Which aspect of security governance ensures rules guide user actions?

The aspect of security governance that ensures rules guide user actions is authorization. Authorization is the process of determining whether a user has the right to access a resource or perform a certain action based on predefined policies and rules. It establishes the permissions granted to users within a system or network, governing what actions they can take and what data they can access.

Without proper authorization processes in place, users may inadvertently access sensitive information or perform actions that could compromise system integrity. By implementing robust authorization mechanisms, organizations can ensure that user actions are aligned with their assigned roles and the established security policies.

Other concepts like accounting, authentication, and audit trails play important roles in security as well but do not focus on guiding user actions through rules. Accounting deals with tracking user activities and resource usage for auditing purposes, authentication verifies a user's identity before granting access, and an audit trail maintains a record of events for compliance and investigation, but these aspects do not directly govern or guide user behavior in the same way as authorization does.