What is the principle of least privilege implemented in?

The principle of least privilege is primarily implemented through mechanisms that control user permissions and access rights to ensure that individuals or systems are granted only the access necessary to perform their specific tasks. The sudo utility embodies this principle by allowing users to execute commands with elevated privileges only when necessary, rather than giving them permanent administrative access.

By employing sudo, a user can run a command with the privileges of another user, typically the superuser or root. This means that most tasks can be performed with standard user permissions, reducing the risk associated with accidental or malicious misuse of powerful administrative privileges. The temporary elevation of privileges through these commands limits exposure and helps to maintain a more secure system state.

In contrast, administrative privileges refer to the general concept of having high-level access and control within a system, but it does not inherently involve the restriction and review of rights that the principle of least privilege emphasizes. Access control lists specify permissions for groups or users, but they function differently and may not necessarily align with the minimal access ethos exemplified by sudo. Finally, encryption methods are concerned with securing data rather than user permissions and access to system resources, making them unrelated to the principle of least privilege.