CISSP · Question #46
The PRIMARY purpose of a security awareness program is to
The correct answer is A. ensure that everyone understands the organization's policies and procedures.. Security awareness programs are designed primarily to educate all personnel about organizational policies and procedures so they can recognize and respond to security risks appropriately.
Question
Options
- Aensure that everyone understands the organization's policies and procedures.
- Bcommunicate that access to information will be granted on a need-to-know basis.
- Cwarn all users that access to all systems will be monitored on a daily basis.
- Dcomply with regulations related to data and information protection.
How the community answered
(21 responses)- A86% (18)
- C10% (2)
- D5% (1)
Why each option
Security awareness programs are designed primarily to educate all personnel about organizational policies and procedures so they can recognize and respond to security risks appropriately.
The primary purpose of a security awareness program is to ensure that all employees understand the organization's security policies, procedures, and acceptable use guidelines. By building this foundational knowledge, the program reduces human error and insider threats, which are among the leading causes of security incidents. Awareness training transforms policy documents into actionable understanding across the entire workforce.
While need-to-know and least-privilege principles are important security concepts, communicating access controls is a specific administrative function, not the primary purpose of a broad security awareness program.
Informing users about system monitoring may be one component of an acceptable use policy or legal notice, but it is a narrow deterrence tactic rather than the overarching goal of a security awareness program.
Regulatory compliance may be a driver or benefit of having a security awareness program, but compliance is a byproduct of the program rather than its primary purpose, which centers on education and behavior change.
Concept tested: Purpose and scope of security awareness programs
Source: https://csrc.nist.gov/publications/detail/sp/800-50/final
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