SY0-701 General Security Concepts Practice Question
Exhibit
Finance change workflow: Step 1: Create vendor record - AP Clerk Step 2: Enter invoice - AP Clerk Step 3: Approve payment above $5,000 - AP Manager Step 4: Update bank account - Treasury Admin Finding: The shared account finance_ops can perform all four steps, and two employees use the same credentials for convenience.
Based on the exhibit, which principle should the organization enforce to reduce fraud risk while keeping the business process functional?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse least privilege (which limits permissions for a single user) with separation of duties (which splits a process across multiple users), even though the exhibit clearly shows a sequential workflow where a single user could perform all steps.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
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, because no single user should be able to complete every high-risk finance step alone.
Separation of duties (SoD) is the correct principle because it prevents any single employee from completing all steps in a high-risk financial transaction alone. By requiring at least two people to authorize and execute critical actions—such as initiating a payment and approving it—the organization reduces the risk of internal fraud without blocking the business workflow. This directly addresses the scenario where a single user could otherwise create, approve, and release a fraudulent payment.
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, because each employee should only have the fewest permissions needed for the shared account.
Why it's wrong here
Least privilege is important, but the real issue is broader than simply reducing permissions. The problem is that one identity can complete the full payment workflow, which allows a single person to create, approve, and alter payment data. That concentration of power is what creates the fraud risk, so the better principle is separation of duties.
- ✓
Separation of duties, because no single user should be able to complete every high-risk finance step alone.
Why this is correct
Separation of duties is the best answer because the workflow shows one shared identity can create vendors, enter invoices, approve payments, and change bank details. That concentration enables fraud without a second set of eyes. Splitting those tasks across different roles prevents one person from controlling the entire transaction chain and creates accountability for each critical step.
- ✗
Need-to-know, because only employees with confidential financial data should see the workflow details.
Why it's wrong here
Need-to-know limits access to information, not necessarily to the ability to complete an entire business transaction. The exhibit is about who can perform which finance actions, not who can read a report. Restricting data visibility may help privacy, but it does not address the fraud risk created by one account being able to execute every step.
- ✗
Defense in depth, because the organization should add more security layers around the finance process.
Why it's wrong here
Defense in depth means multiple layers of protection, such as logging, approvals, and monitoring. Those layers can help, but they do not specifically solve the core issue shown in the workflow. The exhibit reveals a role-concentration problem, where one identity can complete the entire process. That is precisely what separation of duties is designed to prevent.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on SY0-701
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. Based on the exhibit, which security principle is the proposed workflow most directly enforcing?
hard- A.Least privilege, because each person gets only the minimum access needed for the task.
- B.Defense in depth, because multiple layers of security are added around firewall changes.
- ✓ C.Separation of duties, because no single person can create, approve, and implement the same production change.
- D.Need-to-know, because the ticket is visible only to assigned people.
Why C: The proposed workflow enforces separation of duties by requiring three distinct roles—requester, approver, and implementer—to complete a single firewall change. No single person can both create and approve the change, nor can they implement it without prior approval. This directly prevents any one individual from having end-to-end control over a production change, which is the core of separation of duties.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SY0-701 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SY0-701 exam.