The answer is to conduct quarterly role reviews and recertification. This is correct because the root cause—a misconfigured role assignment—is a governance failure, not a technical flaw; periodic recertification ensures that every user’s role is regularly audited against their actual job duties, preventing role creep and maintaining the principle of least privilege. On the ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity CC exam, this question tests your understanding that RBAC is only secure when paired with ongoing administrative controls, and the common trap is choosing a one-time fix like “fix the misconfiguration” instead of a sustainable process. Remember the mnemonic “R&R for RBAC”—Reviews and Recertification keep roles right.
ISC2 CC Access Controls Concepts Practice Question
This CC practice question tests your understanding of access controls concepts. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A hospital uses role-based access control (RBAC) for its electronic health records. Nurses can view patient records; doctors can view and edit; administrators can only view administrative data. Recently, a nurse was able to edit a patient's record, which should only be allowed for doctors. The investigation finds that the nurse's role was incorrectly assigned a 'doctor' role due to a misconfiguration. To prevent recurrence, the access control system should be reviewed. Which is the best long-term solution?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Conduct quarterly role reviews and recertification
Option D is correct because the root cause is a role misconfiguration, and the best long-term solution is to implement a process of periodic role reviews and recertification. This ensures that role assignments are regularly audited and validated against current job responsibilities, preventing role creep and unauthorized privilege accumulation. In RBAC, the principle of least privilege is maintained through ongoing governance, not through a one-time fix.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Implement mandatory access control (MAC) with security labels
Why it's wrong here
MAC is overly complex for a hospital EHR and would require labeling all records, which is impractical.
✗
Remove the nurse's ability to edit records
Why it's wrong here
This addresses the symptom only for that nurse; root cause (misconfiguration) remains.
✗
Implement user behavior analytics to detect anomalies
Why it's wrong here
Behavior analytics detect incidents but do not prevent the initial misconfiguration.
✓
Conduct quarterly role reviews and recertification
Why this is correct
Regular reviews ensure roles are correctly assigned, preventing misconfigurations over time.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
ISC2 often tests the distinction between reactive fixes (like removing a single user's permission) and systemic governance processes (like periodic recertification), trapping candidates who choose a quick technical fix instead of a long-term administrative control.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In RBAC, roles are defined by a set of permissions (e.g., read, write, execute) and assigned to users based on job functions. The NIST RBAC standard (ANSI/INCITS 359-2004) includes administrative functions for role review and recertification as part of the core RBAC model. Quarterly recertification ensures that each role assignment is still appropriate, reducing the risk of privilege escalation due to human error or organizational changes. Without this process, even a correctly configured RBAC system can drift into a state of excessive privilege over time.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A security analyst at a medium-sized enterprise encounters this scenario during an investigation or architecture review. The correct answer reflects best practice for the specific threat or control described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Security exam questions test whether you can match controls to threats in context — not just recall definitions.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this CC question in full detail.
Access Controls Concepts — This question tests Access Controls Concepts — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Conduct quarterly role reviews and recertification — Option D is correct because the root cause is a role misconfiguration, and the best long-term solution is to implement a process of periodic role reviews and recertification. This ensures that role assignments are regularly audited and validated against current job responsibilities, preventing role creep and unauthorized privilege accumulation. In RBAC, the principle of least privilege is maintained through ongoing governance, not through a one-time fix.
What should I do if I get this CC question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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