mandatory access control

An access control service that enforces a security policy based on comparing (a) security labels, which indicate how sensitive or critical system resources are, with (b) security clearances, which indicate that system entities are eligible to access certain resources. (See: discretionary access control, MAC, rule-based security policy.)

Derivation: This kind of access control is called "mandatory" because an entity that has clearance to access a resource is not permitted, just by its own volition, to enable another entity to access that resource.

"A means of restricting access to objects based on the sensitivity (as represented by a label) of the information contained in the objects and the formal authorization (i.e., clearance) of subjects to access information of such sensitivity." [DoD1]