A company manages multiple AWS accounts under a single AWS Organizations organization. The security team wants to implement a preventive control that blocks any action that would disable AWS CloudTrail or delete CloudTrail log files across all accounts, including the management account. The solution must be centrally managed and must not require changes to individual account permissions. Which AWS feature should the security team use?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
Distractor review
IAM permission boundaries
IAM permission boundaries set the maximum permissions for an IAM user or role within a single account. They do not provide central control across multiple accounts and do not block actions by default; they only limit the permissions that can be granted to a specific entity.
Best answer
AWS Service Control Policies (SCPs)
SCPs are a feature of AWS Organizations that allow you to centrally control the maximum permissions for all accounts in your organization. They can be used to deny specific API actions (such as disabling CloudTrail) across all accounts, including the management account, providing a preventive security guardrail.
Distractor review
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) roles with a trust policy
IAM roles with trust policies allow cross-account access by granting permissions to users from other accounts. They do not restrict or deny actions across accounts, and they are not a preventive control for blocking API actions.
Distractor review
AWS Config conformance packs
AWS Config conformance packs are collections of AWS Config rules that evaluate whether your resources comply with specific policies. They are detective and can trigger auto-remediation, but they are not preventive controls that block actions before they occur.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: ACLs stop at the first match
ACLs are processed top to bottom. The first matching entry wins, and an implicit deny usually exists at the end.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
ACL questions test precision: source, destination, protocol, port and direction. A generally correct ACL can still fail if it is applied on the wrong interface or in the wrong direction.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Standard ACLs match source addresses.
- Extended ACLs can match source, destination, protocol and ports.
- The first matching ACL entry is used.
- There is usually an implicit deny at the end.
TExam Day Tips
- Check inbound versus outbound direction.
- Read the ACL from top to bottom.
- Look for a broader permit or deny above the intended line.
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More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A developer needs to launch a test server for a new application prototype. The developer logs into the AWS Management Console, selects an Amazon EC2 instance type, configures the security group, and starts the instance. The instance is running within two minutes, and the developer did not need to submit a formal request to the company's IT procurement team or wait for approval from a cloud administrator. Which essential characteristic of cloud computing does this scenario best demonstrate?
Question 2
A solutions architect is planning a new web application on AWS. The workload will include 3 Amazon EC2 instances (t3.medium) running 24/7, an Application Load Balancer, and an Amazon RDS for MySQL db.t3.small database. The architect needs to estimate the monthly cost for the first year, considering different purchasing options (On-Demand, 1-year All Upfront Reserved Instance, and Compute Savings Plan). Which AWS tool should the architect use to create this estimate?
Question 3
A company's development team frequently needs temporary test environments. A developer can log into the AWS Management Console, select an Amazon EC2 instance type, configure storage, and launch the instance within minutes without any interaction with the IT infrastructure team. This capability is an example of which essential characteristic of cloud computing?
Question 4
A company's finance team needs to analyze AWS spending in detail. They require a report that includes hourly cost data for each AWS service, each individual resource (e.g., a specific EC2 instance), and any cost allocation tags applied. The team plans to export this data to an Amazon S3 bucket and then import it into a custom business intelligence (BI) analytics dashboard. Which AWS tool should the finance team use to generate this level of detailed cost data?
Question 5
A company uses AWS for its development environment. The finance team wants to set a monthly budget of $10,000. They want to receive an email notification when the actual costs reach 80% of the budget ($8,000) and again when costs exceed the budget. The team needs a managed AWS service that can automatically send these alerts without requiring custom code or third-party tools. Which AWS service should the team use?
Question 6
A company uses AWS Organizations to manage multiple accounts. The security team needs to enforce a policy that restricts SSH access (port 22) from the internet (0.0.0.0/0) in all VPCs across all accounts. The team wants to centrally define the allowed rules and automatically apply them to newly created VPCs and security groups, while also automatically remediating any existing non-compliant security groups. Which AWS service should the team use?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this CLF-C02 question test?
Standard ACLs match source addresses.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: AWS Service Control Policies (SCPs) — AWS Service Control Policies (SCPs) allow central, preventive control over the maximum permissions available in all accounts within an AWS Organization. SCPs can be applied at the root organizational unit (OU) or account level to deny specific API actions, such as cloudtrail:StopLogging, cloudtrail:DeleteTrail, or logs:DeleteLogGroup, across all accounts. This effectively blocks any user or role from performing those actions, including the root user, without modifying individual IAM policies. SCPs are the correct solution for enforcing security guardrails across multiple accounts in a preventive manner.
What should I do if I get this CLF-C02 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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