- A
Separation of duties, so no single person can complete the entire high-risk workflow.
Separation of duties is the best control when one person should not be able to create and approve the same payment. By splitting responsibilities across different roles or approvals, the organization reduces the chance of fraud, abuse, or accidental misuse. This principle is common in finance and payroll workflows because it provides meaningful risk reduction without requiring a complicated technical redesign of the entire application.
- B
Job rotation, so employees periodically switch responsibilities to learn each other’s tasks.
Why wrong: Job rotation can improve detection over time, but it does not directly prevent one person from controlling the whole workflow.
- C
Defense in depth, so multiple technical tools inspect every payment form.
Why wrong: Defense in depth is broader and layered, but the key issue here is dividing authority within the process.
- D
Least privilege, so the payroll user can create and approve only this one vendor payment.
Why wrong: Least privilege limits access, but it would still allow the same person to perform both risky actions in this scenario.
Quick Answer
The correct principle is separation of duties, because it ensures that no single person can complete an entire high-risk workflow, such as both creating a vendor and approving a payment. By splitting these tasks across multiple individuals, the organization creates a dual-control mechanism that directly prevents a malicious insider from setting up a fake vendor and authorizing a fraudulent payment. This concept is a core fraud prevention control tested on the Security+ SY0-701 exam, often appearing in scenarios where you must choose the least complex administrative control to reduce internal risk. A common trap is confusing separation of duties with least privilege—remember, least privilege limits access rights, while separation of duties divides critical tasks. For this exam, think of it as “two-person integrity”: no single person should hold the keys to both the lockbox and the cash.
SY0-701 General Security Concepts Practice Question
This SY0-701 practice question tests your understanding of general security concepts. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 payroll application allows the same user to create a vendor and approve a payment. The security team wants to reduce fraud without adding unnecessary complexity. Which principle should they apply?
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, so no single person can complete the entire high-risk workflow.
Separation of duties (option A) is the correct principle because it prevents a single user from both creating a vendor and approving a payment, which would allow that user to commit fraud by setting up a fake vendor and authorizing a payment to it. By splitting these high-risk tasks between two or more people, the organization enforces a dual-control mechanism that reduces the risk of internal fraud without adding complex technical controls. This aligns with the security team's goal of reducing fraud while avoiding unnecessary complexity.
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.
- ✓
Separation of duties, so no single person can complete the entire high-risk workflow.
Why this is correct
Separation of duties is the best control when one person should not be able to create and approve the same payment. By splitting responsibilities across different roles or approvals, the organization reduces the chance of fraud, abuse, or accidental misuse. This principle is common in finance and payroll workflows because it provides meaningful risk reduction without requiring a complicated technical redesign of the entire application.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Job rotation, so employees periodically switch responsibilities to learn each other’s tasks.
Why it's wrong here
Job rotation can improve detection over time, but it does not directly prevent one person from controlling the whole workflow.
- ✗
Defense in depth, so multiple technical tools inspect every payment form.
Why it's wrong here
Defense in depth is broader and layered, but the key issue here is dividing authority within the process.
- ✗
Least privilege, so the payroll user can create and approve only this one vendor payment.
Why it's wrong here
Least privilege limits access, but it would still allow the same person to perform both risky actions in this scenario.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse separation of duties with job rotation or defense in depth, mistakenly thinking that rotating employees or adding more technical controls will prevent internal fraud, when in fact only splitting conflicting responsibilities directly addresses the risk of a single user completing a high-risk workflow.
Trap categories for this question
Scenario analysis trap
Least privilege limits access, but it would still allow the same person to perform both risky actions in this scenario.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Separation of duties is a core internal control principle often implemented through role-based access control (RBAC) in enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems like SAP or Oracle. Under the hood, this requires defining mutually exclusive roles (e.g., vendor creator and payment approver) and enforcing them via access control lists (ACLs) or attribute-based policies, ensuring that no single user account has permissions for both actions. In a real-world scenario, a payroll administrator with both roles could create a fictitious vendor named 'John Doe Consulting' and approve a $50,000 payment to it; separation of duties would require a second authorized user to approve the payment, making such fraud much harder to execute.
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.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SY0-701 question test?
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, so no single person can complete the entire high-risk workflow. — Separation of duties (option A) is the correct principle because it prevents a single user from both creating a vendor and approving a payment, which would allow that user to commit fraud by setting up a fake vendor and authorizing a payment to it. By splitting these high-risk tasks between two or more people, the organization enforces a dual-control mechanism that reduces the risk of internal fraud without adding complex technical controls. This aligns with the security team's goal of reducing fraud while avoiding unnecessary complexity.
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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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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.
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