Question 1mediummultiple choice
Full question →mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped
A financial services company requires all data stored in Amazon S3 to be encrypted at rest. The company has a compliance policy that states encryption keys must be managed entirely by the customer and must never be stored or managed by the cloud provider. Which encryption option should the company use for Amazon S3?
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
Server-Side Encryption with Amazon S3-Managed Keys (SSE-S3)
Incorrect. SSE-S3 uses encryption keys that are managed entirely by AWS. This violates the compliance policy that keys must never be stored or managed by the cloud provider.
B
Distractor review
Server-Side Encryption with AWS KMS Customer Managed Keys (SSE-KMS)
Incorrect. While SSE-KMS allows you to use a customer managed key, the key is still stored and managed by AWS KMS (a cloud service). The key material resides in AWS, which does not satisfy the requirement that keys must never be stored by the cloud provider.
C
Best answer
Server-Side Encryption with Customer-Provided Keys (SSE-C)
Correct. SSE-C allows you to provide your own encryption key with each request. AWS uses the key to encrypt/decrypt the data but does not store the key. This meets the compliance requirement that keys are managed entirely by the customer and are never stored by the cloud provider.
D
Distractor review
Client-Side Encryption using an on-premises key management system
Incorrect. Client-side encryption encrypts data before it is sent to S3, which satisfies the key management requirement, but the question asks for an encryption option for Amazon S3. Client-side encryption is not an S3 server-side feature and would require additional application changes. Among the server-side options, only SSE-C ensures keys are not stored by AWS.
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: Server-Side Encryption with Customer-Provided Keys (SSE-C) — This question tests understanding of Amazon S3 encryption options and the shared responsibility model. AWS offers three server-side encryption options for S3: SSE-S3 (keys managed by AWS), SSE-KMS (keys managed in AWS KMS, with an option for customer managed keys stored in KMS), and SSE-C (customer-provided keys where AWS does not store the key). SSE-C is the only server-side encryption option where the encryption key is never stored by AWS, meeting the requirement that keys are managed entirely by the customer and not stored by the cloud provider. Client-side encryption encrypts data before it reaches S3 and can also meet key management requirements, but it is not an S3 server-side encryption feature and requires additional application changes. Among server-side options, SSE-C is the correct 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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