ISC2 CC Access Controls Concepts Practice Question
An organization uses a layered security approach: perimeter fencing, access badge readers at building entrances, biometric scanners in server rooms, and cable locks on laptops. This strategy best exemplifies which access control concept?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse defense in depth with least privilege or need-to-know, since all three involve restricting access — but only defense in depth describes layering multiple independent controls.
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
✓
Defense in depth
Defense in depth is the practice of layering multiple independent security controls so that if one fails, others continue to protect the asset. The scenario describes physical controls at progressively deeper levels — perimeter fencing, badge readers at entrances, biometric scanners in server rooms, and cable locks on laptops — each adding a distinct barrier. This layered approach is the textbook definition of defense in depth.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Need-to-know
Why it's wrong here
Need-to-know limits data access to those whose duties require it. The stem instead layers fencing, badges, biometrics and cable locks so one failure does not expose assets, which is defence in depth; need-to-know would restrict which records each employee may view.
- ✓
Defense in depth
Why this is correct
Layering fencing, badge readers, biometrics and cable locks creates successive independent barriers, so defeating one control still leaves others. This matches defence in depth, which the stem's layered approach exemplifies, rather than single-mechanism concepts such as least privilege or separation of duties.
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Least privilege
Why it's wrong here
Least privilege limits each user's rights to the minimum needed for their role; it concerns authorisation scope, not stacking physical barriers. Layered fencing, badges, biometrics and cable locks demonstrate defence in depth, where each control compensates if another fails. Least privilege would be correct when scoping an account's permissions to only its required resources.
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Separation of duties
Why it's wrong here
Separation of duties splits a critical task across multiple people so no single person completes it alone; it concerns workflow division, not concentric physical barriers. The scenario illustrates defence in depth, where independent controls at successive layers each mitigate failure of the others. Separation of duties would be correct when, for example, one person raises a payment and another approves it.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Physical Access Controls
Key term
Defense in depth
Defense in depth is a cybersecurity strategy that uses multiple layers of security controls to protect information and systems, so if one layer fails, another layer is already in place to stop the attack.
Key term
Asset
In IT and cybersecurity, an asset is anything valuable that an organization owns or controls, including data, hardware, software, people, and intellectual property.
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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.