What does separation of duties and responsibilities aim to achieve?

Separation of duties and responsibilities is a fundamental concept in security and risk management aimed primarily at preventing fraud and errors through checks and balances. By distributing responsibilities among different individuals, organizations create a system where no single person has the authority to execute a complete transaction or process alone. This division reduces the risk of malicious acts, such as fraud, as well as unintentional mistakes that could lead to significant issues.

When tasks are allocated across various roles, oversight is inherently established because actions taken by one individual can be checked by another. For example, in financial operations, the person who authorizes payment should not be the same one who processes it. This reduces the opportunity for theft or fraud and increases overall accountability within the organization.

While other choices may touch upon related concepts, they do not capture the essence of what separation of duties intends to address. Streamlining processes or facilitating faster decision-making can sometimes contradict the principles of separation of duties. The idea is not to centralize power or efficiency in a single user managing all tasks, but to ensure that oversight and collaborative checks are inherently built into processes to safeguard against potential risks.