This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data store management. 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 stores sensitive customer data in Amazon S3. The security team requires that all data be encrypted at rest using server-side encryption with AWS KMS managed keys (SSE-KMS). Which S3 bucket policy condition will enforce this requirement?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption-aws-kms-key-id
Option A is correct because the condition `s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption-aws-kms-key-id` enforces that objects uploaded to S3 must use a specific AWS KMS key for server-side encryption (SSE-KMS). This satisfies the security team's requirement that all data be encrypted at rest using SSE-KMS with AWS KMS managed keys, as it explicitly checks for the presence and value of the KMS key ID in the request.
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.
✓
s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption-aws-kms-key-id
Why this is correct
This condition can enforce the use of a specific KMS key for encryption.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
This condition can enforce SSE-KMS or SSE-S3, but not a specific KMS key.
✗
s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption-aws-kms-key-id or s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption
Why it's wrong here
Both conditions would not enforce a specific KMS key.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse `s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption` (which only checks the encryption header value, not the key) with `s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption-aws-kms-key-id` (which enforces a specific KMS key), leading them to choose option C or D without realizing that SSE-S3 (AES256) would also satisfy the generic condition.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, SSE-KMS uses the `x-amz-server-side-encryption` header set to `aws:kms` and optionally the `x-amz-server-side-encryption-aws-kms-key-id` header to specify a customer managed key (CMK). The bucket policy condition `s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption-aws-kms-key-id` evaluates the KMS key ID in the request, allowing you to enforce that only a specific key (e.g., an alias or ARN) is used. A subtle behavior is that if you omit the key ID in the request, S3 uses the default AWS managed KMS key (`aws/s3`), which may not meet compliance requirements; the condition can be set to require a specific key ID to prevent this.
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 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
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.
Data Store Management — This question tests Data Store Management — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption-aws-kms-key-id — Option A is correct because the condition `s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption-aws-kms-key-id` enforces that objects uploaded to S3 must use a specific AWS KMS key for server-side encryption (SSE-KMS). This satisfies the security team's requirement that all data be encrypted at rest using SSE-KMS with AWS KMS managed keys, as it explicitly checks for the presence and value of the KMS key ID in the request.
What should I do if I get this DEA-C01 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.
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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.
Question Discussion
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