DEA-C01 Data Security and Governance Practice Question
A company uses Amazon EMR to process large datasets stored in Amazon S3. The data is encrypted at rest using SSE-S3. The security team now requires that all data at rest be encrypted with customer-managed KMS keys (SSE-KMS). The data engineer needs to migrate existing data to use SSE-KMS without downtime. The engineer plans to use S3 Batch Operations to copy objects in place. However, the Batch Operations job fails with a KMS access denied error. The engineer has confirmed that the Batch Operations service role has the necessary KMS permissions. What is the most likely cause?
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
✓
The Batch Operations service role is missing the kms:GenerateDataKey permission for the destination KMS key.
Batch Operations uses a service role that must have kms:Decrypt permission for the source objects and kms:GenerateDataKey for the destination. The source objects are encrypted with SSE-S3, which does not use KMS, so the service role does not need kms:Decrypt for source. However, the error indicates KMS access denied, likely because the service role does not have kms:GenerateDataKey for the destination KMS key. Option A is wrong because the service role is used. Option B is wrong because the source objects are SSE-S3. Option C is wrong because KMS key policy is for the destination key.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The KMS key policy does not allow the S3 service to use the key.
Why it's wrong here
The key policy must allow the Batch Operations service role.
- ✗
The Batch Operations job is using the wrong IAM role.
Why it's wrong here
The engineer confirmed the service role has permissions.
- ✗
The source objects are encrypted with SSE-S3, which cannot be copied to SSE-KMS.
Why it's wrong here
SSE-S3 objects can be copied to SSE-KMS.
- ✓
The Batch Operations service role is missing the kms:GenerateDataKey permission for the destination KMS key.
Why this is correct
Batch Operations needs to generate a new data key for the destination.
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.