ISC2 CC Access Controls Concepts Practice Question
An employee claims to have accessed a confidential document that is not related to their job role. The security team investigates and finds that the employee's account had read access to the folder containing the document. Which TWO access control concepts were likely violated?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is confusing need-to-know with least privilege or selecting unrelated concepts like separation of duties. Candidates might think authentication was violated, but the employee used their own credentials.
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
✓
Need-to-know
The scenario describes an employee who could read a confidential document unrelated to their job role, which directly violates the need-to-know principle (B) because access to information should be granted only to those who require it to perform their duties. It also violates the principle of least privilege (D), since the account was granted read access to a folder beyond the minimum permissions necessary for the employee's role. Identification and authentication (A) is not violated because the employee's account was properly identified and authenticated; the issue is authorization, not proving identity. Separation of duties (C) is not implicated because no single individual was given control over multiple conflicting tasks or stages of a critical process. Defense in depth (E) is not violated because the scenario does not describe a failure of layered controls; it describes excessive permissions granted to an account.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Identification and authentication
Why it's wrong here
Identification and authentication verify who the user is; the account was correctly identified and authenticated, so the failure lies in authorisation. It is tempting because compromised credentials often precede misuse, and this concept would be correct if the account had been shared or credentials stolen.
- ✓
Need-to-know
Why this is correct
Need-to-know restricts access to information strictly required to perform a role. The employee's job role did not require the confidential document, yet their account held read access to its folder, so access was granted beyond job necessity, violating this principle.
- ✗
Separation of duties
Why it's wrong here
Separation of duties splits a sensitive task across multiple people to prevent fraud; here a single account simply held excessive read permission, which is a least-privilege failure. Separation of duties would be correct for scenarios such as requiring two approvers for payments.
- ✓
Least privilege
Why this is correct
Least privilege grants users only the minimum rights needed for their duties. The account's read access to a folder unrelated to the employee's role exceeded that minimum, directly violating least privilege and enabling the unauthorised confidential document access described.
- ✗
Defense in depth
Why it's wrong here
Defense in depth layers multiple independent controls so one failure does not expose data; the stem describes a single over-permissive ACL granting read access, which is a least-privilege failure, not a missing layer. Defense in depth would be the answer when a breach requires several controls to fail simultaneously.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Authentication and Authorization Methods
Key term
Access control
Access control is the security practice of determining who or what is allowed to view, use, or enter a resource, and under what conditions.
Key term
Separation of duties
Separation of duties is a security principle that splits critical tasks and privileges among multiple people to prevent fraud, errors, and abuse of power.
About these practice questions
This CC question is part of Courseiva's 989-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official ISC2 exam blueprint
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.