CLF-C02 Security and Compliance Practice Question
A company runs multiple workloads on AWS and must ensure that all Amazon S3 buckets have server-side encryption enabled. The compliance team wants to automatically detect any S3 bucket that is created without encryption and receive an alert. They also want to continuously monitor existing buckets for compliance. Which AWS service should they use?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse AWS Config (configuration auditing) with AWS CloudTrail (API auditing), thinking that CloudTrail can detect non-compliant configurations, but CloudTrail only logs actions and does not evaluate the resulting state of resources against compliance rules.
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 Config
AWS Config is the correct service because it provides continuous monitoring and evaluation of AWS resource configurations against desired policies. You can create an AWS Config rule, such as the managed rule 's3-bucket-server-side-encryption-enabled', which automatically checks whether each S3 bucket has server-side encryption enabled. When a non-compliant bucket is detected (either newly created or existing), AWS Config can trigger an Amazon SNS notification to alert the compliance team, meeting both the detection and alerting requirements.
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 Config
Why this is correct
AWS Config continuously records and evaluates the configuration of AWS resources against desired policies, such as managed rules like 's3-bucket-server-side-encryption-enabled'. It can detect resource drift from expected settings and trigger automatic notifications when a resource becomes non-compliant, enabling you to enforce and monitor encryption on S3 buckets. This makes AWS Config the correct service for ensuring buckets are encrypted.
- ✗
Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Amazon GuardDuty is a threat detection service that uses machine learning to identify malicious activity or unauthorized behavior in your AWS environment, such as unusual API calls or compromised credentials. It does not evaluate resource configurations for compliance with encryption policies.
When this WOULD be correct
If the question asked for a service to detect suspicious API calls or potential security threats (e.g., unusual S3 bucket access patterns) and generate alerts, GuardDuty would be the correct answer.
- ✗
AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. AWS CloudTrail records API activity in your AWS account, providing an audit trail of who did what and when. While it can be used to investigate past events, it does not continuously monitor resource configurations or enforce compliance rules.
When this WOULD be correct
A question asking which service records API activity for security auditing, such as tracking who created an S3 bucket or when encryption settings were changed. For example: 'Which service provides a history of AWS API calls for compliance auditing?'
- ✗
Amazon Inspector
Why it's wrong here
Amazon Inspector is an automated vulnerability management service that scans compute workloads for software vulnerabilities and unintended network exposure, specifically targeting Amazon EC2 instances, Amazon ECR container images, and Lambda functions. It does not evaluate S3 bucket configuration settings, encryption status, or other infrastructure-level compliance rules, so it would not identify an S3 bucket lacking default encryption. Its purpose is security findings on compute and container workloads, not configuration compliance across all AWS resources.
When this WOULD be correct
Amazon Inspector would be correct if the question asked about automatically assessing EC2 instances or container images for known software vulnerabilities or unintended network access, and sending alerts for findings.
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The CLF-C02 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓AWS ConfigCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
AWS Config continuously records and evaluates the configuration of AWS resources against desired policies, such as managed rules like 's3-bucket-server-side-encryption-enabled'. It can detect resource drift from expected settings and trigger automatic notifications when a resource becomes non-compliant, enabling you to enforce and monitor encryption on S3 buckets. This makes AWS Config the correct service for ensuring buckets are encrypted.
✗Amazon GuardDutyWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Amazon GuardDuty is a threat detection service that monitors for malicious activity and unauthorized behavior, not for compliance checks like S3 bucket encryption settings.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
If the question asked for a service to detect suspicious API calls or potential security threats (e.g., unusual S3 bucket access patterns) and generate alerts, GuardDuty would be the correct answer.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse GuardDuty's monitoring and alerting capabilities with compliance monitoring, assuming it can detect misconfigurations like missing encryption.
✗AWS CloudTrailWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
AWS CloudTrail records API calls for auditing, but it does not continuously monitor resource configurations or evaluate compliance rules. It cannot detect or alert on S3 buckets lacking encryption unless you manually analyze logs.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question asking which service records API activity for security auditing, such as tracking who created an S3 bucket or when encryption settings were changed. For example: 'Which service provides a history of AWS API calls for compliance auditing?'
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse CloudTrail's logging of bucket creation events with the ability to monitor and alert on configuration compliance, not realizing that CloudTrail lacks automated rule evaluation and remediation.
✗Amazon InspectorWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Amazon Inspector is a vulnerability management service that scans workloads for software vulnerabilities and unintended network exposure, not for detecting S3 bucket encryption configurations.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
Amazon Inspector would be correct if the question asked about automatically assessing EC2 instances or container images for known software vulnerabilities or unintended network access, and sending alerts for findings.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse Inspector's 'security assessment' scope with compliance checks, or assume it covers all AWS resources including S3, when it is actually focused on compute and network vulnerabilities.
Analysis generated from the official CLF-C02blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
Go deeper
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About these practice questions
One of 988 original CLF-C02 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.