• Benefits of a reliable access management tool for SharePoint

  Benefits of a reliable access management tool for SharePoint

  SharePoint permissions and access rights can be difficult to understand and manage. Organizations need to have an access management tool to help streamline SharePoint permissions and authorizations by providing visibility into user access rights.