- A
AWS Config
AWS Config continuously evaluates resource configurations against rules and can automatically remediate non-compliant resources, such as enabling encryption on S3 buckets.
- B
AWS Trusted Advisor
Why wrong: AWS Trusted Advisor provides best-practice checks and recommendations but does not offer continuous monitoring or automatic remediation of resource configurations.
- C
AWS Security Hub
Why wrong: AWS Security Hub aggregates and prioritizes security findings from various AWS services, but it does not directly evaluate resource configurations or perform automatic remediation actions.
- D
AWS CloudTrail
Why wrong: AWS CloudTrail records API activity for auditing and governance, but it does not evaluate resource configurations or enforce compliance policies.
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 uses multiple AWS accounts to store data in Amazon S3. The security team wants to enforce a policy that all S3 buckets must have server-side encryption enabled. The team needs a service that can continuously monitor all S3 bucket configurations across all accounts, automatically detect any bucket that does not have encryption enabled, and automatically apply the encryption setting to bring the bucket into compliance. Which AWS service should the 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 the correct service because it provides continuous monitoring and evaluation of AWS resource configurations against desired policies. Using a managed rule like 's3-bucket-server-side-encryption-enabled', AWS Config can automatically detect S3 buckets that lack server-side encryption and, through AWS Config rules with auto-remediation (via Systems Manager Automation or Lambda), automatically apply the encryption setting to bring non-compliant buckets into compliance.
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 Config
Why this is correct
AWS Config continuously evaluates resource configurations against rules and can automatically remediate non-compliant resources, such as enabling encryption on S3 buckets.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
AWS Trusted Advisor
Why it's wrong here
AWS Trusted Advisor provides best-practice checks and recommendations but does not offer continuous monitoring or automatic remediation of resource configurations.
When this WOULD be correct
A question asks: 'Which AWS service provides a dashboard of best-practice checks for cost optimization, performance, security, and fault tolerance across an AWS account?' In that scenario, AWS Trusted Advisor is the correct answer because it offers those checks and recommendations.
- ✗
AWS Security Hub
Why it's wrong here
AWS Security Hub aggregates and prioritizes security findings from various AWS services, but it does not directly evaluate resource configurations or perform automatic remediation actions.
When this WOULD be correct
A company wants a single dashboard to view and prioritize security findings (e.g., from AWS Config, GuardDuty, Inspector) across multiple AWS accounts. Security Hub would be correct for aggregating and correlating security alerts, not for automatic remediation.
- ✗
AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
AWS CloudTrail records API activity for auditing and governance, but it does not evaluate resource configurations or enforce compliance policies.
When this WOULD be correct
A question asking which service records all API calls made to S3 buckets for auditing purposes, such as tracking who created a bucket or changed its encryption settings, would have CloudTrail as the correct answer.
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 evaluates resource configurations against rules and can automatically remediate non-compliant resources, such as enabling encryption on S3 buckets.
✗AWS Trusted AdvisorWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
AWS Trusted Advisor provides best-practice checks and recommendations, but it cannot automatically remediate non-compliant S3 buckets by applying encryption settings. It only offers manual or automated remediation for a limited set of checks, not including S3 bucket encryption.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question asks: 'Which AWS service provides a dashboard of best-practice checks for cost optimization, performance, security, and fault tolerance across an AWS account?' In that scenario, AWS Trusted Advisor is the correct answer because it offers those checks and recommendations.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think Trusted Advisor can enforce security policies because it includes security checks and can perform some automated actions, but they overlook that it does not support automatic remediation for S3 bucket encryption.
✗AWS Security HubWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
AWS Security Hub aggregates security findings from multiple services but does not automatically remediate non-compliant S3 bucket encryption settings. It lacks the ability to automatically apply encryption; it only provides visibility and centralized alerts.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company wants a single dashboard to view and prioritize security findings (e.g., from AWS Config, GuardDuty, Inspector) across multiple AWS accounts. Security Hub would be correct for aggregating and correlating security alerts, not for automatic remediation.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think Security Hub can enforce encryption because it is a central security service, but it is primarily a findings aggregation and prioritization tool, not a configuration enforcement service.
✗AWS CloudTrailWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
AWS CloudTrail records API activity but does not continuously monitor configurations or automatically remediate non-compliant resources like S3 buckets without encryption.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question asking which service records all API calls made to S3 buckets for auditing purposes, such as tracking who created a bucket or changed its encryption settings, would have CloudTrail as the correct answer.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse CloudTrail's logging of configuration changes with the ability to monitor and enforce compliance, not realizing it lacks automated remediation capabilities.
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?”
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse AWS Config's monitoring and remediation capabilities with AWS Security Hub's aggregation or Trusted Advisor's advisory checks, forgetting that only AWS Config can both detect and automatically fix non-compliant resource configurations.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
AWS Config evaluates resource configurations against rules defined in AWS Config managed rules or custom Lambda functions. For auto-remediation, you can attach an AWS Systems Manager Automation document (e.g., 'AWS-ConfigureS3BucketEncryption') or a custom Lambda function to the Config rule, which triggers when a resource is marked non-compliant. This ensures that even if a bucket is created without encryption, it is automatically corrected within minutes, maintaining continuous compliance without manual intervention.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
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 |
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 the correct service because it provides continuous monitoring and evaluation of AWS resource configurations against desired policies. Using a managed rule like 's3-bucket-server-side-encryption-enabled', AWS Config can automatically detect S3 buckets that lack server-side encryption and, through AWS Config rules with auto-remediation (via Systems Manager Automation or Lambda), automatically apply the encryption setting to bring non-compliant buckets into compliance.
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.
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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 →
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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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