Accountability is the correct choice because shared generic accounts directly violate the principle that each user must be uniquely identified and their actions traceable. When multiple employees use a single account, audit logs cannot attribute specific database operations—such as SELECT, UPDATE, or DELETE—to any particular individual, breaking the chain of responsibility required for accountability. On the CISSP exam, this scenario tests your understanding of the Identity and Access Management (IAM) domain, where accountability is a core security operations concept; a common trap is confusing accountability with non-repudiation, but accountability focuses on traceability to a specific user, while non-repudiation ensures that user cannot deny the action. Remember the memory tip: “One account, one user—if it’s shared, accountability is impaired.”
CISSP Security Operations Practice Question
This CISSP practice question tests your understanding of security operations. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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.
During a security audit, an organization discovers that several employees are sharing a single generic account to access a critical database. Which principle of security operations is being violated?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Accountability
Accountability requires that each individual user be uniquely identified and their actions traceable. Sharing a generic account breaks this chain because the audit logs cannot attribute specific database operations (e.g., SELECT, UPDATE, DELETE) to a particular employee, making it impossible to hold anyone responsible for misuse or errors.
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.
✓
Accountability
Why this is correct
Account sharing removes the ability to trace actions to an individual, violating accountability.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Separation of duties
Why it's wrong here
Separation of duties ensures no single person has excessive control, but account sharing is a different issue.
✗
Defense in depth
Why it's wrong here
Defense in depth is a layered security approach, not directly related to account sharing.
✗
Least privilege
Why it's wrong here
Least privilege is about granting minimal permissions, not about account sharing.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse the lack of individual accountability with the principle of least privilege, assuming that sharing a generic account automatically means excessive permissions, when the real violation is the inability to uniquely identify and trace user actions.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, database audit logs (e.g., Oracle Fine-Grained Auditing or SQL Server Audit) record the session user (SUSER_SNAME()) and application user. With a generic account, the session user is always the same, so forensic analysis cannot distinguish between a legitimate query and a malicious one. In real-world breaches, shared accounts are often the root cause of undetected insider threats, as seen in the 2013 Target breach where shared vendor credentials masked lateral movement.
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 CISSP question in full detail.
Security Operations — This question tests Security Operations — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Accountability — Accountability requires that each individual user be uniquely identified and their actions traceable. Sharing a generic account breaks this chain because the audit logs cannot attribute specific database operations (e.g., SELECT, UPDATE, DELETE) to a particular employee, making it impossible to hold anyone responsible for misuse or errors.
What should I do if I get this CISSP question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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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