DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data operations and support. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 data engineer applies the above S3 bucket policy to an S3 bucket used by a Glue ETL job. The Glue job writes objects to the bucket. Which of the following is true about the behavior of the policy?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The policy denies all PutObject requests because the Allow and Deny statements are contradictory.
The correct answer is C because in AWS IAM policy evaluation, an explicit Deny always overrides any Allow. The policy has an Allow statement granting s3:PutObject for all principals, but a separate Deny statement explicitly denies s3:PutObject when the encryption condition is not aws:kms. Since the Deny applies to all PutObject requests (including those with no encryption or AES256), and the Allow does not include a condition to match only aws:kms, the Deny takes precedence and blocks all PutObject requests, making the policy effectively deny all PutObject operations.
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 policy allows PutObject with aws:kms encryption because the Allow statement is broader.
Why it's wrong here
The Allow only covers AES256, not aws:kms, and the Deny blocks anything that is not aws:kms.
✗
The policy allows PutObject with no encryption because the Deny only applies to PutObject.
Why it's wrong here
The Deny applies to any PutObject that does not use aws:kms, so no encryption is denied.
✓
The policy denies all PutObject requests because the Allow and Deny statements are contradictory.
Why this is correct
The Allow requires AES256, the Deny requires aws:kms; no request can satisfy both, and Deny overrides Allow.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The policy allows PutObject with AES256 encryption and denies PutObject with aws:kms encryption.
Why it's wrong here
The Deny statement applies to all PutObject requests not using aws:kms, so AES256 is denied.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates assume an Allow statement with a broader scope can override a Deny, but AWS IAM policy evaluation strictly enforces that an explicit Deny always takes precedence over any Allow, making the policy effectively deny all actions that match the Deny condition.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
AWS IAM policy evaluation follows a default-deny model: an explicit Deny always overrides any Allow, regardless of order. The condition in the Deny statement uses the StringNotEquals operator on s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption, which evaluates to true if the request does not include the header or if the value is not 'aws:kms'. This means any PutObject request that does not specify aws:kms encryption is denied, and because the Allow statement lacks a matching condition, the Deny blocks all PutObject requests. In practice, this policy would cause the Glue ETL job to fail with an Access Denied error for every write attempt, even if the job uses KMS encryption, unless the job explicitly sets the encryption header to aws:kms and the Deny condition is adjusted.
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.
TExam Day Tips
→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 exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Data Operations and Support — This question tests Data Operations and Support — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The policy denies all PutObject requests because the Allow and Deny statements are contradictory. — The correct answer is C because in AWS IAM policy evaluation, an explicit Deny always overrides any Allow. The policy has an Allow statement granting s3:PutObject for all principals, but a separate Deny statement explicitly denies s3:PutObject when the encryption condition is not aws:kms. Since the Deny applies to all PutObject requests (including those with no encryption or AES256), and the Allow does not include a condition to match only aws:kms, the Deny takes precedence and blocks all PutObject requests, making the policy effectively deny all PutObject operations.
What should I do if I get this DEA-C01 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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