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
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
Distractor review
AWS CloudTrail and Amazon CloudWatch Logs
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.
Distractor review
AWS Trusted Advisor and Amazon Simple Email Service (Amazon SES)
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.
Best answer
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.
Distractor review
AWS IAM Access Analyzer and Amazon Inspector
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.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
- PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
- Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
- NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
- Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
- Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
- Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
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More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A developer needs to launch a test server for a new application prototype. The developer logs into the AWS Management Console, selects an Amazon EC2 instance type, configures the security group, and starts the instance. The instance is running within two minutes, and the developer did not need to submit a formal request to the company's IT procurement team or wait for approval from a cloud administrator. Which essential characteristic of cloud computing does this scenario best demonstrate?
Question 2
A solutions architect is planning a new web application on AWS. The workload will include 3 Amazon EC2 instances (t3.medium) running 24/7, an Application Load Balancer, and an Amazon RDS for MySQL db.t3.small database. The architect needs to estimate the monthly cost for the first year, considering different purchasing options (On-Demand, 1-year All Upfront Reserved Instance, and Compute Savings Plan). Which AWS tool should the architect use to create this estimate?
Question 3
A company's development team frequently needs temporary test environments. A developer can log into the AWS Management Console, select an Amazon EC2 instance type, configure storage, and launch the instance within minutes without any interaction with the IT infrastructure team. This capability is an example of which essential characteristic of cloud computing?
Question 4
A company's finance team needs to analyze AWS spending in detail. They require a report that includes hourly cost data for each AWS service, each individual resource (e.g., a specific EC2 instance), and any cost allocation tags applied. The team plans to export this data to an Amazon S3 bucket and then import it into a custom business intelligence (BI) analytics dashboard. Which AWS tool should the finance team use to generate this level of detailed cost data?
Question 5
A company uses AWS for its development environment. The finance team wants to set a monthly budget of $10,000. They want to receive an email notification when the actual costs reach 80% of the budget ($8,000) and again when costs exceed the budget. The team needs a managed AWS service that can automatically send these alerts without requiring custom code or third-party tools. Which AWS service should the team use?
Question 6
A company uses AWS Organizations to manage multiple accounts. The security team needs to enforce a policy that restricts SSH access (port 22) from the internet (0.0.0.0/0) in all VPCs across all accounts. The team wants to centrally define the allowed rules and automatically apply them to newly created VPCs and security groups, while also automatically remediating any existing non-compliant security groups. Which AWS service should the team use?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this CLF-C02 question test?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: AWS Config and Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS) — AWS Config can evaluate the configuration of AWS resources against desired policies using managed or custom rules. The managed rule 'iam-user-mfa-enabled' checks whether all IAM users have an MFA device configured. When a user is found non-compliant, AWS Config can trigger an Amazon SNS notification to send an email alert. This combination provides continuous monitoring and notification. Other options either do not evaluate IAM user MFA compliance or are intended for other security use cases.
What should I do if I get this CLF-C02 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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