- A
AWS Shield Advanced
Why wrong: AWS Shield Advanced provides enhanced DDoS protection against large-scale attacks, but it does not inspect application-layer traffic for SQL injection or XSS. It is not designed to filter based on web application vulnerabilities.
- B
Amazon GuardDuty
Why wrong: Amazon GuardDuty is a threat detection service that uses machine learning to identify malicious activity and unauthorized behavior in your AWS environment. It does not perform inline filtering of incoming HTTP requests to block application-layer attacks.
- C
AWS WAF
AWS WAF is a web application firewall that allows you to monitor and control HTTP and HTTPS requests forwarded to your protected resources. It integrates directly with ALB and provides managed rule sets for common threats like SQL injection and XSS. You can customize rules to meet specific requirements.
- D
AWS Firewall Manager
Why wrong: AWS Firewall Manager simplifies the administration of firewall rules across multiple accounts and resources. It can centrally manage AWS WAF rules and AWS Shield Advanced protections, but the actual filtering of malicious traffic is performed by AWS WAF. Firewall Manager itself does not inspect or block requests.
CLF-C02 Security and Compliance Practice Question
This CLF-C02 practice question tests your understanding of security and compliance. 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 company hosts a public-facing web application behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB). The development team has recently identified that the application is vulnerable to common web attacks such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS). The security team wants to deploy a managed solution that can inspect incoming HTTP requests and block malicious traffic before it reaches the application. The solution must integrate directly with the existing ALB and provide pre-configured rule sets that can be customized. Which AWS service should the company use?
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 WAF
AWS WAF is a managed web application firewall that integrates directly with Application Load Balancers to inspect HTTP/HTTPS requests. It provides pre-configured rule sets, such as those for SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS), which can be customized to block malicious traffic before it reaches the application. This makes it the correct choice for the described use case.
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.
- ✗
AWS Shield Advanced
Why it's wrong here
AWS Shield Advanced provides enhanced DDoS protection against large-scale attacks, but it does not inspect application-layer traffic for SQL injection or XSS. It is not designed to filter based on web application vulnerabilities.
- ✗
Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
Amazon GuardDuty is a threat detection service that uses machine learning to identify malicious activity and unauthorized behavior in your AWS environment. It does not perform inline filtering of incoming HTTP requests to block application-layer attacks.
- ✓
AWS WAF
Why this is correct
AWS WAF is a web application firewall that allows you to monitor and control HTTP and HTTPS requests forwarded to your protected resources. It integrates directly with ALB and provides managed rule sets for common threats like SQL injection and XSS. You can customize rules to meet specific requirements.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
AWS Firewall Manager
Why it's wrong here
AWS Firewall Manager simplifies the administration of firewall rules across multiple accounts and resources. It can centrally manage AWS WAF rules and AWS Shield Advanced protections, but the actual filtering of malicious traffic is performed by AWS WAF. Firewall Manager itself does not inspect or block requests.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may confuse AWS Shield Advanced (which handles DDoS) with AWS WAF (which handles application-layer attacks like SQLi and XSS), but Shield does not inspect request payloads for malicious content.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
AWS WAF operates by evaluating incoming HTTP(S) requests against configurable rules, including managed rule groups like the AWS Managed Rules for SQL injection and XSS. These rules use pattern-matching and request inspection at the application layer (Layer 7) to identify malicious payloads, such as SQL commands in query strings or script tags in form fields. In a real-world scenario, a common trap is assuming that DDoS protection alone suffices for application-layer attacks, but WAF is specifically designed for fine-grained request filtering.
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 healthcare organisation deploys an application with a public-facing web tier and a private database tier. The database subnet has no public IP and only accepts connections from the web tier's security group. Questions like this test whether you can design cloud network isolation using VNets/VPCs, subnets, and security group rules.
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.
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Security and Compliance — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this CLF-C02 question test?
Security and Compliance — This question tests Security and Compliance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: AWS WAF — AWS WAF is a managed web application firewall that integrates directly with Application Load Balancers to inspect HTTP/HTTPS requests. It provides pre-configured rule sets, such as those for SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS), which can be customized to block malicious traffic before it reaches the application. This makes it the correct choice for the described use case.
What should I do if I get this CLF-C02 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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This CLF-C02 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 CLF-C02 exam.
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