mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped

A company uses AWS Organizations and manages hundreds of AWS accounts. The security policy requires that all Amazon S3 buckets be encrypted using a specific AWS KMS customer-managed key (CMK). The security team wants to automatically detect any S3 bucket that is not encrypted with the required CMK and automatically apply the correct encryption configuration without manual intervention. Which AWS service should the security team use to implement this automated compliance enforcement?

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A company uses AWS Organizations and manages hundreds of AWS accounts. The security policy requires that all Amazon S3 buckets be encrypted using a specific AWS KMS customer-managed key (CMK). The security team wants to automatically detect any S3 bucket that is not encrypted with the required CMK and automatically apply the correct encryption configuration without manual intervention. Which AWS service should the security team use to implement this automated compliance enforcement?

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.

A

Distractor review

Amazon GuardDuty

Amazon GuardDuty is a threat detection service that monitors for malicious activity and unauthorized behavior. It does not evaluate resource configuration compliance against internal policies or apply automatic remediation for noncompliant S3 bucket encryption settings.

B

Best answer

AWS Config

AWS Config is designed to assess, audit, and evaluate the configurations of AWS resources. It can detect S3 buckets that do not have the required encryption and trigger automatic remediation actions (e.g., using AWS Systems Manager Automation to enable server-side encryption with the designated KMS key). This satisfies both the detection and automatic correction requirements.

C

Distractor review

AWS CloudTrail

AWS CloudTrail records API activity across an AWS account for auditing, security analysis, and operational troubleshooting. While CloudTrail logs can show who created a bucket without encryption, it cannot automatically detect or remediate noncompliant bucket encryption configurations.

D

Distractor review

AWS Trusted Advisor

AWS Trusted Advisor inspects an AWS environment and provides best practice recommendations in categories such as cost, performance, security, and fault tolerance. It can alert users about S3 buckets with insecure configurations but does not provide automated remediation to enforce specific encryption settings.

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.

Related practice questions

Related CLF-C02 practice-question pages

Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.

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 Config — AWS Config is the correct service for this task because it can continuously evaluate the configuration of AWS resources (such as S3 buckets) against desired rules. In this scenario, AWS Config can use a managed rule to check if S3 buckets are encrypted with the specified KMS key. If a noncompliant bucket is detected, AWS Config can trigger an automatic remediation action (using AWS Systems Manager Automation) to apply the correct encryption. This provides the detective and corrective capabilities needed for automated compliance enforcement. Amazon GuardDuty focuses on threat detection, AWS CloudTrail provides API logging for auditing, and AWS Trusted Advisor offers best practice checks but does not automatically remediate resources. Therefore, AWS Config is the best choice.

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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