DEA-C01 Data Security and Governance Practice Question
A company uses AWS Lake Formation to manage data lake permissions. A data analyst is unable to query a table in the data lake using Amazon Athena. The table is registered in Lake Formation, and the analyst has SELECT permission granted via Lake Formation. What is the most likely reason for 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 used by Athena does not have necessary Lake Formation permissions
Lake Formation integrates with Athena, and the IAM role assumed by Athena must have necessary Lake Formation permissions (e.g., SELECT on the table) to query the data. Option A is incorrect because encryption in transit is about data protection during transmission, not access control; it does not prevent querying. Option C is incorrect because when using Lake Formation, S3 bucket policies are not the primary mechanism for granting access; Lake Formation manages permissions, and the bucket policy typically allows the Lake Formation service role, not the analyst's role. Option D is incorrect because the table is registered in Lake Formation, which requires it to be in the AWS Glue Data Catalog; so this is not the issue.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Athena is configured to use encryption in transit
Why it's wrong here
Encryption in transit does not prevent querying.
- ✓
The IAM role used by Athena does not have necessary Lake Formation permissions
Why this is correct
Athena needs permissions to call Lake Formation APIs.
- ✗
The S3 bucket policy does not grant access to the analyst's IAM role
Why it's wrong here
Lake Formation handles permissions; S3 bucket policy is not the primary cause if Lake Formation is used.
- ✗
The table is not registered in the AWS Glue Data Catalog
Why it's wrong here
The table is described as registered in Lake Formation, implying it is in the Data Catalog.
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.