Final answer:
Cross training people in each department to defend against fraud is known as job rotation. Job rotation helps prevent fraud by moving employees to different tasks, making it harder to commit undetectable fraud and helps expose potential fraud through new perspectives.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the context of defending against fraud within a company, cross training people in each department is referred to as job rotation. This approach is used as a technique for fraud prevention and to enhance the understanding employees have about various functions within the company. With job rotation, employees are periodically moved to different tasks or departments. This helps to prevent fraud because it becomes more difficult for an individual to perpetrate a fraud without detection if they do not stay in the same position for a long time.
It also helps to uncover any fraud that may be occurring, as incoming employees may notice anomalies or issues left by their predecessors. This mechanism differs from separation of duties, where tasks are divided among individuals to prevent conflicts of interest, and least privilege, which restricts access rights for users to the bare minimum necessary to perform their work.