DEA-C01 Data Security and Governance Practice Question
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?
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 user has not been granted DESCRIBE or SELECT permissions on the tables in Lake Formation
Lake Formation permissions are separate from IAM permissions. Even if the IAM user has Athena access, Lake Formation must grant the user DESCRIBE and SELECT permissions on the tables to see them in the console and query them. Option B is incorrect because encryption settings do not affect table visibility. Option C is incorrect because the Glue Data Catalog is enabled (since the user can query data). Option D is incorrect because the user can query data, so they have s3:GetObject permissions implicitly.
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 user has not been granted DESCRIBE or SELECT permissions on the tables in Lake Formation
Why this is correct
Lake Formation controls metadata access.
- ✗
The Athena workgroup is not encrypted
Why it's wrong here
Unrelated to table visibility.
- ✗
The Glue Data Catalog is not enabled for the account
Why it's wrong here
If tables exist, Data Catalog is enabled.
- ✗
The IAM user lacks s3:GetObject permissions
Why it's wrong here
They can query data, so S3 access is likely fine.
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.