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ISC2 CC Practice Question: After a reorganization, a company using RBAC…
After a reorganization, a company using RBAC finds that many users have accumulated permissions that no longer align with their job functions. What is the best practice to address this?
⚠ Common exam trap
ISC2 often tests the misconception that a one-time cleanup (Option D) or ad-hoc direct assignments (Option A) are sufficient, when the real requirement is a continuous, auditable recertification process to maintain least privilege over time.
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
✓
Conduct a quarterly review and recertification of role memberships and permissions
Conducting a quarterly review and recertification of role memberships and permissions is the industry-standard practice for maintaining the principle of least privilege in an RBAC system. This process ensures that role assignments are periodically validated against current job functions, removing accumulated permissions that no longer align with user responsibilities. It directly addresses permission creep by enforcing a formal, auditable lifecycle for role membership.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Assign permissions directly to each user based on their manager's request
Why it's wrong here
This defeats the purpose of RBAC and leads to entitlement creep.
- ✗
Create new roles for each new position and assign users to them
Why it's wrong here
Roles should be reviewed, not just created; old roles remain.
- ✓
Conduct a quarterly review and recertification of role memberships and permissions
Why this is correct
Periodic recertification aligns RBAC with changing job functions.
- ✗
Delete all existing permissions and re-add them based on current job descriptions
Why it's wrong here
This is too drastic and may cause unnecessary downtime.
Quick reference
Access Control Model Comparison
| Model | Acronym | Who Controls Access? | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discretionary Access Control | DAC | Resource owner | Small teams, file shares |
| Mandatory Access Control | MAC | System / security labels | Classified govt / military |
| Role-Based Access Control | RBAC | Administrator (via roles) | Enterprise environments |
| Attribute-Based Access Control | ABAC | Policy engine (user + resource attributes) | Fine-grained, dynamic policies |
| Rule-Based Access Control | RuBAC | System rules / ACLs | Firewall rules, network ACLs |
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Incident Response and Management
Key term
Standard
A standard is an agreed-upon set of rules, guidelines, or specifications that ensure consistency, compatibility, and quality across IT products, services, and processes.
Key term
Role
A role is a named set of permissions that can be assigned to users or groups to control access to resources in an IT environment.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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