Which term describes a security framework that dictates the security obligations of a cloud computing provider and its clients to ensure accountability?

• A. Inherited Controls
• B. Shared Responsibility Model
• C. Shared Controls
• D. Customer/Client Specific Controls

Answer: (B)

In cloud security, accountability is shared between the provider and the customer, with duties clearly divided across the service model. The framework that describes who is responsible for which security tasks—ranging from the provider securing the underlying infrastructure to the customer handling data, identities, and configurations on top of it—ensures both sides are accountable. This mutual delineation helps prevent gaps and misconfigurations by making obligations explicit, whether you’re using IaaS, PaaS, or SaaS. The term that captures this division and accountability is the Shared Responsibility Model. Terms like Inherited Controls or Shared Controls don’t describe this explicit, service-model–dependent allocation of duties, and Customer/Client Specific Controls isn’t the standard framework for defining how responsibilities are split between provider and customer.