ISC2 CC Access Controls Concepts Practice Question
A system administrator has an account with full administrative privileges. To reduce risk, the organization implements a policy requiring the admin to use a separate, non-privileged account for daily tasks like email and web browsing. This practice aligns with which principle?
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
✓
Least privilege
Least privilege for administrators means using a separate admin account only when needed, limiting exposure of high-privilege credentials.
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
Why it's wrong here
Separation of duties involves multiple people for critical tasks.
- ✗
Need-to-know
Why it's wrong here
Need-to-know is about data access, not account separation.
- ✓
Least privilege
Why this is correct
Using a separate daily account with limited privileges embodies least privilege for admins.
- ✗
Defense in depth
Why it's wrong here
Defense in depth is about multiple layers of controls, not account segregation.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Risk Management and Security Controls
Key term
Exposure
Exposure is the measure of potential loss or harm to an organization's assets when a vulnerability is exploited by a threat, often expressed as the window of time or degree of access an attacker has.
Key term
Least privilege
Least privilege is a security principle that means giving users, systems, or programs only the minimum permissions they need to do their job and nothing more.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CC practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 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 CC exam.