DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
A company uses AWS Glue DataBrew to clean and prepare data for machine learning. The source data is in an S3 bucket with server-side encryption using AWS KMS (SSE-KMS). The DataBrew project is set up with an IAM role that has permissions to read from the S3 bucket and use the KMS key. When the DataBrew job runs, it fails with an error indicating that it cannot access the data. The IAM role has the following policy: { 'Version': '2012-10-17', 'Statement': [ { 'Effect': 'Allow', 'Action': ['s3:GetObject', 's3:ListBucket'], 'Resource': ['arn:aws:s3:::my-bucket', 'arn:aws:s3:::my-bucket/*'] }, { 'Effect': 'Allow', 'Action': 'kms:Decrypt', 'Resource': 'arn:aws:kms:us-east-1:123456789012:key/my-key' } ] }. What is the most likely cause of the failure?
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 IAM role is missing s3:PutObject permission on the DataBrew output bucket.
The IAM role has permissions to read from the source S3 bucket (s3:GetObject, s3:ListBucket) and to decrypt using the KMS key (kms:Decrypt). However, DataBrew needs to write intermediate results to a separate output S3 bucket. The error indicates that the job cannot access data, which in the context of DataBrew often means it cannot write to the output bucket. Therefore, the role is missing s3:PutObject permission on the output bucket. Option B is incorrect because the role already has s3:ListBucket on the source bucket. Option C is incorrect because the S3 bucket being in a different region would not cause an access denied error if the role has proper cross-region permissions; DataBrew can access buckets in any region. Option D is incorrect because kms:Decrypt is sufficient for reading encrypted objects; kms:GenerateDataKey is needed for writing.
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 IAM role is missing s3:PutObject permission on the DataBrew output bucket.
Why this is correct
DataBrew writes to its own S3 bucket for job outputs; missing write permission causes failure.
- ✗
The IAM role is missing s3:ListBucket permission on the source bucket.
Why it's wrong here
The policy already includes s3:ListBucket for the source bucket.
- ✗
The S3 bucket is in a different region than the DataBrew project.
Why it's wrong here
Cross-region access is allowed as long as permissions are correct; the error is not about region mismatch.
- ✗
The IAM role is missing kms:GenerateDataKey permission for the KMS key.
Why it's wrong here
DataBrew may need GenerateDataKey for writing encrypted output, but the error is about reading source data.
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.