- 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.
CLF-C02 AWS Config 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. A key principle to apply: aWS Config. 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 the managed rule 'access-keys-rotated'. It generates compliance findings and can trigger notifications via Amazon EventBridge or SNS, meeting the requirement for continuous evaluation and alerting.
Key principle: AWS Config
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.
When this WOULD be correct
A company wants a one-time review of its AWS account to identify IAM access keys older than 90 days and receive recommendations for remediation, without needing ongoing evaluation or custom rules. AWS Trusted Advisor's security checks can flag such keys in its dashboard.
- ✓
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
AWS Config
- ✗
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.
When this WOULD be correct
A company wants to automatically scan EC2 instances for missing security patches and unintended network access. Amazon Inspector would be the correct service to assess these vulnerabilities and generate findings.
- ✗
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.
When this WOULD be correct
An exam question asking which AWS service can identify IAM roles or resources that are accessible from outside an AWS account (e.g., cross-account access) and generate findings about unintended public or cross-account access would have IAM Access Analyzer 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 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.
✗AWS Trusted AdvisorWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
AWS Trusted Advisor provides best practice checks and recommendations, but it does not continuously evaluate IAM user access key age against a custom 90-day policy and generate findings. It offers a limited set of predefined checks, not custom compliance rules.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company wants a one-time review of its AWS account to identify IAM access keys older than 90 days and receive recommendations for remediation, without needing ongoing evaluation or custom rules. AWS Trusted Advisor's security checks can flag such keys in its dashboard.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think Trusted Advisor covers all security best practices, including access key rotation, because it does check for expired or unused keys. However, it lacks the ability to enforce custom policies or provide continuous evaluation and automated notifications.
✗Amazon InspectorWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Amazon Inspector is a vulnerability management service that scans for software vulnerabilities and unintended network exposure, not for evaluating IAM user access key age or compliance with rotation policies.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company wants to automatically scan EC2 instances for missing security patches and unintended network access. Amazon Inspector would be the correct service to assess these vulnerabilities and generate findings.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse 'Inspector' with a general compliance or auditing service, or mistakenly think it can inspect IAM credentials due to its name implying broad inspection capabilities.
✗AWS IAM Access AnalyzerWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
AWS IAM Access Analyzer identifies resources shared with external entities, not the age of IAM user access keys. It does not evaluate access key rotation compliance.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
An exam question asking which AWS service can identify IAM roles or resources that are accessible from outside an AWS account (e.g., cross-account access) and generate findings about unintended public or cross-account access would have IAM Access Analyzer as the correct answer.
Why candidates choose this
The name 'Access Analyzer' suggests it analyzes access, and candidates may mistakenly think it covers all access-related checks, including key age, rather than focusing on external access analysis.
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 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
- AWS Config
- access-keys-rotated
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
AWS Config
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.
Review aWS Config, then practise related CLF-C02 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.
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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 — AWS Config.
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 the managed rule 'access-keys-rotated'. 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?
Review aWS Config, then practise related CLF-C02 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.
What is the key concept behind this question?
AWS Config
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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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