easyMultiple Choice
ISC2 CC Practice Question: Wants to ensure that no single employee can both…
An organization wants to ensure that no single employee can both request and approve a payment. Which access control principle does this enforce?
⚠ Common exam trap
ISC2 often tests the confusion between 'separation of duties' and 'least privilege' because both limit user capabilities, but the trap is that least privilege reduces the scope of permissions for a single user while separation of duties divides a critical process across multiple users.
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 access control principle that prevents a single individual from having conflicting permissions, such as both requesting and approving a payment. By splitting the payment lifecycle into distinct roles (e.g., requester vs. approver), the organization enforces a dual-control mechanism that reduces the risk of fraud or error. This is commonly implemented in financial systems using role-based access control (RBAC) where the 'payment request' and 'payment approval' roles are mutually exclusive.
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 this is correct
Separation of duties splits critical tasks across different individuals, so the same employee cannot both request and approve a payment. This directly enforces the stem's constraint by preventing one person from completing an entire sensitive transaction alone, thereby reducing fraud risk.
- ✗
Least privilege
Why it's wrong here
Least privilege grants only the permissions a task needs, so a requester could still hold approval rights if granted. It is tempting because it limits excessive access, and it would be correct when trimming entitlements, but it does not enforce separation between the requesting and approving roles.
- ✗
Need to know
Why it's wrong here
Need to know restricts data access to what a role requires, not who may authorise a transaction. It is tempting because it also limits exposure, and it would be correct when scoping which records an analyst may view, but it does not prevent one person holding both request and approval duties.
- ✗
Defense in depth
Why it's wrong here
Defense in depth layers multiple independent controls; it does not itself separate the requester from the approver. It is tempting because layered controls harden payment systems, and it would be correct when designing overlapping safeguards, but the stem demands split duties between two people.
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
Risk Management and Security Controls
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.
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.
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 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.