- A
Service control policies (SCPs)
Correct. SCPs are used within AWS Organizations to set permission guardrails for member accounts. They are evaluated before IAM policies, so they can block actions even for users with full administrative IAM permissions, making them ideal for centrally enforcing restrictions like preventing CloudTrail from being disabled.
- B
IAM policies
Why wrong: IAM policies define permissions for users and roles within a single account. However, an account administrator with full permissions can modify or bypass IAM policies. Since the requirement is for central enforcement across accounts regardless of individual permissions, IAM policies alone are insufficient.
- C
AWS Config rules
Why wrong: AWS Config rules can evaluate resource configurations and trigger notifications or automation for non-compliant resources, but they are detective, not preventive. They cannot block an action from occurring; they only respond after the fact.
- D
Amazon CloudWatch Events
Why wrong: Amazon CloudWatch Events (now part of Amazon EventBridge) can react to API calls (e.g., disabling CloudTrail) by invoking a Lambda function or sending a notification, but it does not prevent the action from happening. It is a reactive tool, not a preventive guardrail.
CLF-C02 Security and Compliance Practice Question
This CLF-C02 practice question tests your understanding of security and compliance. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 is using AWS Organizations to manage multiple AWS accounts. The security team wants to ensure that users in the development accounts cannot disable AWS CloudTrail logging or delete CloudTrail trails, even if those users have full administrator permissions within their own accounts. The team needs a central mechanism that is enforced across all development accounts regardless of individual IAM policies. Which AWS feature should the security team use to meet this requirement?
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 a feature of AWS Organizations that allow you to centrally control the maximum available permissions for all accounts in an organization. SCPs act as a guardrail, restricting what actions users and roles in member accounts can perform, even if they have full administrator permissions via IAM policies. By applying an SCP that denies the `cloudtrail:DeleteTrail` and `cloudtrail:StopLogging` actions, the security team can enforce that CloudTrail cannot be disabled or deleted across all development accounts, regardless of individual IAM configurations.
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.
- ✓
Service control policies (SCPs)
Why this is correct
Correct. SCPs are used within AWS Organizations to set permission guardrails for member accounts. They are evaluated before IAM policies, so they can block actions even for users with full administrative IAM permissions, making them ideal for centrally enforcing restrictions like preventing CloudTrail from being disabled.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
IAM policies
Why it's wrong here
IAM policies define permissions for users and roles within a single account. However, an account administrator with full permissions can modify or bypass IAM policies. Since the requirement is for central enforcement across accounts regardless of individual permissions, IAM policies alone are insufficient.
- ✗
AWS Config rules
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config rules can evaluate resource configurations and trigger notifications or automation for non-compliant resources, but they are detective, not preventive. They cannot block an action from occurring; they only respond after the fact.
- ✗
Amazon CloudWatch Events
Why it's wrong here
Amazon CloudWatch Events (now part of Amazon EventBridge) can react to API calls (e.g., disabling CloudTrail) by invoking a Lambda function or sending a notification, but it does not prevent the action from happening. It is a reactive tool, not a preventive guardrail.
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 IAM policies can centrally restrict actions across accounts, but SCPs are the only mechanism that can enforce a deny across all accounts in an AWS Organization regardless of local administrator privileges.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
SCPs are evaluated before IAM policies; if an SCP denies an action, the effective permission for that action is Deny regardless of any Allow in an IAM policy. SCPs do not grant permissions—they only set a maximum permission boundary, meaning they must be combined with IAM policies that allow the desired actions. In a real-world scenario, an SCP can be applied to an organizational unit (OU) containing all development accounts, ensuring that even a root user in a member account cannot bypass the restriction.
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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Security and Compliance — study guide chapter
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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 a feature of AWS Organizations that allow you to centrally control the maximum available permissions for all accounts in an organization. SCPs act as a guardrail, restricting what actions users and roles in member accounts can perform, even if they have full administrator permissions via IAM policies. By applying an SCP that denies the `cloudtrail:DeleteTrail` and `cloudtrail:StopLogging` actions, the security team can enforce that CloudTrail cannot be disabled or deleted across all development accounts, regardless of individual IAM configurations.
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
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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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