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Separation of Duties

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Separation of duties is a principle in secure system design that involves dividing critical functions among different individuals or groups to prevent conflicts of interest, fraud, and abuse of power. By ensuring that no single individual or group has complete control over a process, security risks are mitigated. This separation is typically implemented through role-based access controls, assigning duties to different users based on their responsibilities. By distributing duties across different individuals or groups, the potential for an unauthorized action or a security compromise is reduced, as it would require collusion among multiple parties.

Guide: Separation of Duties

Separation of Duties is a principle used in organizations to ensure that control procedures within the system are efficient and secure. This principle is usually applied by dividing the responsibilities of specific job roles to eliminate possibilities of internal threats and errors.

Why it is Important: The Separation of Duties principle is important because it helps prevent fraud, errors, and abuse. It also enhances the accuracy and reliability of results considering that tasks initially performed by one person are now carried out by two or more individuals who check each other's work.

What it is: Separation of Duties (SoD) is the practice of dividing tasks and responsibilities involved in system management, data handling, and other operations among multiple people to reduce the risk of malicious actions or mistakes.

How it Works: SoD operates on the premise of checks and balances. Instead of one person having total control over a specific task or operation, duties are shared. At least two people are involved in the operation, each checking the other's work for accuracy and integrity.

Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Separation of Duties Understanding what SoD is and why it's vital is key to answering related exam questions. Some potential questions could be scenario-based, asking you to identify if SoD is implemented correctly or to propose an ideal SoD scenario. It is crucial to understand which responsibilities should be separated within a specific role, and how this separation helps improve the system’s security.

Remember that in SoD, no one individual should have control over all parts of an operation to lower the risk of error or dishonest activity. Also, consider the necessity of regular reviews and audits to ensure SoD is maintained over time. To answer these questions effectively, always refer to real-world examples of SoD and its benefits.

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CompTIA Security+ - Secure System Design Principles Example Questions

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Question 1

You are auditing a finance department and find that employees have access to both the payroll system and accounts receivable system. What is the best approach to enhance security using Separation of Duties?

Correct Answer: Restrict access so that payroll employees can only access the payroll system, and accounts receivable employees can only access the accounts receivable system.

Restricting access based on job responsibilities is the best approach to implementing separation of duties, as it limits the potential for fraud or data breaches. Other options do not address the core issue of employees having access to both systems.

Question 2

A small company has one employee responsible for purchasing computer equipment, installing the software, and keeping track of inventory. How can the Separation of Duties principle be applied to mitigate risks?

Correct Answer: Divide the responsibilities among different employees, so no single person has complete control over the process.

The correct answer ensures that no single person has control over the entire process, which helps prevent fraud and mistakes. Hiring additional employees, outsourcing, or providing restricted accounts do not directly address the issue of separation of duties.

Question 3

As an IT security consultant, you are tasked with designing a more secure system for a company. The company's database administrator handles both backup management and database maintenance. How can you implement Separation of Duties to improve security?

Correct Answer: Assign backup management to a separate employee, limiting the database administrator to only database maintenance.

The correct answer separates the tasks to avoid having the single employee control both, thus mitigating potential security risks. The other options do not directly address the separation of duties and could introduce additional security risks or complications.

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