DEA-C01 Amazon RDS encryption at rest Practice Question
A company uses Amazon RDS for MySQL to store financial data. A compliance requirement mandates that all database connections must be encrypted. Which configuration step is necessary?
⚠ Common exam trap
Encryption at rest (enabled at creation) does not encrypt database connections in transit. A common trap is confusing encryption at rest with encryption in transit. For encrypted connections, you must configure the DB parameter group (e.g., require_secure_transport=1 for MySQL).
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
✓
Set the RDS parameter require_secure_transport to 1.
To enforce encrypted connections in transit for RDS MySQL, you need to configure the DB parameter group to require SSL/TLS. Setting the parameter 'require_secure_transport' to 1 forces all connections to use encryption. Option C is incorrect because enabling encryption at rest (at creation time) encrypts stored data, not connections in transit, which does not satisfy the compliance requirement for encrypted connections.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Set the RDS parameter require_secure_transport to 1.
Why this is correct
This is correct. To enforce encrypted connections for RDS MySQL, you must modify the DB parameter group to require SSL/TLS by setting parameters such as 'require_secure_transport' to 1. While the exact parameter name may vary, the intent is to enforce encryption in transit.
- ✗
Create the RDS DB instance in a private subnet.
Why it's wrong here
This is incorrect. Placing the RDS instance in a private subnet controls network access but does not encrypt database connections.
- ✗
Enable encryption for the RDS DB instance at creation time.
Why it's wrong here
This is incorrect. Enabling encryption at rest encrypts data on the storage layer, not the connections. The question specifically requires encrypted connections (in transit), which is not achieved by this setting.
- ✗
Configure the VPC security group to only allow traffic from certain IPs.
Why it's wrong here
This is incorrect. VPC security groups control inbound/outbound traffic based on IP addresses, but they do not provide encryption for connections.
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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.