DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
A company stores sensitive data in Amazon S3 and needs to ensure that data is encrypted at rest. Which AWS service can be used to manage the encryption keys?
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
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AWS Key Management Service (KMS)
AWS Key Management Service (KMS) is the managed service for creating and controlling encryption keys used to encrypt data at rest in Amazon S3. Option A is correct. Option B (Secrets Manager) is for managing secrets like database passwords, not encryption keys. Option C (IAM) manages access permissions, not encryption keys. Option D (Certificate Manager) handles SSL/TLS certificates, not encryption keys for data at rest.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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AWS Key Management Service (KMS)
Why this is correct
AWS Key Management Service creates, rotates and controls the customer managed keys used for server-side encryption of S3 objects, including SSE-KMS. It satisfies the requirement to manage encryption keys centrally while keeping data encrypted at rest in Amazon S3.
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AWS Secrets Manager
Why it's wrong here
Secrets Manager stores and rotates credentials, API keys and database passwords; it does not generate, store or manage the customer master keys (CMKs) that encrypt S3 objects. AWS KMS is the service that creates and controls those keys. Secrets Manager would be right for rotating an application's database password.
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AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Why it's wrong here
IAM manages identities, permissions and policies, not the lifecycle of encryption keys. It is tempting because IAM controls who may use a key, yet key generation, rotation and deletion for S3 encryption at rest belong to AWS Key Management Service (KMS).
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AWS Certificate Manager (ACM)
Why it's wrong here
ACM provisions, manages and renews TLS/SSL certificates for data in transit, not encryption keys for data at rest. It is tempting because ACM handles cryptographic material, yet S3 server-side encryption keys are managed by AWS Key Management Service (KMS).
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 |
Go deeper
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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.