DEA-C01 Data Security and Governance Practice Question
A data engineer is designing a solution to securely store and rotate database credentials used by an application. The credentials should be automatically rotated every 90 days. Which AWS service should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
DEA-C01 often tests the confusion between Secrets Manager and Parameter Store, where candidates pick Parameter Store for secret rotation even though it lacks built-in automatic rotation.
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
✓
AWS Secrets Manager
AWS Secrets Manager is designed specifically for storing, managing, and automatically rotating secrets such as database credentials. It natively supports rotation schedules (e.g., every 90 days) using Lambda rotation functions, and integrates with RDS, Redshift, and DocumentDB for managed rotation. This directly meets the requirement for automatic rotation every 90 days.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
AWS Secrets Manager
Why this is correct
AWS Secrets Manager natively stores database credentials and performs scheduled rotation via Lambda functions, satisfying the 90-day automatic rotation constraint. Unlike Parameter Store, which lacks built-in rotation, it directly manages credential lifecycle for RDS and other databases, meeting the security requirement without custom orchestration.
- ✗
AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store
Why it's wrong here
Parameter Store holds plaintext and SecureString values but performs no automatic rotation of database credentials; rotation must be orchestrated externally. It is the right choice for storing configuration data and static secrets where rotation is not required.
- ✗
AWS Key Management Service (KMS)
Why it's wrong here
KMS manages encryption keys, not database credentials.
- ✗
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Why it's wrong here
IAM defines users, roles and policies for AWS API access; it neither stores database credentials nor rotates them on a schedule. It is the right choice for controlling which principals may call which AWS actions.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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About these practice questions
This DEA-C01 question is part of Courseiva's 1,321-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.