What feature ensures that only authorized users can access specific resources?

The correct answer is authorization. This feature is crucial in ensuring that only users who have been granted specific rights are able to access particular resources. While authentication verifies the identity of a user—confirming that they are who they say they are—authorization determines what that authenticated user is permitted to do within a system.

In practical terms, once a user has logged in and their identity has been verified through authentication, the system then assesses that user’s permissions. Authorization involves assigning and enforcing specific privileges or permissions that dictate what resources a user can access and what actions they can perform with those resources.

Access control is a broader concept that encompasses both authentication and authorization processes, as well as the methods and policies that govern how access decisions are made and enforced. However, it is authorization that specifically addresses the question of ensuring that only authorized users can interact with certain resources.