- A
AWS Directory Service
Why wrong: AWS Directory Service provides managed Active Directory in AWS. While it supports IAM Identity Center as an identity source, it is not itself the single sign-on portal service.
- B
Amazon Cognito
Why wrong: Cognito manages user authentication for customer-facing applications. It is not designed for internal employee access to multiple AWS accounts.
- C
AWS IAM Identity Center
IAM Identity Center provides a single sign-on portal where employees authenticate once with corporate credentials and then access any of their authorised AWS accounts. It integrates with Active Directory and other SAML 2.0 identity providers.
- D
AWS Control Tower
Why wrong: AWS Control Tower provides governance for a multi-account AWS environment with guardrails and landing zones. While it works with IAM Identity Center, it is not itself the SSO portal service.
Quick Answer
The answer is AWS IAM Identity Center. This service is the correct choice because it provides centralized single sign-on for multiple AWS accounts with Active Directory, allowing employees to authenticate once with their corporate credentials and then access any authorized AWS account without re-entering passwords. It achieves this by integrating with an external identity provider like Active Directory through SAML 2.0 or SCIM, enabling seamless federation across all linked accounts. On the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of centralized access management versus individual IAM users or roles—a common trap is confusing IAM Identity Center with IAM itself, but remember that IAM handles per-account users, while Identity Center manages cross-account SSO. A helpful memory tip: think of Identity Center as the “one-stop login hub” that connects your corporate directory to many AWS accounts, so you only sign in once.
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 manages 20 AWS accounts and wants employees to log in once with their corporate Active Directory credentials and then access any of their authorised AWS accounts without re-entering credentials for each account. Which AWS service provides this centralised single sign-on capability?
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 IAM Identity Center
AWS IAM Identity Center (formerly AWS SSO) is the correct service because it provides centralized single sign-on (SSO) across multiple AWS accounts and business applications. It integrates with an external identity provider (IdP) such as Active Directory via SAML 2.0 or SCIM, allowing users to authenticate once with their corporate credentials and then access any authorized AWS account without re-entering credentials.
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 Directory Service
Why it's wrong here
AWS Directory Service provides managed Active Directory in AWS. While it supports IAM Identity Center as an identity source, it is not itself the single sign-on portal service.
- ✗
Amazon Cognito
Why it's wrong here
Cognito manages user authentication for customer-facing applications. It is not designed for internal employee access to multiple AWS accounts.
- ✓
AWS IAM Identity Center
Why this is correct
IAM Identity Center provides a single sign-on portal where employees authenticate once with corporate credentials and then access any of their authorised AWS accounts. It integrates with Active Directory and other SAML 2.0 identity providers.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
AWS Control Tower
Why it's wrong here
AWS Control Tower provides governance for a multi-account AWS environment with guardrails and landing zones. While it works with IAM Identity Center, it is not itself the SSO portal service.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse AWS Directory Service (which provides the directory itself) with the SSO service that uses that directory for cross-account access, leading them to pick Option A instead of the correct IAM Identity Center.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
IAM Identity Center uses a central permission set model that maps users and groups from the connected IdP to IAM roles in each target account via AWS CloudFormation StackSets. Under the hood, it leverages AWS STS to issue temporary credentials for each account access, ensuring no long-term keys are stored. In a real-world scenario, an organization with 20 accounts can define a single permission set for 'Developers' and assign it to all accounts, and when a user authenticates via AD, IAM Identity Center automatically generates the correct role session for each account.
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.
- →
Security and Compliance — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
- →
Security and Compliance practice questions
Targeted practice on this topic area only
- →
All CLF-C02 questions
1,024 questions across all exam domains
- →
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02 study guide
Full concept coverage aligned to exam objectives
- →
CLF-C02 practice test guide
How to use practice tests most effectively before exam day
Related practice questions
Related CLF-C02 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
Cloud Concepts practice questions
Practise CLF-C02 questions linked to Cloud Concepts.
Security and Compliance practice questions
Practise CLF-C02 questions linked to Security and Compliance.
Cloud Technology and Services practice questions
Practise CLF-C02 questions linked to Cloud Technology and Services.
Billing, Pricing, and Support practice questions
Practise CLF-C02 questions linked to Billing, Pricing, and Support.
AWS shared responsibility model practice questions
Practise CLF-C02 questions linked to AWS shared responsibility model.
AWS IAM practice questions
Practise CLF-C02 questions linked to AWS IAM.
AWS pricing practice questions
Practise CLF-C02 questions linked to AWS pricing.
AWS support plans practice questions
Practise CLF-C02 questions linked to AWS support plans.
AWS S3 practice questions
Practise CLF-C02 questions linked to AWS S3.
AWS EC2 practice questions
Practise CLF-C02 questions linked to AWS EC2.
Practice this exam
Start a free CLF-C02 practice session
Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.
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 IAM Identity Center — AWS IAM Identity Center (formerly AWS SSO) is the correct service because it provides centralized single sign-on (SSO) across multiple AWS accounts and business applications. It integrates with an external identity provider (IdP) such as Active Directory via SAML 2.0 or SCIM, allowing users to authenticate once with their corporate credentials and then access any authorized AWS account without re-entering credentials.
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.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
2 more ways this is tested on CLF-C02
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company manages multiple AWS accounts using AWS Organizations. The company has an on-premises Microsoft Active Directory (AD) that contains employee credentials and group memberships. The company wants to grant employees access to the AWS Management Console and command-line interface (CLI) using their existing AD credentials, without creating IAM users for each employee. Additionally, the company wants to centrally manage permissions across all accounts by assigning policies to AD groups. Which AWS service should the company use to meet these requirements?
medium- A.AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)
- B.AWS Directory Service for Microsoft Active Directory
- ✓ C.AWS IAM Identity Center (AWS Single Sign-On)
- D.AWS Resource Access Manager (AWS RAM)
Why C: AWS IAM Identity Center (formerly AWS Single Sign-On) is the correct service because it allows centralized management of user access to multiple AWS accounts and applications using existing corporate credentials from Microsoft Active Directory. It supports federation with AD via SAML 2.0 or SCIM, enabling employees to sign in to the AWS Management Console and CLI without creating IAM users. Permissions can be assigned to AD groups through permission sets, which map to IAM roles, ensuring consistent policy enforcement across all accounts in AWS Organizations.
Variation 2. A company manages multiple AWS accounts using AWS Organizations. The company wants employees to sign in using their existing corporate credentials from an on-premises Microsoft Active Directory. The company also needs a single sign-on (SSO) experience so that each employee can access the AWS Management Console for any authorized account without needing separate passwords. Additionally, the company wants to centrally manage permissions across all accounts. Which AWS service should the company use to meet these requirements?
medium- A.AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)
- ✓ B.AWS IAM Identity Center (AWS SSO)
- C.AWS Directory Service
- D.Amazon Cognito
Why B: AWS IAM Identity Center (formerly AWS SSO) is the correct service because it provides a centralized place to manage single sign-on (SSO) access to multiple AWS accounts and applications. It integrates with an on-premises Microsoft Active Directory via the AWS Directory Service or an external identity provider, allowing employees to use their existing corporate credentials. IAM Identity Center also enables you to centrally define and manage permissions across all accounts in AWS Organizations, meeting all stated requirements.
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.