A company runs an e-commerce website on AWS and expects a high volume of traffic during Black Friday. The security team is concerned about potential DDoS attacks overwhelming the infrastructure. The company wants a managed service that provides always-on detection and automatic inline mitigation of DDoS attacks at the network and transport layers (layer 3 and 4), as well as cost protection against scaling charges due to DDoS attacks. Which AWS service should the company 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
AWS Shield Standard
AWS Shield Standard is free and provides basic network-layer DDoS protection for all AWS customers, but it does not offer cost protection against scaling charges, nor does it include 24/7 access to a DDoS response team (DRT) or enhanced support. The scenario requires cost protection, which is only available with AWS Shield Advanced.
Best answer
AWS Shield Advanced
AWS Shield Advanced provides always-on detection and automatic inline mitigation of DDoS attacks at layers 3 and 4 (and layer 7 when integrated with AWS WAF). It also includes cost protection that provides financial coverage against scaling charges (e.g., from EC2 or ELB) incurred during a DDoS attack, as well as 24/7 access to the DDoS Response Team (DRT). This matches all the specified requirements.
Distractor review
AWS WAF
AWS WAF is a web application firewall that protects against layer 7 attacks (e.g., SQL injection, cross-site scripting) by inspecting HTTP/HTTPS requests. It does not provide mitigation at the network or transport layers (layer 3/4), nor does it offer cost protection against scaling charges.
Distractor review
Amazon GuardDuty
Amazon GuardDuty is a continuous threat detection service that analyzes AWS CloudTrail, VPC Flow Logs, and DNS logs to identify malicious activity. It does not automatically mitigate DDoS attacks and does not provide cost protection. It would alert on potential attacks but not block them inline.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
- Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
- Underline the problem statement mentally.
- 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.
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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?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: AWS Shield Advanced — AWS Shield Advanced provides enhanced DDoS protection for applications running on AWS, including always-on detection and automatic inline mitigation at layers 3, 4, and 7. A key feature is cost protection: AWS Shield Advanced provides financial protection against scaling charges that may result from a DDoS attack. AWS Shield Standard is included free for all AWS customers but only offers basic protection and no cost protection. AWS WAF is a web application firewall for layer 7 traffic (HTTP/HTTPS) and does not cover network/transport layers. Amazon GuardDuty is a threat detection service that identifies potential threats but does not provide automatic mitigation or cost protection.
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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