Restrict Access to Sensitive Content

Overview

Traditionally when securing information within IT systems it is customary to begin with the most restrictive access permissions possible, and then open up, or grant, access from there. However, in most Knowledge Base systems this model is typically reversed. Permissions to read published content is granted to everyone by default, and specific content has visibility restricted as required.

What materials do I need?

  • Internet access
  • A web browser

How do I use this technology?

Determine restrictions

In order to successfully apply restrictions to a knowledge article it is import to identify which group(s) of people should have access to it. Within UAA knowledge articles are typically classified with one of three types of access restrictions. These are:

  • Public: Anyone with Internet access will be able to view this article once published without having to login to the Knowledge Base system.
  • UA community: Anyone within the UA community will be able to view this article once published, and once they login to the Knowledge Base system.
  • Internal: Only employees of a department(s) associated with a specific knowledge category will be able to view this article once published, and once they login to the Knowledge Base system.

Set public access

All knowledge articles default to public access once published. So there is no specific steps necessary to grant an article this access level.

Set UA community access

To restrict a knowledge article to only the UA community, the following will need to be done.

  1. Locate the desired Knowledge Article.
  2. Click Edit Article.
  3. Click Permissions.
  4. Uncheck the Inherit Permissions box.
  5. Verify that the Public checkbox is not selected.
  6. Under Article Permissions select Allow all individuals to view this article EXCEPT the associated groups below.
  7. Under the Associated Group list verify that no groups are listed.
  8. Click Save.

Set internal access

To restrict a knowledge article to only the specific group(s) within the UA community, the following will need to be done.

  1. Locate the desired Knowledge Article.
  2. Click Edit Article.
  3. Click Settings.
  4. Verify that the Category field is set to Internal KB > [Department Name] where [department name] is the department that access to the article should be restricted to.
  5. Click Permissions.
  6. Verify the Inherit Permissions box is checked.
  7. Click Save.

Need additional help or have issues

For additional assistance contact the IT Services Technical Support Center via phone at (907) 786-4646, toll-free at (877) 633-3888, email us at uaa.techsupport@alaska.edu, or visit the Services section to open a support ticket.

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