- A
AWS CloudTrail and Amazon CloudWatch Logs
Why wrong: This option is incorrect. AWS CloudTrail records API calls but does not evaluate resource compliance against policies. Amazon CloudWatch Logs stores log data but does not provide automated compliance checks for IAM user MFA.
- B
AWS Trusted Advisor and Amazon Simple Email Service (Amazon SES)
Why wrong: This option is incorrect. AWS Trusted Advisor checks for MFA on the root account only, not on all IAM users. Amazon SES is an email sending service but would require custom logic to detect non-compliance; it is not integrated with Trusted Advisor for automated remediation workflows.
- C
AWS Config and Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS)
This option is correct. AWS Config can evaluate IAM users against the managed rule 'iam-user-mfa-enabled'. When a user is non-compliant, Config can publish a compliance change notification to an Amazon SNS topic. Subscribers (e.g., email endpoints) receive alerts automatically.
- D
AWS IAM Access Analyzer and Amazon Inspector
Why wrong: This option is incorrect. AWS IAM Access Analyzer analyzes resource-based policies to identify unintended public or cross-account access, but it does not check IAM user MFA status. Amazon Inspector is a vulnerability assessment service for EC2 instances and container images, not for IAM user compliance.
CLF-C02 Security and Compliance Practice Question
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.
A company has multiple IAM users. The security policy requires that every user must have an MFA device assigned and must use it for console sign-in. The security team wants to automatically detect any IAM user that does not have MFA enabled and receive an email alert. Which combination of AWS services should the team use to meet these requirements?
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 and Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS)
AWS Config can continuously monitor IAM users for compliance with the security policy by using a managed rule such as IAM_USER_MFA_ENABLED. When a non-compliant user is detected, AWS Config can trigger an Amazon SNS topic to send an email alert, meeting the requirement for automatic detection and notification.
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 CloudTrail and Amazon CloudWatch Logs
Why it's wrong here
This option is incorrect. AWS CloudTrail records API calls but does not evaluate resource compliance against policies. Amazon CloudWatch Logs stores log data but does not provide automated compliance checks for IAM user MFA.
- ✗
AWS Trusted Advisor and Amazon Simple Email Service (Amazon SES)
Why it's wrong here
This option is incorrect. AWS Trusted Advisor checks for MFA on the root account only, not on all IAM users. Amazon SES is an email sending service but would require custom logic to detect non-compliance; it is not integrated with Trusted Advisor for automated remediation workflows.
When this WOULD be correct
A question where the requirement is to detect and alert on AWS account-level security best practices, such as root account MFA, security groups with open ports, or S3 bucket permissions, and the email alert is sent via Amazon SES.
- ✓
AWS Config and Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS)
Why this is correct
This option is correct. AWS Config can evaluate IAM users against the managed rule 'iam-user-mfa-enabled'. When a user is non-compliant, Config can publish a compliance change notification to an Amazon SNS topic. Subscribers (e.g., email endpoints) receive alerts automatically.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
AWS IAM Access Analyzer and Amazon Inspector
Why it's wrong here
This option is incorrect. AWS IAM Access Analyzer analyzes resource-based policies to identify unintended public or cross-account access, but it does not check IAM user MFA status. Amazon Inspector is a vulnerability assessment service for EC2 instances and container images, not for IAM user compliance.
When this WOULD be correct
A question requiring detection of unintended external access to IAM roles or S3 buckets, with automated email alerts when findings are generated. For example: 'A security team needs to be notified when an IAM role policy allows access from an external AWS account. Which services should they use?'
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 Config and Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS)Correct answer▾
Why this is correct
This option is correct. AWS Config can evaluate IAM users against the managed rule 'iam-user-mfa-enabled'. When a user is non-compliant, Config can publish a compliance change notification to an Amazon SNS topic. Subscribers (e.g., email endpoints) receive alerts automatically.
✗AWS CloudTrail and Amazon CloudWatch LogsWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
CloudTrail logs API activity but does not evaluate IAM user MFA status, and CloudWatch Logs alone cannot trigger email alerts based on custom compliance checks without additional services like Lambda or Config rules.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
If the requirement were to detect unauthorized API calls (e.g., failed MFA sign-in attempts) and alert via email, CloudTrail could send logs to CloudWatch Logs, which triggers a metric filter and alarm to notify via SNS.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think CloudTrail can monitor user configurations and CloudWatch Logs can send alerts, but they overlook that CloudTrail tracks actions, not resource compliance, and CloudWatch Logs requires custom metric filters for alerting.
✗AWS Trusted Advisor and Amazon Simple Email Service (Amazon SES)Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
AWS Trusted Advisor can check for MFA on root accounts but not on individual IAM users, and Amazon SES is for sending emails but not integrated with Trusted Advisor for automated alerts based on IAM user MFA status.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question where the requirement is to detect and alert on AWS account-level security best practices, such as root account MFA, security groups with open ports, or S3 bucket permissions, and the email alert is sent via Amazon SES.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think Trusted Advisor covers all MFA checks and SES is a common email service, overlooking that Trusted Advisor does not evaluate IAM user MFA and SES requires custom integration for automated alerts.
✗AWS IAM Access Analyzer and Amazon InspectorWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
AWS IAM Access Analyzer analyzes resource policies for external access, and Amazon Inspector assesses workload vulnerabilities; neither service monitors IAM user MFA status or sends alerts for non-compliance.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A question requiring detection of unintended external access to IAM roles or S3 buckets, with automated email alerts when findings are generated. For example: 'A security team needs to be notified when an IAM role policy allows access from an external AWS account. Which services should they use?'
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may associate 'Access Analyzer' with IAM security and 'Inspector' with compliance scanning, incorrectly assuming they can detect MFA status, or they may confuse 'analyzer' with 'auditing' 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 confuse AWS Trusted Advisor's root account MFA check with IAM user MFA enforcement, or assume CloudTrail can detect configuration state rather than just API events.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
AWS Config evaluates resource configurations against rules on a periodic or trigger-based basis; the IAM_USER_MFA_ENABLED managed rule checks the 'MFADevices' attribute of each IAM user resource. Under the hood, AWS Config records configuration items (CIs) and compares them to the desired state, invoking an SNS topic via an Amazon EventBridge rule when a resource becomes non-compliant. In a real-world scenario, you could also use AWS Config conformance packs to enforce this across multiple accounts in AWS Organizations.
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.
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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 and Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS) — AWS Config can continuously monitor IAM users for compliance with the security policy by using a managed rule such as IAM_USER_MFA_ENABLED. When a non-compliant user is detected, AWS Config can trigger an Amazon SNS topic to send an email alert, meeting the requirement for automatic detection and notification.
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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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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