- A
AWS CloudTrail
Why wrong: CloudTrail records AWS API calls (management plane events). It does not capture network-level IP traffic metadata flowing through VPC network interfaces.
- B
Amazon GuardDuty
Why wrong: GuardDuty analyses VPC Flow Logs among other sources to detect threats. However, VPC Flow Logs is the feature that captures the network traffic data — GuardDuty consumes it.
- C
VPC Flow Logs
VPC Flow Logs capture IP traffic metadata including source IP, destination IP, port, protocol, and accept/reject status for traffic through VPC ENIs. Logs can be published to CloudWatch Logs or S3 for analysis.
- D
AWS WAF logs
Why wrong: WAF logs capture HTTP/HTTPS request details evaluated by WAF rules. They do not capture general IP traffic at the network interface level within a VPC.
Quick Answer
The answer is VPC Flow Logs. This AWS feature captures metadata about IP traffic flowing through VPC network interfaces, including source and destination IP addresses, ports, protocol numbers, and whether the traffic was accepted or rejected by security group and NACL rules. Unlike CloudTrail, which records API activity, or GuardDuty, which uses threat intelligence to detect anomalies, VPC Flow Logs are purpose-built for logging network traffic metadata at the VPC, subnet, or network interface level without impacting performance. On the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02 exam, this distinction is frequently tested: a question about “network traffic metadata” or “IP traffic analysis” should immediately point you to VPC Flow Logs, while CloudTrail is the trap for “who did what” and GuardDuty is the trap for “threat detection.” A helpful memory tip is to think of “Flow” as “flowing packets” — if you need to see the raw flow of traffic details, choose VPC Flow Logs.
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 security team suspects unauthorised network traffic is reaching a subnet in their VPC. They need to capture metadata about the IP traffic (source IP, destination IP, port, protocol, accept/reject status) flowing through their VPC network interfaces for analysis. Which AWS feature provides this network traffic metadata?
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
VPC Flow Logs
VPC Flow Logs capture metadata about IP traffic flowing through VPC network interfaces, including source/destination IP addresses, ports, protocol numbers, and accept/reject status (based on security group and NACL rules). This is the correct service because it is specifically designed to log network traffic metadata at the VPC, subnet, or network interface level, enabling security analysis without impacting network performance.
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 CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail records AWS API calls (management plane events). It does not capture network-level IP traffic metadata flowing through VPC network interfaces.
- ✗
Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
GuardDuty analyses VPC Flow Logs among other sources to detect threats. However, VPC Flow Logs is the feature that captures the network traffic data — GuardDuty consumes it.
- ✓
VPC Flow Logs
Why this is correct
VPC Flow Logs capture IP traffic metadata including source IP, destination IP, port, protocol, and accept/reject status for traffic through VPC ENIs. Logs can be published to CloudWatch Logs or S3 for analysis.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
AWS WAF logs
Why it's wrong here
WAF logs capture HTTP/HTTPS request details evaluated by WAF rules. They do not capture general IP traffic at the network interface level within a VPC.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse VPC Flow Logs with CloudTrail or GuardDuty, mistakenly thinking that CloudTrail captures network traffic or that GuardDuty generates the raw metadata, when in fact VPC Flow Logs are the only service that directly captures the specified network traffic metadata at the interface level.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
VPC Flow Logs publish records to Amazon CloudWatch Logs or Amazon S3, with each record containing fields like srcaddr, dstaddr, srcport, dstport, protocol (IANA protocol number), and action (ACCEPT/REJECT). The logs capture traffic at the network interface level, including traffic that is rejected by security groups or NACLs, which is critical for diagnosing misconfigurations or unauthorized access attempts. In a real-world scenario, a security team can query these logs with Athena to identify a specific source IP that is repeatedly hitting a rejected port, revealing a potential scanning attack.
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 healthcare organisation deploys an application with a public-facing web tier and a private database tier. The database subnet has no public IP and only accepts connections from the web tier's security group. Questions like this test whether you can design cloud network isolation using VNets/VPCs, subnets, and security group rules.
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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CLF-C02 practice test guide
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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: VPC Flow Logs — VPC Flow Logs capture metadata about IP traffic flowing through VPC network interfaces, including source/destination IP addresses, ports, protocol numbers, and accept/reject status (based on security group and NACL rules). This is the correct service because it is specifically designed to log network traffic metadata at the VPC, subnet, or network interface level, enabling security analysis without impacting network performance.
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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