easyMultiple Choice
AIF-C01 Practice Question: Using Amazon SageMaker to train machine learning…
A company is using Amazon SageMaker to train machine learning models on sensitive customer data. Which AWS service can be used to encrypt the data at rest in the S3 bucket used by SageMaker?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse AWS CloudHSM with KMS, thinking that a dedicated HSM is required for encryption, but KMS is the simpler, fully managed service that directly integrates with S3 and SageMaker for at-rest encryption.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
AWS Key Management Service (KMS)
AWS Key Management Service (KMS) is the correct service because it provides managed encryption keys that can be used to enable server-side encryption (SSE-KMS) for Amazon S3 buckets. When SageMaker accesses training data from S3, it can use a customer-managed KMS key to encrypt data at rest, ensuring sensitive customer data remains protected. KMS integrates directly with S3 and SageMaker, allowing you to specify a KMS key in the SageMaker training job configuration.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
AWS Key Management Service (KMS)
Why this is correct
AWS Key Management Service supplies the customer-managed keys that encrypt SageMaker training data and the associated S3 bucket at rest, with access governed by key policies. This satisfies the stem's requirement for encryption of sensitive data at rest in S3.
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AWS CloudHSM
Why it's wrong here
CloudHSM provides dedicated FIPS 140-2 Level 3 hardware security modules for key storage and cryptographic operations, not S3 object encryption. S3 at-rest encryption is enabled via SSE-S3, SSE-KMS or SSE-C on the bucket itself. CloudHSM would be correct where single-tenant key custody or custom PKI signing is mandated.
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AWS Secrets Manager
Why it's wrong here
Secrets Manager stores and rotates credentials, API keys and database passwords; it does not encrypt S3 objects. S3 server-side encryption with SSE-KMS or SSE-S3, configured on the bucket, is what protects data at rest. Secrets Manager would be correct for managing the credentials SageMaker uses to reach that bucket.
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AWS Certificate Manager (ACM)
Why it's wrong here
ACM provisions, manages and renews TLS/SSL certificates for encryption in transit across load balancers and CloudFront; it performs no data-at-rest encryption. S3 server-side encryption (SSE-S3, SSE-KMS or SSE-C) is the mechanism that encrypts objects. ACM would be correct for securing HTTPS endpoints serving that data.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This AIF-C01 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the AIF-C01 exam.