DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
A data engineer is designing a data lake on Amazon S3 that will be used for both batch processing with Amazon EMR and interactive queries with Amazon Athena. The data includes sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) that must be encrypted at rest. The company requires that the encryption keys be managed by the company and rotated every 90 days. Which TWO options should the engineer implement to meet these requirements? (Choose TWO.)
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
✓
Enable S3 default encryption using SSE-KMS with the customer managed key.
The correct answers are C and D. Option C enables S3 default encryption using SSE-KMS with a customer managed key, ensuring all objects are encrypted at rest with keys managed by the company. Option D creates a customer managed key in AWS KMS with automatic yearly rotation, which satisfies the requirement for key rotation; the company can also perform manual rotations every 90 days if needed. Option A is incorrect because SSE-C requires the customer to manage the keys themselves, including storing them in Secrets Manager, and does not provide automatic rotation. Option B is incorrect because a bucket policy can enforce encryption but does not manage keys. Option E is incorrect because SSE-S3 uses Amazon-managed keys, not customer-managed keys.
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 customer-provided keys (SSE-C) and store the keys in AWS Secrets Manager.
Why it's wrong here
SSE-C requires the customer to manage the keys themselves, including storing them in Secrets Manager, and does not provide automatic rotation.
- ✗
Configure a bucket policy to deny uploads that are not encrypted.
Why it's wrong here
A bucket policy can enforce encryption but does not manage keys.
- ✓
Enable S3 default encryption using SSE-KMS with the customer managed key.
Why this is correct
It enables S3 default encryption using SSE-KMS with a customer managed key, ensuring all objects are encrypted at rest with keys managed by the company.
- ✓
Use AWS Key Management Service (KMS) to create a customer managed key with automatic yearly rotation.
Why this is correct
It creates a customer managed key in AWS KMS with automatic yearly rotation, which satisfies the requirement for key rotation; the company can also perform manual rotations every 90 days if needed.
- ✗
Use S3 managed keys (SSE-S3) for server-side encryption.
Why it's wrong here
SSE-S3 uses Amazon-managed keys, not customer-managed keys.
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.