DEA-C01 Data Security and Governance Practice Question
A company wants to audit all changes to IAM policies in their AWS account. Which combination of services should be used to achieve this?
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
✓
AWS CloudTrail and Amazon CloudWatch Logs
AWS CloudTrail records all API calls made in the account, including IAM policy changes (e.g., PutRolePolicy, PutUserPolicy). By sending CloudTrail logs to Amazon CloudWatch Logs, you can monitor and set up alerts for policy modifications. This combination provides a complete audit trail for IAM changes. Option B is correct. AWS Config records resource configuration changes but not all API calls; Amazon SNS alone or with Config does not capture the API events; DynamoDB is not used for CloudTrail log storage or monitoring.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
AWS Config and Amazon SNS
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config can evaluate configuration changes but does not record all IAM API calls like PutRolePolicy.
- ✓
AWS CloudTrail and Amazon CloudWatch Logs
Why this is correct
CloudTrail records IAM API calls and can deliver logs to CloudWatch Logs for monitoring and alerting.
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Amazon CloudWatch Logs and Amazon SNS
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch Logs alone does not capture IAM API calls; it needs CloudTrail as a source.
- ✗
AWS CloudTrail and Amazon DynamoDB
Why it's wrong here
DynamoDB is not a typical target for CloudTrail logs for auditing.
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.