Segregation of Duties—This is defined as one individual having the ability to perform two or more conflicting functions to control a process from beginning to end without the involvement of others. For example, one person might be able to set up a vendor and process payments, or manipulate sales and customer invoices, to conceal kickbacks.
Critical Action—Certain functions are so critical in nature that anyone who has access needs to be identified and assessed to ensure the access is appropriate. This is different from segregation of duties risks in that the person only needs to have access to a single function. For example, the ability to configure a production system is considered a critical action regardless of any other access the person might have.
Critical Permission—Similar to a critical action, there are certain permissions (authorization objects) that are considered critical on their own. For example, having background job administration permissions might be considered critical by certain organizations.