DEA-C01 Data Security and Governance Practice Question
A company uses AWS Glue to run ETL jobs on data stored in S3. The data is encrypted with SSE-KMS. The Glue job fails with an 'AccessDenied' error when trying to read the data. 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 IAM role used by Glue does not have kms:Decrypt permission on the KMS key.
When data is encrypted with SSE-KMS, the IAM role used by Glue must have kms:Decrypt permission on the KMS key to read the data. Without it, the Glue job will fail with an 'AccessDenied' error despite S3 bucket permissions. Option A is incorrect because the S3 bucket policy may allow access, but KMS permission is separate and required. Option B is incorrect because the Glue Data Catalog permissions are for catalog operations, not for reading actual data from S3. Option D is incorrect because Glue connection permissions are for JDBC connections, not for S3 data access.
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 S3 bucket policy denies access to the Glue service role.
Why it's wrong here
KMS permission is more likely missing.
- ✗
The AWS Glue Data Catalog does not have permission to the table.
Why it's wrong here
Data Catalog permissions are for metadata, not data access.
- ✓
The IAM role used by Glue does not have kms:Decrypt permission on the KMS key.
Why this is correct
Glue needs kms:Decrypt to read SSE-KMS encrypted data.
- ✗
The Glue job's connection does not have the necessary permissions.
Why it's wrong here
Connections are for JDBC or network resources.
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.