The correct answer is separation of duties. This principle is violated when a single user, like the payroll manager, can both create employee records and approve payments, as it removes the checks and balances needed to prevent fraud or error. Separation of duties mandates that critical tasks be divided among multiple people so that no one individual has end-to-end control over a sensitive process, such as creating a fictitious employee and then authorizing a salary payout. On the Security+ SY0-701 exam, this concept often appears in scenarios involving payroll, financial systems, or change management, testing your ability to identify when conflicting responsibilities are combined. A common trap is confusing it with least privilege, but remember: least privilege limits access rights, while separation of duties splits conflicting tasks across roles. To lock it in, think of the mnemonic “Two hands, one job”—if one person can do it all, the principle is broken.
SY0-701 General Security Concepts Practice Question
This SY0-701 practice question tests your understanding of general security concepts. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A security auditor is reviewing the access controls for a payroll application. The auditor discovers that a single user, the payroll manager, has permissions to both create new employee records and then approve and process salary payments for those records. The company's security policy requires that no single individual should be able to execute both the creation and the approval of a payment for the same employee. Which of the following security principles is the company's policy attempting to enforce?
Why wrong: Least privilege grants users only the permissions necessary to perform their job, but the policy here is about splitting tasks between individuals, not just minimizing permissions.
B
Separation of duties
Separation of duties ensures that no single individual has control over all phases of a critical transaction, reducing the risk of fraud or error.
C
Defense in depth
Why wrong: Defense in depth involves multiple layers of security controls (e.g., firewall, antivirus, encryption), not the division of responsibilities within a process.
D
Mandatory access control
Why wrong: Mandatory access control relies on system-enforced labels and clearances, not on dividing functional roles.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Separation of duties
The company's policy prohibits a single user from both creating employee records and approving payments for them, which is a classic application of separation of duties. This principle ensures that no single individual has the authority to execute two conflicting or sensitive tasks that could lead to fraud or error, such as creating a fictitious employee and then approving a salary payment to that employee. In the context of a payroll application, separation of duties requires distinct roles or users for record creation and payment approval to enforce checks and balances.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Least privilege
Why it's wrong here
Least privilege grants users only the permissions necessary to perform their job, but the policy here is about splitting tasks between individuals, not just minimizing permissions.
✓
Separation of duties
Why this is correct
Separation of duties ensures that no single individual has control over all phases of a critical transaction, reducing the risk of fraud or error.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Defense in depth
Why it's wrong here
Defense in depth involves multiple layers of security controls (e.g., firewall, antivirus, encryption), not the division of responsibilities within a process.
✗
Mandatory access control
Why it's wrong here
Mandatory access control relies on system-enforced labels and clearances, not on dividing functional roles.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse separation of duties with least privilege, but the key distinction is that separation of duties focuses on dividing conflicting tasks among multiple users to prevent fraud, while least privilege focuses on limiting permissions to the minimum needed for a single user's role.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Separation of duties is often implemented through role-based access control (RBAC) with mutually exclusive roles, where a user assigned to one role cannot be assigned to a conflicting role. In a payroll system, this might be enforced by access control lists (ACLs) or application-level logic that checks the user's role before allowing payment approval, ensuring that the creator of a record cannot also be the approver. Real-world compliance frameworks like SOX or PCI DSS mandate separation of duties for financial systems to prevent insider threats and ensure audit trails.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A security analyst at a medium-sized enterprise encounters this scenario during an investigation or architecture review. The correct answer reflects best practice for the specific threat or control described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Security exam questions test whether you can match controls to threats in context — not just recall definitions.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this SY0-701 question in full detail.
General Security Concepts — This question tests General Security Concepts — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Separation of duties — The company's policy prohibits a single user from both creating employee records and approving payments for them, which is a classic application of separation of duties. This principle ensures that no single individual has the authority to execute two conflicting or sensitive tasks that could lead to fraud or error, such as creating a fictitious employee and then approving a salary payment to that employee. In the context of a payroll application, separation of duties requires distinct roles or users for record creation and payment approval to enforce checks and balances.
What should I do if I get this SY0-701 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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