DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question
A data engineer is designing a data lake on Amazon S3 for analytics. The data includes sensitive PII that must be encrypted at rest. The company requires that the encryption keys be managed by the company's own hardware security module (HSM) and rotated every 90 days. Which TWO options meet these requirements? (Choose TWO.)
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to assume only SSE-KMS can meet key management requirements, but they overlook that SSE-C directly supports customer-supplied keys from an HSM without any AWS key storage, and that SSE-KMS with imported key material also satisfies the HSM and rotation needs when properly configured.
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
✓
Use S3 server-side encryption with customer-provided keys (SSE-C)
SSE-C allows you to provide your own encryption keys, which can be managed and rotated from your own HSM. The keys are used server-side by S3 to encrypt objects at rest, but S3 does not store the keys—you manage them entirely, meeting the requirement for key management on your own HSM with 90-day rotation.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use S3 server-side encryption with AWS KMS and an AWS managed key
Why it's wrong here
AWS managed keys are not controlled by you and cannot be rotated on your schedule.
- ✓
Use S3 server-side encryption with customer-provided keys (SSE-C)
Why this is correct
SSE-C allows you to supply your own encryption keys, which you can rotate by re-encrypting objects.
- ✗
Use client-side encryption with keys stored in AWS Secrets Manager
Why it's wrong here
Client-side encryption with keys in AWS Secrets Manager fails because Secrets Manager is a managed AWS service, not the company’s own HSM; the requirement mandates that the company’s own HSM manage and rotate keys every 90 days, which Secrets Manager cannot fulfil. It is tempting because Secrets Manager can store and rotate encryption keys automatically, making it a correct choice when the key management authority is delegated to AWS rather than retained in a customer-controlled HSM.
- ✓
Use S3 server-side encryption with AWS KMS (SSE-KMS) and a customer-managed key with imported key material from your HSM
Why this is correct
You can import key material from your HSM into KMS and set automatic rotation every 90 days.
- ✗
Use S3 server-side encryption with S3 managed keys (SSE-S3)
Why it's wrong here
SSE-S3 uses AWS-managed keys; you cannot control rotation.
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.