Who may view audit trail files?

• A. Only individuals who have a job-related need.
• B. Any employee with network access.
• C. All staff.
• D. External auditors only.

Answer: (A)

Access to audit trail files should be limited to people who have a legitimate job-related need to view them. Logs contain sensitive information about system activity and user actions, so granting access only to authorized personnel helps protect confidentiality, maintain integrity, and reduce the risk of tampering. This fits the principle of least privilege and need-to-know.

Allowing any employee with network access or all staff would be too broad and unnecessarily expose logs to a larger audience. External auditors may need access for an audit, but they are not the sole group allowed to view logs; their access is contingent on a defined need during the audit.