- A
AWS IAM policies
Why wrong: IAM policies govern access within a single account — they can't enforce policies across multiple accounts in an organization.
- B
AWS Organizations with Service Control Policies
SCPs applied through AWS Organizations define maximum permission boundaries across all member accounts, providing centralized governance and guardrails.
- C
AWS Config rules
Why wrong: Config rules detect non-compliant resources but don't proactively prevent actions from being taken.
- D
Amazon GuardDuty
Why wrong: GuardDuty detects threats — it doesn't enforce or restrict what actions accounts can perform.
Question 178 of 1,024
Centrally Manage Policies Across AWS Accounts with SCPs
This CLF-C02 practice question tests your understanding of security and compliance. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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.
Which AWS service is used to centrally manage and enforce policies across multiple AWS accounts in an organization, such as restricting which AWS services member accounts can 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 Organizations with Service Control Policies
AWS Organizations with Service Control Policies (SCPs) is the correct service because SCPs enable central governance of the maximum available permissions for all accounts within an organization. SCPs act as a permission guardrail, allowing administrators to restrict which AWS services, actions, and resources member accounts can use, regardless of the IAM policies attached to those accounts. This makes SCPs the appropriate tool for enforcing organization-wide restrictions across multiple accounts.
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 IAM policies
Why it's wrong here
IAM policies govern access within a single account — they can't enforce policies across multiple accounts in an organization.
- ✓
AWS Organizations with Service Control Policies
Why this is correct
SCPs applied through AWS Organizations define maximum permission boundaries across all member accounts, providing centralized governance and guardrails.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
AWS Config rules
Why it's wrong here
Config rules detect non-compliant resources but don't proactively prevent actions from being taken.
- ✗
Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
GuardDuty detects threats — it doesn't enforce or restrict what actions accounts can perform.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse IAM policies with SCPs, not realizing that IAM policies are account-specific and cannot enforce restrictions across multiple accounts, while SCPs provide centralized, organization-wide guardrails without granting permissions themselves.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Service Control Policies (SCPs) are defined in JSON policy documents and are applied at the root, organizational unit (OU), or account level within AWS Organizations. SCPs use an allow list or deny list model, where an explicit deny overrides any allow, and permissions are evaluated as the intersection of all applicable SCPs and IAM policies. A common real-world scenario is using an SCP to deny access to non-approved services like Amazon EC2 or AWS Lambda for development accounts, ensuring compliance without modifying individual IAM policies.
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.
- →
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 Organizations with Service Control Policies — AWS Organizations with Service Control Policies (SCPs) is the correct service because SCPs enable central governance of the maximum available permissions for all accounts within an organization. SCPs act as a permission guardrail, allowing administrators to restrict which AWS services, actions, and resources member accounts can use, regardless of the IAM policies attached to those accounts. This makes SCPs the appropriate tool for enforcing organization-wide restrictions across multiple accounts.
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. Which AWS service provides centralized governance and compliance across multiple AWS accounts in an organization?
medium- A.AWS IAM
- B.AWS Config
- ✓ C.AWS Organizations
- D.Amazon Macie
Why C: AWS Organizations is the correct service because it provides centralized governance and compliance across multiple AWS accounts by enabling you to create a hierarchy of accounts with Service Control Policies (SCPs) that centrally control permissions. SCPs allow you to enforce compliance rules, such as restricting the use of specific AWS services or regions, across all accounts in the organization without requiring individual account-level configuration.
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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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