The correct answer is to use AWS KMS to encrypt the artifacts and share the KMS key with the target accounts, then use bucket policies and IAM roles in the target accounts. This is the most secure approach because it implements defense-in-depth: the KMS key provides a separate encryption layer that must be explicitly granted to each target account, while the S3 bucket policy controls which accounts can read the objects, and IAM roles in those accounts enforce which specific principals can assume the permissions. On the AWS Certified AI Practitioner AIF-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how to combine encryption and identity-based policies for cross-account S3 access with KMS encrypted model artifacts, a common pattern for secure ML model sharing. A frequent trap is thinking a bucket policy alone is sufficient, but without KMS key sharing, the encrypted artifacts remain inaccessible. Memory tip: think "KMS key + bucket policy + IAM role" as the three-layer lock for cross-account model access.
AIF-C01 Practice Question: Security, Compliance and Governance for AI Solutions
This AIF-C01 practice question tests your understanding of security, compliance and governance for ai solutions. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A machine learning team needs to share a trained model with multiple teams across different AWS accounts. The model artifacts are stored in an S3 bucket in the central account. What is the most secure way to grant cross-account read access to the model artifacts?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use AWS KMS to encrypt the artifacts and share the KMS key with the target accounts, then use bucket policies and IAM roles in the target accounts.
Option D is correct because it implements a defense-in-depth approach: AWS KMS encrypts the model artifacts at rest, and cross-account access is granted by combining an S3 bucket policy that allows the target accounts' IAM roles to read the objects, with those roles assuming the necessary permissions. This ensures that only authenticated and authorized IAM principals in the target accounts can decrypt and access the artifacts, preventing unauthorized access even if the bucket policy is misconfigured.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Use an S3 bucket policy that grants access to the root user of each target account.
Why it's wrong here
Root user access is too broad; best practice is to use IAM roles.
✗
Make the S3 bucket public.
Why it's wrong here
Public bucket exposes data to the internet, which is insecure.
✗
Use S3 cross-region replication to copy the artifacts to each target account's bucket.
Why it's wrong here
Replication does not control access and may not comply with data residency requirements.
✓
Use AWS KMS to encrypt the artifacts and share the KMS key with the target accounts, then use bucket policies and IAM roles in the target accounts.
Why this is correct
This ensures least privilege and encryption in transit and at rest.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume S3 bucket policies alone are sufficient for cross-account access, overlooking the need for KMS key policies and IAM role permissions when encryption is involved, which is a common real-world requirement for securing sensitive ML artifacts.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, when using KMS with cross-account S3 access, the KMS key policy must explicitly grant the target account's IAM roles the `kms:Decrypt` permission, and the S3 bucket policy must grant `s3:GetObject` to those roles. A common subtlety is that the target account's IAM role must also have a policy allowing `kms:Decrypt` on the specific KMS key ARN; otherwise, decryption fails with an access denied error even if the S3 bucket policy allows the read. In real-world scenarios, this pattern is used for sharing large ML models (e.g., fine-tuned LLMs) across accounts while maintaining compliance with data governance policies.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Security, Compliance and Governance for AI Solutions — This question tests Security, Compliance and Governance for AI Solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use AWS KMS to encrypt the artifacts and share the KMS key with the target accounts, then use bucket policies and IAM roles in the target accounts. — Option D is correct because it implements a defense-in-depth approach: AWS KMS encrypts the model artifacts at rest, and cross-account access is granted by combining an S3 bucket policy that allows the target accounts' IAM roles to read the objects, with those roles assuming the necessary permissions. This ensures that only authenticated and authorized IAM principals in the target accounts can decrypt and access the artifacts, preventing unauthorized access even if the bucket policy is misconfigured.
What should I do if I get this AIF-C01 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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