- A
Grant AdministratorAccess to ensure all required permissions are included
Why wrong: Granting AdministratorAccess to a developer who only needs to read from one S3 bucket violates the principle of least privilege. If the credentials are compromised, the attacker has full account access.
- B
Grant AmazonS3FullAccess to cover all S3 operations
Why wrong: S3FullAccess allows the developer to delete buckets, read other buckets, and change bucket policies — far more than the single read operation required. This violates least privilege.
- C
Grant only s3:GetObject permission on the specific bucket
Granting only s3:GetObject on the specific S3 bucket ARN follows the principle of least privilege. The developer can perform exactly what is needed and nothing more.
- D
Use the root account credentials since they guarantee access
Why wrong: Using root credentials for developer tasks is a critical security violation. Root credentials should never be used for day-to-day operations.
Quick Answer
The correct approach is to grant only the s3:GetObject permission on the specific bucket ARN. This follows the principle of least privilege, which dictates that an IAM policy should provide only the exact permissions needed for a task—in this case, reading objects—and nothing more. By scoping the policy to a single action and a specific bucket resource, you prevent the developer from accidentally listing, deleting, or modifying data, thereby minimizing the attack surface. On the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02 exam, this concept tests your understanding of IAM policy best practices and resource-based restrictions. A common trap is selecting a broader permission like s3:ListBucket or a wildcard action, which would violate least privilege. Remember the memory tip: “Get only what you need” — for read-only access to a single bucket, the policy should be as narrow as s3:GetObject on that bucket’s ARN.
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 developer needs to read objects from a specific Amazon S3 bucket. Following AWS security best practices, which approach should be used when creating the IAM policy for this developer?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"best"Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
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
Grant only s3:GetObject permission on the specific bucket
Option C is correct because the principle of least privilege dictates granting only the specific permissions required for the task. By attaching an IAM policy with only the s3:GetObject action on the specific bucket ARN, the developer can read objects without having unnecessary permissions that could lead to accidental or malicious changes. This approach aligns with AWS security best practices for IAM policies.
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.
- ✗
Grant AdministratorAccess to ensure all required permissions are included
Why it's wrong here
Granting AdministratorAccess to a developer who only needs to read from one S3 bucket violates the principle of least privilege. If the credentials are compromised, the attacker has full account access.
- ✗
Grant AmazonS3FullAccess to cover all S3 operations
Why it's wrong here
S3FullAccess allows the developer to delete buckets, read other buckets, and change bucket policies — far more than the single read operation required. This violates least privilege.
- ✓
Grant only s3:GetObject permission on the specific bucket
Why this is correct
Granting only s3:GetObject on the specific S3 bucket ARN follows the principle of least privilege. The developer can perform exactly what is needed and nothing more.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use the root account credentials since they guarantee access
Why it's wrong here
Using root credentials for developer tasks is a critical security violation. Root credentials should never be used for day-to-day operations.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often choose broad managed policies like AmazonS3FullAccess because they seem 'safe' or 'easier to manage,' overlooking that AWS explicitly recommends least-privilege policies and that over-permissioning is a common cause of data breaches.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, IAM policies are evaluated using a deny-by-default model where an explicit allow is required for each action. When you specify a resource ARN like arn:aws:s3:::example-bucket/*, the policy restricts the s3:GetObject action to objects within that bucket only, preventing access to other buckets even if the policy is accidentally attached to multiple users. A real-world scenario is a data analytics pipeline where a developer needs to read raw data from a landing bucket but must not have write access to prevent data corruption; a least-privilege policy with s3:GetObject on that specific bucket ensures this separation of duties.
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.
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: Grant only s3:GetObject permission on the specific bucket — Option C is correct because the principle of least privilege dictates granting only the specific permissions required for the task. By attaching an IAM policy with only the s3:GetObject action on the specific bucket ARN, the developer can read objects without having unnecessary permissions that could lead to accidental or malicious changes. This approach aligns with AWS security best practices for IAM policies.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
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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