DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
A data engineer is designing a data lake on Amazon S3. The data includes sensitive personally identifiable information (PII). Which combination of services would provide the most comprehensive data protection?
⚠ Common exam trap
DEA-C01 often tests the misconception that encryption alone equals comprehensive data protection — candidates pick SSE-KMS because it sounds strongest, but the exam expects you to combine preventive access controls (Block Public Access) with detective classification (Macie) for PII.
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 Block Public Access and use Amazon Macie to discover and classify PII
S3 Block Public Access prevents accidental public exposure of buckets and objects, which is the leading cause of S3 data leaks, while Amazon Macie uses machine learning and pattern matching to discover, classify, and alert on PII stored in S3. Together they address both the access-control and data-discovery dimensions of protecting sensitive PII, making this the most comprehensive combination.
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 Transfer Acceleration and enable versioning
Why it's wrong here
Transfer Acceleration speeds uploads over long distances and versioning preserves object history; neither encrypts or restricts access to PII. Comprehensive protection requires SSE-KMS encryption, bucket policies, and access logging. Acceleration suits geographically distant uploads, not data protection.
- ✗
Enable S3 server-side encryption with AWS KMS
Why it's wrong here
SSE-KMS encrypts objects at rest and gives key-level audit control, but it leaves data readable by anyone with S3 permissions and does nothing for data in transit. It is tempting because KMS is the standard at-rest control, and it would be correct when encryption at rest with customer-managed keys is the sole requirement.
- ✗
Use Amazon CloudWatch Logs to monitor access and enable MFA Delete
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch Logs records API activity but cannot enforce S3 object-level encryption or block public access; MFA Delete only guards version deletion. It is tempting because CloudWatch does provide access visibility, yet comprehensive PII protection requires SSE-KMS, bucket policies and Macie classification, which this pairing omits.
- ✓
Enable S3 Block Public Access and use Amazon Macie to discover and classify PII
Why this is correct
S3 Block Public Access prevents accidental public exposure of the data lake buckets, while Amazon Macie uses machine learning to discover and classify PII stored in S3. Together they satisfy the stem's requirement for comprehensive protection of sensitive PII.
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 and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Amazon Web Services exam blueprint
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.