The correct answer is separation of duties, because this security principle mandates that conflicting tasks, such as creating and approving a purchase order, must be performed by different individuals to prevent any single user from having excessive control over a sensitive transaction. By splitting these responsibilities, the organization reduces the risk of fraud and error, ensuring that no one person can both initiate and authorize a financial action without oversight. On the Microsoft SC-900 exam, this concept often appears in scenarios involving financial systems or access control policies, testing your understanding of how identity and access management enforces privilege boundaries. A common trap is confusing this with the principle of least privilege, but remember: least privilege limits what a user can access, while separation of duties limits who can perform conflicting actions. To recall it easily, think of the phrase “two sets of eyes on the money”—if one person can both write and cash a check, that’s a violation of this principle.
SC-900 Practice Question: Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity
This SC-900 practice question tests your understanding of describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity. 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.
A company uses a financial accounting system where the employee who creates a purchase order cannot also approve it. This policy is designed to prevent a single individual from committing fraud by both initiating and approving a transaction. Which security principle does this practice primarily implement?
Why wrong: Least privilege involves granting only the permissions needed to perform a job, not dividing responsibilities across multiple people.
B
Separation of duties
This principle distributes critical functions among different individuals to prevent any single person from having excessive control, reducing the risk of fraud or error.
C
Defense in depth
Why wrong: Defense in depth uses multiple layers of security controls (e.g., firewalls, antivirus) rather than segregating duties.
D
Zero Trust
Why wrong: Zero Trust assumes no implicit trust and requires continuous verification, but it does not specifically address the division of tasks among users.
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
The practice of requiring different individuals to create and approve purchase orders directly implements the separation of duties principle. This security control ensures that no single person has complete control over a sensitive financial transaction, thereby reducing the risk of fraud or error. In the context of identity and access management, separation of duties enforces that conflicting tasks are assigned to different users to prevent abuse of privileges.
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.
✗
Least privilege
Why it's wrong here
Least privilege involves granting only the permissions needed to perform a job, not dividing responsibilities across multiple people.
✓
Separation of duties
Why this is correct
This principle distributes critical functions among different individuals to prevent any single person from having excessive control, reducing the risk of fraud or error.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Defense in depth
Why it's wrong here
Defense in depth uses multiple layers of security controls (e.g., firewalls, antivirus) rather than segregating duties.
✗
Zero Trust
Why it's wrong here
Zero Trust assumes no implicit trust and requires continuous verification, but it does not specifically address the division of tasks among users.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse separation of duties with least privilege, but least privilege limits the scope of permissions while separation of duties divides critical tasks to prevent a single point of failure or fraud.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Separation of duties is often enforced through role-based access control (RBAC) by defining mutually exclusive roles, such as 'Purchase Order Creator' and 'Purchase Order Approver'. In Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD), this can be implemented using custom roles or access reviews to ensure no user is assigned both roles. A real-world scenario is in financial systems where the same user cannot both issue a payment and reconcile the bank statement, preventing embezzlement.
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 company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this SC-900 question in full detail.
Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity — This question tests Describe the concepts of security, compliance, and identity — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Separation of duties — The practice of requiring different individuals to create and approve purchase orders directly implements the separation of duties principle. This security control ensures that no single person has complete control over a sensitive financial transaction, thereby reducing the risk of fraud or error. In the context of identity and access management, separation of duties enforces that conflicting tasks are assigned to different users to prevent abuse of privileges.
What should I do if I get this SC-900 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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
This SC-900 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft 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 SC-900 exam.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.