DOP-C02 Security and Compliance — Timed 50 Questions

Question 1

A company is using AWS Organizations with multiple accounts. The Security team wants to centrally manage IAM roles that can be assumed by users in member accounts. Which solution should be used to enforce that only specific roles can be assumed across accounts, while ensuring that the policy updates are automatically applied to all accounts?

Accepted Answer

Create an IAM role in the Security account with a trust policy that references a service control policy (SCP) in AWS Organizations.. Option C is correct because it leverages AWS Organizations and Service Control Policies (SCPs) to centrally enforce which IAM roles can be assumed across member accounts. An SCP applied to an OU or account can explicitly deny the `sts:AssumeRole` action for any role that does not match a specific ARN pattern, ensuring that only the Security account's designated roles are assumable. Since SCPs are automatically inherited by all accounts in the organization, policy updates are applied without manual intervention.

Answer

Create an IAM role in each member account with a trust policy that allows the Security account, and use AWS CloudFormation StackSets to deploy the roles.

Answer

Use AWS Single Sign-On (SSO) to assign permissions to users across accounts.

Answer

Create a resource-based policy on each IAM role in the member accounts that allows the Security account to assume the role.

Question 2

A company is running a critical application on an Amazon EC2 instance that needs to access an S3 bucket. The application must use temporary credentials that automatically rotate. The DevOps engineer must ensure that the credentials are never stored on disk. Which approach meets these requirements?

Accepted Answer

Attach an IAM role to the EC2 instance and use the instance profile to obtain temporary credentials from the instance metadata service.. Option B is correct because attaching an IAM role to the EC2 instance and using the instance profile allows the application to obtain temporary credentials from the EC2 instance metadata service (IMDS). These credentials are automatically rotated by AWS before they expire, and they are never stored on disk—they are fetched on-demand from the metadata endpoint (http://169.254.169.254/latest/meta-data/iam/security-credentials/). This satisfies both the requirement for automatic rotation and the prohibition against disk storage.

Answer

Store the credentials in AWS Secrets Manager and retrieve them at application startup.

Answer

Use AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store to store the credentials and retrieve them using the EC2 instance's IAM role.

Answer

Generate an access key and secret key for an IAM user and store them in a configuration file on the EC2 instance.

Question 3

A DevOps engineer needs to ensure that all API calls made to AWS are recorded for auditing purposes. Which AWS service should be used?

Accepted Answer

AWS CloudTrail. AWS CloudTrail is the correct service because it records all API calls made to AWS, including the identity of the caller, the time of the call, the source IP address, and the request parameters. This provides a complete audit trail of user activity and API usage, which is essential for auditing, security analysis, and compliance requirements.

Answer

AWS Config

Answer

Amazon CloudWatch Logs

Answer

Amazon VPC Flow Logs

Question 4

A company uses AWS Key Management Service (KMS) to encrypt data at rest in Amazon S3. The security team wants to ensure that only users with a specific attribute in their SAML assertion can decrypt the data. Which KMS key policy should be used?

Accepted Answer

Modify the KMS key policy to include a condition that allows kms:Decrypt only if the SAML assertion contains the specific attribute.. Option B is correct because KMS key policies can use the `kms:ViaService` or `kms:CallerPrincipal` conditions, but more importantly, they can reference SAML-based attributes using the `aws:PrincipalTag` or `saml:sub` conditions. By adding a condition in the KMS key policy that checks for a specific SAML assertion attribute (e.g., `saml:sub` or a custom SAML attribute mapped to an IAM role session tag), only users whose SAML assertion includes that attribute will be allowed to call `kms:Decrypt`. This directly enforces the security team's requirement at the key level, independent of S3 bucket policies or IAM policies.

Answer

Create an S3 bucket policy that denies kms:Decrypt unless the request includes a specific tag.

Answer

Attach a resource-based policy to the S3 bucket that allows decryption only for users with the specific attribute.

Answer

Use an IAM policy that grants kms:Decrypt only if the user has the specific attribute.

Question 5

A company has a requirement to rotate database credentials every 30 days for an Amazon RDS for MySQL instance. The credentials are currently stored in AWS Secrets Manager. The DevOps engineer needs to implement automatic rotation without modifying the application code. Which solution should be used?

Accepted Answer

Configure Secrets Manager to automatically rotate the secret every 30 days using a Lambda rotation function, and have the application retrieve the secret using the Secrets Manager API.. Option D is correct because AWS Secrets Manager natively supports automatic rotation of secrets using a Lambda function that updates both the secret in Secrets Manager and the password in the RDS MySQL instance. This solution meets the 30-day rotation requirement without modifying application code, as the application retrieves the current secret via the Secrets Manager API, which automatically handles versioning and caching.

Answer

Create a scheduled job that runs every 30 days to update the secret in Secrets Manager with a new password.

Answer

Store the credentials in AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store and configure automatic rotation using a Lambda function.

Answer

Use the AWS RDS automatic password rotation feature, which automatically updates the password every 30 days.

Question 6

A company uses AWS Organizations to manage multiple accounts. The Security team wants to prevent member accounts from disabling AWS CloudTrail or deleting CloudTrail log files. Which TWO actions should the Security team take in the organization's management account? (Choose TWO.)

Accepted Answer

Create an SCP to deny s3:DeleteObject on the CloudTrail log bucket.. Option C is correct because an SCP that denies s3:DeleteObject on the CloudTrail log bucket prevents member accounts from deleting log files stored in S3, even if they have full administrative permissions. This is a critical control to ensure log integrity and compliance with security policies.

Answer

Create an SCP to deny cloudtrail:UpdateTrail.

Answer

Create an IAM policy in each member account to deny cloudtrail:StopLogging.

Answer

Enable AWS CloudTrail from the management account with organization trail.

Question 7

A DevOps team is designing a CI/CD pipeline that deploys a web application on Amazon ECS. The application must be compliant with PCI DSS, which requires encryption of data at rest and in transit, and logging of all access. Which THREE actions should the team implement to meet these requirements? (Choose THREE.)

Accepted Answer

Enable AWS CloudTrail and Amazon ECS logs to capture all API calls and container logs.. Option A is correct because AWS CloudTrail captures all API calls to the AWS environment, providing an audit trail of who accessed what and when, which is required for PCI DSS logging. Amazon ECS logs (via CloudWatch Logs or FireLens) capture container-level access and application logs, ensuring comprehensive logging of all access to the application and underlying infrastructure.

Answer

Store database credentials in AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store.

Answer

Use VPC endpoints to access ECS and ECR APIs.

Question 8

A company runs a multi-account environment using AWS Organizations. The security team has implemented a service control policy (SCP) that denies all actions on DynamoDB tables unless the request includes a specific tag "Environment": "Production". The development team has an IAM role with full DynamoDB access in their account. When they try to create a DynamoDB table using the AWS CLI, they receive an access denied error. They are certain they included the tag. The DevOps engineer reviews the SCP and finds that it uses the condition key "aws:RequestTag". However, the engineer notices that the SCP also denies access if the request does not include the tag for tagging actions. What is the most likely reason for the access denied error?

Accepted Answer

The CreateTable API does not accept tags in the request; tags must be added after creation using the TagResource API.. Option C is correct because the `CreateTable` API in DynamoDB does not accept tags as part of the request parameters when creating a table. Tags can only be added after the table is created using the `TagResource` API or the `aws dynamodb tag-resource` CLI command. Since the SCP uses `aws:RequestTag` to require the tag on the initial request, and the `CreateTable` call cannot include tags, the request is denied regardless of whether the developer intended to include the tag.

Answer

The SCP requires an explicit allow statement in the IAM policy to override the deny.

Answer

The IAM role does not have permission to tag resources.

Answer

The SCP is not applied to the development account because it is in a different OU.

Question 9

A company uses AWS Organizations with multiple accounts. The security team needs to enforce that all new member accounts automatically receive a specific AWS Config rule to require encryption on Amazon EBS volumes. Which solution meets this requirement with the least operational overhead?

Accepted Answer

Use a service control policy (SCP) to deny the ability to disable the AWS Config rule and use a custom AWS Config rule that evaluates EBS encryption.. Option B is correct because using an SCP to deny the ability to disable the AWS Config rule ensures the rule remains active across all accounts, while the custom AWS Config rule evaluates EBS encryption compliance. This combination enforces the requirement automatically for new member accounts with minimal operational overhead, as SCPs are applied at the organization level and AWS Config rules can be deployed via AWS Config conformance packs or organization-level rules without manual intervention.

Answer

Use an SCP to deny the creation of unencrypted EBS volumes and use AWS Config to detect noncompliant volumes.

Answer

Use an AWS Config aggregator in the management account to monitor compliance across accounts.

Answer

Use AWS CloudFormation StackSets to deploy a stack with the Config rule to all existing and new accounts.

Question 10

A financial services company is migrating its applications to AWS. The compliance team requires that all Amazon S3 buckets containing personally identifiable information (PII) must have server-side encryption enabled and block public access. The DevOps team discovers that some S3 buckets are not compliant. Which TWO actions should the team take to enforce these requirements automatically for all current and future buckets? (Select TWO.)

Accepted Answer

Use AWS Config managed rules to detect noncompliant buckets and automatically remediate by applying encryption and blocking public access.. AWS Config managed rules (e.g., s3-bucket-server-side-encryption-enabled and s3-bucket-public-read-prohibited) can automatically detect noncompliant S3 buckets. Combined with AWS Config auto-remediation using Systems Manager Automation documents, the team can enforce encryption and block public access without manual intervention, ensuring all current and future buckets remain compliant.

Answer

Enable AWS CloudTrail to log all S3 API calls and send alerts when noncompliant buckets are created.

Answer

Attach an IAM permissions boundary to all users that prevents them from creating or modifying S3 buckets.

Answer

Apply an S3 bucket policy to each existing bucket that denies all access unless encryption is enabled.

Question 11

A DevOps engineer applies the S3 bucket policy shown in the exhibit to enforce encryption and secure transport. After applying the policy, users report that they can still upload objects without encryption. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The first Deny statement only denies encryption types other than aws:kms, but allows encryption with AES256.. Option C is correct because the first Deny statement in the bucket policy uses a condition that checks if the `s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption` header is not equal to `aws:kms`. This means it only denies uploads that use encryption types other than `aws:kms`, such as `AES256` (SSE-S3) or no encryption. Since `AES256` is not `aws:kms`, the Deny does not trigger for SSE-S3 uploads, allowing them to proceed without the required KMS encryption.

Answer

The Null condition incorrectly allows uploads without encryption.

Answer

The bucket policy does not apply to cross-account uploads.

Answer

The bucket policy lacks an explicit Allow statement for s3:PutObject.

Question 12

Drag and drop the steps to set up an AWS CloudFormation stack with a nested stack.

Question 13

Match each AWS security and identity service to its function.

Question 14

A company uses AWS KMS to encrypt data in S3. They want to audit who used which KMS key and when. Which AWS service should they use?

Accepted Answer

AWS CloudTrail. AWS CloudTrail is the correct service because it records all AWS KMS API calls, including the key ID, the principal who made the request, the time of the request, and the source IP address. These logs are delivered to an S3 bucket and can be queried using CloudTrail Insights or Athena to audit KMS key usage for S3 decryption events.

Answer

Amazon CloudWatch

Answer

Amazon GuardDuty

Answer

AWS Config

Question 15

A DevOps engineer needs to securely store database credentials for an application running on EC2. The credentials must be rotated automatically every 30 days. Which solution meets these requirements?

Accepted Answer

Use AWS Secrets Manager to store the credentials and configure automatic rotation with the RDS rotation Lambda blueprint.. AWS Secrets Manager is the correct choice because it is purpose-built for securely storing, managing, and automatically rotating database credentials. It provides a built-in RDS rotation Lambda blueprint that can be configured to rotate credentials every 30 days without custom code. This fully managed rotation capability meets the requirement for automatic, scheduled rotation with minimal operational overhead.

Answer

Store credentials in AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store and use a Lambda function to rotate them.

Answer

Store credentials in an S3 bucket encrypted with KMS and use S3 Lifecycle policies to rotate the objects.

Answer

Use IAM roles to grant the EC2 instance access to the database, eliminating the need for credentials.

Question 16

A company is using AWS Organizations with multiple accounts. The security team wants to enforce that all S3 buckets have encryption enabled. They need a preventive control that applies to all current and future accounts. Which approach should they use?

Accepted Answer

Use a service control policy (SCP) in the Organizations root to deny PutBucketEncryption actions when encryption settings do not include AES256 or aws:kms.. A service control policy (SCP) applied at the Organizations root can deny the creation or modification of S3 buckets that do not have encryption enabled, specifically requiring AES256 or aws:kms. This is a preventive control that applies to all current and future accounts in the organization, as SCPs are inherited by all accounts and cannot be overridden by IAM policies within those accounts.

Answer

Use AWS Config rules to detect unencrypted buckets and automatically apply encryption using a remediation action.

Answer

Enable AWS CloudTrail to log all S3 API calls and send alerts when non-compliant buckets are created.

Answer

Create an IAM policy in each account that denies PutBucketEncryption unless encryption is enabled.

Question 17

A developer wants to grant an EC2 instance read-only access to a specific S3 bucket. Which AWS mechanism should they use to securely provide credentials to the instance?

Accepted Answer

Create an IAM role with the required permissions and attach it to the EC2 instance as an instance profile.. Option B is correct because IAM roles with instance profiles provide temporary, automatically rotated credentials to EC2 instances via the AWS STS service. This eliminates the need to hardcode or store long-term access keys on the instance, adhering to the principle of least privilege and improving security posture.

Answer

Set AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY environment variables in the AMI.

Answer

Store AWS access keys in the EC2 user data script.

Answer

Retrieve the credentials from AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store using a custom script.

Question 18

A company wants to centralize audit logs from multiple AWS accounts into a single S3 bucket. The logs must be encrypted at rest and access should be limited to the security team. Which solution is MOST secure and scalable?

Accepted Answer

Create a central S3 bucket with a bucket policy that requires encryption (aws:SecureTransport and SSE-KMS) and restricts access to a security team IAM role.. Using a centralized S3 bucket with KMS encryption and bucket policies that enforce encryption and limit access is the best approach. Option B is correct because it combines encryption with access control. Option A (separate buckets) is less scalable. Option C (CloudWatch Logs) is not encrypted at rest by default and not centralized to S3. Option D (IAM with S3) can be complex and less secure than bucket policies.

Answer

Use an IAM role in each account that grants write access to the central bucket, and use S3 default encryption.

Answer

Configure each account to write logs to its own S3 bucket, then replicate to a central bucket using S3 Cross-Region Replication.

Answer

Use Amazon CloudWatch Logs in each account and export logs to a central S3 bucket using a Lambda function.

Question 19

A company runs a web application on EC2 behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB). They want to protect against SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. Which AWS service should they use?

Accepted Answer

Deploy AWS WAF in front of the ALB and create rules to block SQL injection and XSS.. AWS WAF is a web application firewall that integrates directly with Application Load Balancers to inspect HTTP/HTTPS requests for common attack patterns. It provides managed rule sets specifically designed to block SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks at the application layer, which is exactly what this scenario requires.

Answer

Configure security groups to allow only HTTP/HTTPS traffic.

Answer

Configure network ACLs to block common attack patterns based on IP ranges.

Answer

Enable AWS Shield Advanced to protect the ALB.

Question 20

A DevOps engineer needs to ensure that all API calls made to AWS are logged for compliance. The logs must be stored in S3 for at least 7 years. Which AWS service should they use?

Accepted Answer

AWS CloudTrail. AWS CloudTrail is the correct service because it records all API calls made to AWS, including the identity, source IP, and timestamp, and can deliver log files to an S3 bucket for long-term retention. The requirement to store logs for at least 7 years aligns with CloudTrail's ability to integrate with S3 lifecycle policies for archival or deletion after a specified period.

Answer

VPC Flow Logs

Answer

AWS Config

Answer

Amazon CloudWatch Logs