This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data security and governance. 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 needs to encrypt data in transit between an EC2 instance and an S3 bucket. Which method should be used?
Use HTTPS endpoints
HTTPS encrypts data in transit using TLS.
Use plain HTTP
Why wrong: HTTP does not provide encryption.
Use an IPsec VPN
Why wrong: IPsec VPN is for network-to-network encryption.
Server-side encryption (SSE)
Why wrong: SSE encrypts data at rest, not in transit.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Use HTTPS endpoints
HTTPS endpoints encrypt data in transit between EC2 and S3 using TLS/SSL, ensuring confidentiality and integrity over the public internet. S3 supports HTTPS natively on its REST endpoints, and the AWS SDKs default to HTTPS, making this the simplest and most secure method for encrypting data in motion.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Common exam traps
The trap here is confusing encryption in transit (HTTPS) with encryption at rest (SSE), leading candidates to select server-side encryption even though it does not protect data during network transfer.
Detailed technical explanation
HTTPS uses TLS 1.2 or 1.3 to negotiate a symmetric session key via the TLS handshake, encrypting all HTTP requests and responses. S3 bucket policies can enforce HTTPS by denying requests with a condition like `aws:SecureTransport: false`, ensuring no accidental plaintext traffic. In high-throughput scenarios, TLS termination at an ALB or CloudFront can offload encryption overhead, but direct HTTPS to S3 remains the standard.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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
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FAQ
Data Security and Governance — This question tests Data Security and Governance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Use HTTPS endpoints — HTTPS endpoints encrypt data in transit between EC2 and S3 using TLS/SSL, ensuring confidentiality and integrity over the public internet. S3 supports HTTPS natively on its REST endpoints, and the AWS SDKs default to HTTPS, making this the simplest and most secure method for encrypting data in motion.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
This DEA-C01 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 DEA-C01 exam.
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