DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question
A company uses Amazon S3 as its data lake. A data engineer needs to enforce encryption of data at rest using server-side encryption with AWS KMS. Which S3 bucket property should be configured?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse bucket policies (which can enforce encryption conditions) with default encryption (which actually applies encryption), leading them to select bucket policy as the answer when the question asks for the property that enforces encryption of data at rest.
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
✓
Default encryption
Configuring default encryption on an S3 bucket ensures that all objects stored in the bucket are encrypted at rest using server-side encryption. When AWS KMS is specified as the encryption type, S3 automatically encrypts objects with a KMS key (SSE-KMS) upon upload, even if the upload request does not include encryption headers. This enforces encryption at rest without requiring changes to client applications.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Default encryption
Why this is correct
Configuring default encryption on the bucket applies SSE-KMS automatically to every object written, without relying on request headers. This enforces encryption at rest using AWS KMS as the stem demands, covering uploads from any client or SDK.
- ✗
Server access logging
Why it's wrong here
Server access logging records requests made to the bucket for auditing; it writes log objects and never applies encryption to stored data. It is tempting because logging is a common bucket-level security control, and would be correct when the requirement is tracking who accessed objects rather than encrypting them.
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Versioning
Why it's wrong here
Versioning preserves multiple variants of an object, so it retains prior copies rather than applying encryption; it does not enforce SSE-KMS at rest. It is tempting because versioning supports recovery and compliance, and would be the correct choice when the requirement is protecting against overwrites or deletions.
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Bucket policy
Why it's wrong here
A bucket policy is an IAM resource policy governing access; it can deny unencrypted uploads but does not itself perform encryption. It is tempting because policies commonly enforce security controls, and would be correct when the requirement is blocking requests that omit SSE-KMS headers, not configuring default encryption.
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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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.