Patent ID: 7529873

Claim:
A computer program product loadable into an internal memory of a digital computer, said computer program product comprising software code adapted to be executed on said digital computer to perform a method for controlling access to resources within an information technology (IT) system in conjunction with executing a procedure that defines a plurality of commands, said method comprising: receiving the plurality of commands from a requesting entity, each command requesting access to an associated resource in order to perform a function; identifying an assigned authority level of the requesting entity; determining at least one required authority level of the requesting entity for each command in order for the requesting entity to be granted access to the requested resource associated with said each command, said at least one required authority level for each command being determined as a function of said each command and a resource criticality classification of the resource associated with said each command; granting the requesting entity said requested access to the resource associated with each command if a determination has been made that each condition of at least one specified condition has been satisfied, said at least one specified condition being specific to each command, said at least one specified condition comprising a condition of the assigned authority level matching or exceeding an authority level of the at least one required authority level of said each command; denying the requesting entity said requested access if a determination has been made that each condition of said at least one specified condition has not been satisfied.