hardMultiple Choice
ISC2 CC Practice Question: Is implementing a new system that processes…
An organization is implementing a new system that processes financial transactions. To reduce the risk of fraud, they ensure that no single individual can both initiate and approve a transaction. Which security principle is this?
⚠ Common exam trap
ISC2 often tests the distinction between 'separation of duties' and 'least privilege' by presenting a scenario where a user has too many permissions, tempting candidates to choose least privilege, but the core issue is the conflict of having both initiation and approval authority, not the amount of access.
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
Separation of duties (SoD) is the security principle that prevents a single individual from having conflicting responsibilities, such as both initiating and approving a financial transaction. By splitting these tasks across different roles, the organization reduces the risk of fraud or error because collusion would be required to bypass controls. This is a core internal control mechanism in financial systems and aligns with the principle of dual control.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Need to know
Why it's wrong here
Need to know restricts access to information on a justified basis; it governs data visibility, not the separation of transaction duties. It is tempting because both are access-control principles, and it would be correct if the scenario restricted which records a clerk could view rather than preventing one person from initiating and approving.
- ✓
Separation of duties
Why this is correct
Separation of duties splits a critical transaction across distinct roles, so initiation and approval require different identities. This directly satisfies the stem's constraint that no single individual performs both actions, preventing unilateral fraud. Unlike least privilege, which limits access scope, separation of duties enforces workflow-level checks within Microsoft Entra ID governance.
- ✗
Accountability
Why it's wrong here
Accountability assigns actions to a named individual after the fact; it does not itself prevent one person holding both duties. It is tempting because audit trails and non-repudiation depend on it, and it would be the answer if the question asked who owns a transaction's outcome rather than how duties are split.
- ✗
Least privilege
Why it's wrong here
Least privilege limits each identity to the permissions its role requires; it does not separate duties between two people. It is tempting because it also restricts access and appears in the same control family. Separation of duties is the principle preventing one individual from initiating and approving the same transaction.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Access Control Fundamentals
Key term
Risk
Risk is the possibility that an event or action will negatively affect an organization's ability to achieve its goals, often measured in terms of likelihood and impact.
Key term
Organization
An Organization is a top-level container in Google Cloud that represents your company or entities and serves as the root node for all your cloud resources, policies, and access control.
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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.