Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) Practice Exam

Authorization is a critical process in information security that defines what actions an individual can perform within a system after their identity has been established. It determines the permissions and privileges assigned to a user based on their role, credentials, or other criteria set by the organization.

When a user is authorized, the system grants them specific access levels, which allow them to perform tasks such as reading, writing, modifying, or deleting data, depending on their assigned permissions. This process ensures that users have access only to the resources and functionalities necessary for their duties, thus maintaining the principle of least privilege, which is fundamental to securing systems.

In the context of the other options, while identifying users is a prerequisite step handled by authentication, it does not define what the user can do once identified. The security level of information pertains to classifications such as confidential, secret, or top-secret, which is more about the data rather than the user's permissions. Finally, the effectiveness of security measures generally refers to evaluating how well security controls mitigate risks, rather than being on the operational level of user permissions and actions. The focus of authorization is distinctly on the actions that users are permitted to carry out within the confines of a system.