mediumConceptDesignScenarioMidSeniorStaff
What does least privilege look like in practice, and what is separation of duties there to prevent?
6 min readUpdated 2026-08-15
Answer
Short answer
Least privilege is a lifecycle problem rather than a grant: narrow entitlements, time-bound elevation instead of standing admin rights, and reviews that can revoke. Separation of duties exists to stop toxic combinations, where two individually reasonable permissions let one person both act and conceal it.
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Likely follow-ups
- Your team is four people and full separation of duties is impossible. What do you do instead?
- How do you design break-glass access so it is usable at three in the morning and still reviewable?
- What makes an access review meaningful rather than a rubber stamp?
- How would you detect a toxic combination that arose from two separately approved requests?
- Where does attribute-based access control help, and where does it just move the complexity?
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