The answer is the analysts' IAM role lacks permission to call the Athena API. This is correct because AWS Lake Formation handles fine-grained access control on the Data Catalog and underlying data, but it does not grant the IAM permissions required to invoke the Athena service itself. Even when Lake Formation permissions like SELECT are properly granted, Athena still requires an IAM policy that allows actions such as athena:StartQueryExecution and athena:GetQueryResults. On the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate DEA-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of the separation between Lake Formation’s resource-based permissions and IAM’s service-level permissions—a common trap is assuming Lake Formation alone is sufficient. A useful memory tip is to think of Lake Formation as the “bouncer” for the data, but IAM is the “ticket” to enter the Athena venue.
DEA-C01 Data Security and Governance Practice Question
This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data security and governance. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company uses AWS Lake Formation to manage permissions on a data lake. A data engineer creates a table in the Data Catalog and grants SELECT permission to a group of analysts. The analysts report they can see the table but get an AccessDenied error when querying it with Amazon Athena. What is the most likely cause?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The analysts' IAM role does not have permission to call the Athena API.
Option C is correct because Lake Formation integrates with Athena for fine-grained access control. The analysts need both Lake Formation permissions and IAM permissions to use Athena. Option A is wrong because S3 bucket policy is not the issue if Lake Formation is managing permissions. Option B is wrong because Workgroup settings are not likely the cause. Option D is wrong because the table is registered with Lake Formation.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 analysts' IAM role does not have permission to call the Athena API.
Why this is correct
Lake Formation grants database permissions, but IAM must allow Athena actions.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The table is not registered with Lake Formation as a resource.
Why it's wrong here
The table is in the Data Catalog and permissions are granted.
✗
The Athena workgroup is configured with a per-query result location that the analysts cannot write to.
Why it's wrong here
This would cause a result writing error, not AccessDenied on the table.
✗
The S3 bucket policy does not allow the analysts' IAM role.
Why it's wrong here
Lake Formation handles S3 access via its service role.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which DEA-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Data Security and Governance — This question tests Data Security and Governance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The analysts' IAM role does not have permission to call the Athena API. — Option C is correct because Lake Formation integrates with Athena for fine-grained access control. The analysts need both Lake Formation permissions and IAM permissions to use Athena. Option A is wrong because S3 bucket policy is not the issue if Lake Formation is managing permissions. Option B is wrong because Workgroup settings are not likely the cause. Option D is wrong because the table is registered with Lake Formation.
What should I do if I get this DEA-C01 question wrong?
Identify which DEA-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company uses AWS Lake Formation to manage permissions on a data lake stored in S3. A data engineer notices that a new IAM user can query data via Athena but cannot see the tables in the Lake Formation console. What is the most likely cause?
medium
✓ A.The user has not been granted DESCRIBE or SELECT permissions on the tables in Lake Formation
B.The Athena workgroup is not encrypted
C.The Glue Data Catalog is not enabled for the account
D.The IAM user lacks s3:GetObject permissions
Why A: Lake Formation permissions are separate from IAM permissions. Even if IAM allows Athena, Lake Formation must grant the user permissions on the tables. Option A is wrong because IAM policies are not sufficient for Lake Formation. Option B is irrelevant. Option D is wrong because the Glue Data Catalog may be accessible but Lake Formation can restrict visibility. Option C is correct.
Variation 2. 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?
medium
A.Athena is configured to use encryption in transit
✓ B.The IAM role used by Athena does not have necessary Lake Formation permissions
C.The S3 bucket policy does not grant access to the analyst's IAM role
D.The table is not registered in the AWS Glue Data Catalog
Why B: Option B is correct because Lake Formation integrates with Athena, and the IAM role assumed by Athena must have necessary Lake Formation permissions. Option A is wrong because Lake Formation permissions are separate from S3 bucket policies. Option C is wrong because Data Catalog permissions are managed by Lake Formation. Option D is wrong because enabling encryption in transit is not required for access.
Variation 3. A company uses AWS Lake Formation to manage permissions on a data lake stored in S3. A data scientist is unable to query a table in Amazon Athena, receiving an 'Access Denied' error. The data scientist has IAM permissions to call Athena and has been granted SELECT permission on the table in Lake Formation. What is the most likely cause?
medium
A.The data scientist does not have DESCRIBE permission on the table.
B.The data is encrypted with SSE-KMS and the data scientist lacks kms:Decrypt permission.
C.The S3 bucket policy denies access to the data scientist's IAM role.
✓ D.The S3 bucket containing the data is not registered as a Lake Formation location.
Why D: Lake Formation requires explicit S3 permission via a resource link or register location. Option B is correct because if the underlying S3 location is not registered or the IAM role does not have S3 access, the query fails. Option A is wrong because the data scientist has SELECT permission. Option C is wrong because encryption is not the issue. Option D is wrong because Lake Formation bypasses S3 bucket policies for registered locations.
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Question Discussion
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