- A
IAM permission boundaries
Why wrong: Permission boundaries limit the maximum permissions of an individual IAM entity (user or role) within a single account. They cannot be applied across multiple accounts in an OU.
- B
Resource-based policies attached to each S3 bucket
Why wrong: Resource-based policies control access to specific resources within an account. They cannot be used to restrict the regions where EC2 instances, RDS databases, and other resources can be launched across accounts.
- C
Service Control Policies (SCPs)
SCPs are applied at the OU or account level in AWS Organizations and act as guardrails on all accounts within the OU. An SCP denying all regions except us-east-1 and eu-west-1 would apply to every account in the Development OU, regardless of their individual IAM policies.
- D
AWS Config rules across all accounts
Why wrong: AWS Config rules detect non-compliant configurations and can trigger remediation, but they cannot preventatively block resource creation in restricted regions the way SCPs can.
Quick Answer
The answer is Service Control Policies (SCPs). SCPs are the correct AWS Organizations feature because they act as a central permission guardrail, allowing you to restrict the maximum available actions for all accounts within an Organizational Unit (OU). By attaching an SCP that explicitly denies all actions in regions other than us-east-1 and eu-west-1, the security team can enforce this restriction across the entire 'Development' OU, overriding any permissive IAM policies inside those accounts. On the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how SCPs differ from IAM policies—SCPs set boundaries at the organization level, while IAM policies grant permissions within those boundaries. A common trap is confusing SCPs with IAM permissions boundaries or AWS Config rules; remember that SCPs are the only tool that can block region access for an entire OU without modifying individual account policies. Memory tip: think of SCPs as the "security guard" at the organization gate—they check the region before any action is allowed.
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 uses AWS Organizations with multiple accounts. The security team wants to prevent accounts in the 'Development' OU from launching any resources in regions outside of us-east-1 and eu-west-1. Which AWS Organizations feature allows this restriction?
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
Service Control Policies (SCPs)
Service Control Policies (SCPs) are the correct AWS Organizations feature because they allow you to centrally control the maximum available permissions for all accounts within an OU. By attaching an SCP that denies all actions in regions other than us-east-1 and eu-west-1, the security team can enforce this restriction across all 'Development' accounts, even if IAM policies within those accounts allow broader access.
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.
- ✗
IAM permission boundaries
Why it's wrong here
Permission boundaries limit the maximum permissions of an individual IAM entity (user or role) within a single account. They cannot be applied across multiple accounts in an OU.
- ✗
Resource-based policies attached to each S3 bucket
Why it's wrong here
Resource-based policies control access to specific resources within an account. They cannot be used to restrict the regions where EC2 instances, RDS databases, and other resources can be launched across accounts.
- ✓
Service Control Policies (SCPs)
Why this is correct
SCPs are applied at the OU or account level in AWS Organizations and act as guardrails on all accounts within the OU. An SCP denying all regions except us-east-1 and eu-west-1 would apply to every account in the Development OU, regardless of their individual IAM policies.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
AWS Config rules across all accounts
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config rules detect non-compliant configurations and can trigger remediation, but they cannot preventatively block resource creation in restricted regions the way SCPs can.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse SCPs with IAM policies, thinking that IAM permission boundaries or resource-based policies can enforce cross-account region restrictions, but SCPs are the only mechanism that operates at the organization level to centrally limit permissions for all accounts in an OU.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
SCPs work by using an allow list or deny list effect on the AWS Organizations root, OU, or account level, and they are inherited by all child accounts. When an SCP denies an action like ec2:RunInstances with a condition key aws:RequestedRegion set to a list of allowed regions, the request is blocked before any IAM policy evaluation occurs, effectively creating a hard boundary. A real-world scenario is a multi-account environment where a developer account in the 'Development' OU tries to launch an EC2 instance in ap-southeast-2; the SCP would deny the action even if the developer's IAM role has full EC2 permissions.
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: Service Control Policies (SCPs) — Service Control Policies (SCPs) are the correct AWS Organizations feature because they allow you to centrally control the maximum available permissions for all accounts within an OU. By attaching an SCP that denies all actions in regions other than us-east-1 and eu-west-1, the security team can enforce this restriction across all 'Development' accounts, even if IAM policies within those accounts allow broader access.
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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