- A
AWS Trusted Advisor
Why wrong: AWS Trusted Advisor includes a best practice check for IAM key rotation, but it is an advisory service that generates recommendations. It does not continuously enforce a specific rotation policy and does not automatically flag individual non-compliant keys for remediation or custom notifications in the same way AWS Config rules do.
- B
AWS Config
AWS Config is a managed service that evaluates your AWS resource configurations against desired policies. The managed rule 'access-keys-rotated' continuously checks whether active IAM access keys have been rotated within the specified maximum age (e.g., 90 days). Non-compliant resources are identified, and you can configure Amazon SNS notifications to alert the security team. This meets the requirement for continuous evaluation and automated notification.
- C
Amazon Inspector
Why wrong: Amazon Inspector is a vulnerability management service that scans Amazon EC2 instances and container images for software vulnerabilities and unintended network exposure. It does not evaluate IAM access key age or rotation policies.
- D
AWS IAM Access Analyzer
Why wrong: AWS IAM Access Analyzer helps identify resources in your account that are shared with an external entity by analyzing resource-based policies (e.g., S3 bucket policies, IAM role trust policies). It does not evaluate the age or rotation status of IAM user access keys.
Quick Answer
The answer is AWS Config, as it is the managed AWS service designed to continuously evaluate resource configurations against defined policies. AWS Config uses managed rules like `iam-user-unused-keys-check` to automatically detect IAM access keys older than 90 days, comparing each key’s creation date against the rotation policy and generating compliance findings without requiring custom scripts. On the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of which service handles ongoing compliance monitoring versus one-time audits; a common trap is choosing IAM Access Analyzer, which focuses on external access analysis, not internal key age. Remember that AWS Config is the “continuous compliance camera” for your resources, while services like Trusted Advisor provide only periodic checks. For a memory tip, think “Config checks the age” — if you need to enforce a key rotation policy automatically, AWS Config is the rule-based evaluator that triggers notifications via Amazon EventBridge or SNS.
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's security policy requires that all IAM user access keys be rotated every 90 days. The security team wants to automatically identify any IAM user in the company's AWS account whose access keys are older than 90 days and trigger a notification to the security team. They need a managed AWS service that continuously evaluates the access key age against this requirement and generates findings. 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
AWS Config
AWS Config is a managed service that continuously evaluates your AWS resource configurations against desired policies (e.g., access keys older than 90 days) using managed rules like 'iam-user-unused-keys-check'. It generates compliance findings and can trigger notifications via Amazon EventBridge or SNS, meeting the requirement for continuous evaluation and alerting.
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 Trusted Advisor
Why it's wrong here
AWS Trusted Advisor includes a best practice check for IAM key rotation, but it is an advisory service that generates recommendations. It does not continuously enforce a specific rotation policy and does not automatically flag individual non-compliant keys for remediation or custom notifications in the same way AWS Config rules do.
- ✓
AWS Config
Why this is correct
AWS Config is a managed service that evaluates your AWS resource configurations against desired policies. The managed rule 'access-keys-rotated' continuously checks whether active IAM access keys have been rotated within the specified maximum age (e.g., 90 days). Non-compliant resources are identified, and you can configure Amazon SNS notifications to alert the security team. This meets the requirement for continuous evaluation and automated notification.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Amazon Inspector
Why it's wrong here
Amazon Inspector is a vulnerability management service that scans Amazon EC2 instances and container images for software vulnerabilities and unintended network exposure. It does not evaluate IAM access key age or rotation policies.
- ✗
AWS IAM Access Analyzer
Why it's wrong here
AWS IAM Access Analyzer helps identify resources in your account that are shared with an external entity by analyzing resource-based policies (e.g., S3 bucket policies, IAM role trust policies). It does not evaluate the age or rotation status of IAM user access keys.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse AWS Config's continuous compliance evaluation with AWS Trusted Advisor's one-time or periodic checks, or mistakenly think IAM Access Analyzer covers all IAM-related security checks, when it only focuses on external access analysis.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
AWS Config's managed rule 'iam-user-unused-keys-check' evaluates whether IAM user access keys have been used within a specified number of days (default 90), but the question specifically requires checking key age (creation date), which can be achieved with a custom AWS Config rule using a Lambda function that evaluates the 'AccessKeyLastUsed' or 'CreateDate' attribute. Under the hood, AWS Config records configuration items (CIs) for IAM users and evaluates them against rules on each configuration change or at a periodic interval, storing results in a config timeline for auditing.
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 company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
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 Config — AWS Config is a managed service that continuously evaluates your AWS resource configurations against desired policies (e.g., access keys older than 90 days) using managed rules like 'iam-user-unused-keys-check'. It generates compliance findings and can trigger notifications via Amazon EventBridge or SNS, meeting the requirement for continuous evaluation and alerting.
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 →
Same concept, more angles
1 more ways this is tested on CLF-C02
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company's security policy requires that access keys for IAM users must be rotated every 90 days. Which AWS service can automatically detect users with non-compliant key age?
hard- A.AWS CloudTrail
- ✓ B.AWS Config with the access-keys-rotated rule
- C.Amazon GuardDuty
- D.AWS IAM Access Analyzer
Why B: AWS Config with the 'access-keys-rotated' managed rule automatically checks whether IAM user access keys have been rotated within the specified number of days (default 90). When a key exceeds the configured maximum age, AWS Config flags the resource as non-compliant, enabling automated detection and remediation.
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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