DEA-C01 Data Security and Governance Practice Question
A data engineer is tasked with implementing data masking for a non-production environment. The source data contains credit card numbers stored in an Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL database. The engineer wants to automatically mask the credit card numbers when copying data to the non-production database. Which AWS service can be used to achieve this?
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 Database Migration Service (DMS)
AWS DMS can transform data during migration using transformation rules. It can mask data by replacing columns with predefined values. Glue is for ETL, but DMS is purpose-built for database migrations with transformations. Lake Formation is for data lake permissions. Athena is for querying S3 data.
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 Database Migration Service (DMS)
Why this is correct
DMS supports transformation rules that can mask columns during migration.
- ✗
AWS Glue
Why it's wrong here
AWS Glue is an ETL service designed for transforming and loading data through manual job definitions, whereas the requirement specifies automatic masking during the movement process. While you could write a custom PySpark script within a Glue job to perform redaction, it lacks the native, automated integration with RDS that Amazon Redshift Data Masking or specific database-level features provide. Use Glue when you need to execute complex transformations across disparate data sources in a batch pipeline.
- ✗
AWS Lake Formation
Why it's wrong here
Lake Formation is for data lake permission management, not masking during migration.
- ✗
Amazon Athena
Why it's wrong here
Athena is a query service for S3, not for database masking.
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 |
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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.