The answer is to set an S3 Lifecycle policy on the first bucket to delete objects after 1 hour. This directly mitigates the risk of unmasked PII exposure by automatically expiring the raw data within a short window, ensuring that even if the Glue job is delayed, the unmasked data does not persist. The core concept here is that S3 Lifecycle policies provide a time-based, automated cleanup mechanism, which is essential when you must mask PII in a data pipeline with DMS and Glue using S3 Lifecycle, as DMS itself lacks native masking capabilities. On the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate DEA-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of securing intermediate storage layers rather than relying on transformation tools alone. A common trap is assuming DMS can mask data or that blocking all access is safe, but remember: DMS replicates raw, and Glue needs read access. Memory tip: “Expire the raw, secure the flaw”—a short lifecycle expiration on the landing bucket is your safety net.
DEA-C01 Data Security and Governance Practice Question
This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data security and governance. 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 is designing a data pipeline that ingests customer data from an on-premises database into Amazon S3. The data contains personally identifiable information (PII). The company policy requires that all PII be masked before it is stored in S3. The pipeline uses AWS DMS for migration and AWS Glue for transformation. The engineer needs to ensure that the masking is applied consistently and that no unmasked data is written to S3. The engineer has set up DMS to replicate data to an S3 bucket, and then a Glue job reads from S3, applies masking, and writes to another S3 bucket. However, there is a risk that unmasked data in the first S3 bucket could be accessed before the Glue job runs. What should the engineer do to mitigate this risk?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "first"
Why it matters: Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Set an S3 Lifecycle policy on the first bucket to delete objects after 1 hour.
Option B is correct because an S3 Lifecycle policy with expiration can automatically delete objects from the first bucket after a short time, reducing the window of exposure. Option A is wrong because DMS does not have native masking capabilities. Option C is wrong because blocking all access would prevent the Glue job from reading. Option D is wrong because Kinesis is not part of the pipeline.
Key principle: Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Configure DMS to apply masking transformations before writing to S3 using DMS's built-in transformation rules.
Why it's wrong here
DMS does not support masking of column data; it can only transform table names.
✗
Block all access to the first S3 bucket except for the Glue job's IAM role.
Why it's wrong here
This would prevent the Glue job from reading the data if properly restricted.
✗
Use Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose to stream data directly to Glue for real-time masking.
Why it's wrong here
The pipeline is batch-oriented, and Firehose is not part of the current design.
✓
Set an S3 Lifecycle policy on the first bucket to delete objects after 1 hour.
Why this is correct
This limits the time unmasked data is available.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "first" in the question point toward this answer.
Common exam trap: usable hosts are not the same as total addresses
Subnetting questions often tempt you into counting all addresses. In normal IPv4 subnets, the network and broadcast addresses are not usable host addresses.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Subnetting questions test whether you can identify the network, broadcast address, usable range, mask and correct subnet. Slow down enough to calculate the block size correctly.
KKey Concepts to Remember
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
Block size helps identify subnet boundaries.
Network and broadcast addresses are not usable hosts in normal IPv4 subnets.
The required host count determines the smallest suitable subnet.
TExam Day Tips
→Write the block size before choosing the subnet.
→Check whether the question asks for hosts, subnets or a specific address range.
→Do not confuse /24, /25, /26 and /27 host counts.
Key takeaway
Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
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.
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related DEA-C01 subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
Data Security and Governance — This question tests Data Security and Governance — CIDR notation defines the prefix length..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Set an S3 Lifecycle policy on the first bucket to delete objects after 1 hour. — Option B is correct because an S3 Lifecycle policy with expiration can automatically delete objects from the first bucket after a short time, reducing the window of exposure. Option A is wrong because DMS does not have native masking capabilities. Option C is wrong because blocking all access would prevent the Glue job from reading. Option D is wrong because Kinesis is not part of the pipeline.
What should I do if I get this DEA-C01 question wrong?
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related DEA-C01 subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "first". Order matters here. You are being tested on which action comes before the others — not which action is generally useful.
What is the key concept behind this question?
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
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