DEA-C01 Data Security and Governance Practice Question
A company runs a data lake on AWS using S3 for storage and AWS Glue for ETL. The security team discovers that a contractor who left the company two months ago still has access to an S3 bucket containing sensitive data. The access was granted via an IAM user that was not deleted. The data engineer is asked to implement a solution to prevent future occurrences. The company uses AWS Organizations and has multiple accounts. The requirement is to automatically detect and remediate IAM users that have not been used for 90 days by disabling their access keys and notifying the security team. The solution must be least privilege and use AWS-native services. Which approach should the data engineer take?
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
✓
Use AWS IAM Access Analyzer to generate findings for unused access and create an AWS Config custom rule with a Lambda function that automatically disables the access keys and sends a notification via SNS.
AWS IAM Access Analyzer can generate findings for unused access, and AWS Config with a custom rule can auto-remediate by invoking a Lambda function to disable keys and notify via SNS. Option A is incorrect because AWS Config managed rules cannot automatically disable access keys; they only evaluate compliance and require manual action or a custom rule with remediation. Option B is incorrect because CloudTrail and CloudWatch alarms do not automatically disable keys; they only notify for manual intervention. Option C is incorrect because Lake Formation is used for fine-grained access control on data lakes, not for managing IAM users or disabling access keys.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use AWS IAM Access Analyzer to generate findings for unused access and create an AWS Config managed rule to automatically disable the IAM user's access keys.
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config managed rules do not provide automatic remediation; they only evaluate compliance. To automatically disable access keys, a custom AWS Config rule with a Lambda function is needed. IAM Access Analyzer can generate findings for unused access, but a managed rule cannot directly trigger disabling keys.
- ✗
Use AWS CloudTrail to monitor IAM user activity and set up a CloudWatch alarm that triggers an SNS notification to the security team to manually disable the keys.
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail plus CloudWatch alarms only notify; keys remain active until a human acts, so remediation is not automatic. The requirement demands automatic disabling of unused keys. CloudTrail monitoring suits auditing and alerting scenarios where manual intervention is acceptable.
- ✗
Use AWS Lake Formation to revoke the permissions of the IAM user and set up a scheduled Lambda function to check for unused IAM users.
Why it's wrong here
Lake Formation governs data-lake permissions, not IAM user lifecycle; it cannot disable access keys. Scheduled Lambda checking IAM users is the right mechanism, but Lake Formation revocation does not remediate unused IAM users across accounts. Lake Formation fits fine-grained table and column access control.
- ✓
Use AWS IAM Access Analyzer to generate findings for unused access and create an AWS Config custom rule with a Lambda function that automatically disables the access keys and sends a notification via SNS.
Why this is correct
IAM Access Analyzer surfaces unused-access findings, and an AWS Config custom rule with Lambda disables stale access keys automatically, notifying via SNS. This satisfies the stem's least-privilege, AWS-native requirement for detecting and remediating 90-day-unused IAM users.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.