- A
Amazon Inspector
Why wrong: Amazon Inspector is a vulnerability management service that scans workloads for software vulnerabilities and unintended network exposure. It does not continuously analyze CloudTrail logs, VPC Flow Logs, or DNS logs for threat detection.
- B
AWS Trusted Advisor
Why wrong: AWS Trusted Advisor provides best practice recommendations across cost, performance, security, and fault tolerance. It does not analyze real-time log data or detect malicious activity.
- C
Amazon GuardDuty
Amazon GuardDuty is a managed threat detection service that continuously monitors AWS accounts and workloads for malicious activity. It analyzes CloudTrail management events, VPC Flow Logs, and DNS logs to detect threats such as anomalous API calls, crypto-mining, and compromised credentials. It operates without requiring custom rules and can be centrally enabled across all accounts in an AWS Organization.
- D
AWS Config
Why wrong: AWS Config is a service that evaluates and records resource configuration changes over time. It is used for compliance auditing and tracking configuration history, but it does not analyze log data for threat detection.
Quick Answer
The answer is Amazon GuardDuty. This service is the correct choice because it provides centralized, continuous threat detection across AWS accounts by natively analyzing CloudTrail management event logs, VPC Flow Logs, and DNS query logs using machine learning and integrated threat intelligence, automatically flagging anomalies like crypto-mining or compromised credentials without requiring custom rules or infrastructure management. On the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of managed security services versus self-built solutions—a common trap is confusing GuardDuty with Amazon Inspector (which scans for software vulnerabilities) or AWS Security Hub (which aggregates findings). Remember that GuardDuty is the only service that specifically ingests those three log sources out of the box for threat detection. Memory tip: think "GuardDuty guards your data" by watching the three D's—DNS, VPC Flow Logs, and CloudTrail (management events).
CLF-C02 Security and Compliance Practice Question
This CLF-C02 practice question tests your understanding of security and compliance. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 manages over 100 AWS accounts using AWS Organizations. The security team wants a centralized service that continuously monitors for malicious or unauthorized behavior across all accounts. The service must analyze AWS CloudTrail management event logs, VPC Flow Logs, and DNS query logs to automatically detect threats such as anomalous API calls, crypto-mining activity, and compromised credentials. The security team wants to receive actionable alerts without having to write custom detection rules or manage underlying infrastructure. Which AWS service should the security team 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
Amazon GuardDuty
Amazon GuardDuty is a threat detection service that continuously monitors for malicious or unauthorized behavior using machine learning, anomaly detection, and integrated threat intelligence. It natively analyzes AWS CloudTrail management event logs, VPC Flow Logs, and DNS query logs across all accounts in an AWS Organization, automatically generating actionable alerts without requiring custom rules or infrastructure management.
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.
- ✗
Amazon Inspector
Why it's wrong here
Amazon Inspector is a vulnerability management service that scans workloads for software vulnerabilities and unintended network exposure. It does not continuously analyze CloudTrail logs, VPC Flow Logs, or DNS logs for threat detection.
- ✗
AWS Trusted Advisor
Why it's wrong here
AWS Trusted Advisor provides best practice recommendations across cost, performance, security, and fault tolerance. It does not analyze real-time log data or detect malicious activity.
- ✓
Amazon GuardDuty
Why this is correct
Amazon GuardDuty is a managed threat detection service that continuously monitors AWS accounts and workloads for malicious activity. It analyzes CloudTrail management events, VPC Flow Logs, and DNS logs to detect threats such as anomalous API calls, crypto-mining, and compromised credentials. It operates without requiring custom rules and can be centrally enabled across all accounts in an AWS Organization.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config is a service that evaluates and records resource configuration changes over time. It is used for compliance auditing and tracking configuration history, but it does not analyze log data for threat detection.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Amazon Inspector (a vulnerability scanner) with GuardDuty (a threat detector), or assume AWS Config can perform threat detection when it is actually a compliance and configuration tracking service.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
GuardDuty uses integrated threat intelligence from AWS and third-party sources (e.g., CrowdStrike, Proofpoint) combined with machine learning models to detect patterns like crypto-mining communication (e.g., connections to known mining pools) or anomalous API calls (e.g., IAM user enumeration). It can be enabled across an AWS Organization with a single delegated administrator account, automatically aggregating findings from all member accounts into a centralized console. The service operates without deploying agents or managing infrastructure, as it ingests and analyzes log data directly from CloudTrail, VPC Flow Logs (via Amazon VPC), and DNS logs (via Route 53 Resolver).
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: Amazon GuardDuty — Amazon GuardDuty is a threat detection service that continuously monitors for malicious or unauthorized behavior using machine learning, anomaly detection, and integrated threat intelligence. It natively analyzes AWS CloudTrail management event logs, VPC Flow Logs, and DNS query logs across all accounts in an AWS Organization, automatically generating actionable alerts without requiring custom rules or infrastructure management.
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.
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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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