1. A method, in a data processing system comprising at least one hardware processor, for securing access to an element of a network comprising: associating, the at least one hardware processor, the element with a set of data; configuring, by the at least one hardware processor, a portion of the data to be responsive to a first subset of access rights; generating, by the at least one hardware processor, a request by a user to acquire a first type of access; determining, by the at least one hardware processor, whether to permit the first type of access; associating, by the at least one hardware processor, at least the portion of the data with a first node of a hierarchical data structure; defining, by the at least one hardware processor, a first security set as including the first subset of access rights associated with the user; associating, by the at least one hardware processor, the first security set with a second node of the hierarchical data structure, wherein the second node is at a higher level of the hierarchical data structure than is the first node; and propagating, by the at least one hardware processor, the first subset of access rights through inheritance from the second node to the first node.