DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
Exhibit
Refer to the exhibit.
```
{
"Version": "2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"s3:GetObject",
"s3:PutObject"
],
"Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::example-bucket/*"
},
{
"Effect": "Deny",
"Action": "s3:PutObject",
"Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::example-bucket/secrets/*"
}
]
}
```A data engineer is troubleshooting an AWS Glue job that writes data to an S3 bucket. The IAM role attached to the Glue job has the policy shown in the exhibit. The job fails when writing to the 'secrets/' prefix but succeeds when writing to other prefixes. What is the reason for the failure?
⚠ Common exam trap
DEA-C01 often tests the IAM policy evaluation logic, and candidates frequently forget that an explicit Deny always overrides an Allow, regardless of statement order.
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
✓
The Deny statement explicitly denies PutObject to the secrets/ prefix.
The IAM policy attached to the Glue job contains an explicit Deny statement for the 'secrets/' prefix, which overrides any Allow. In AWS IAM, an explicit Deny always takes precedence over Allow. Therefore, the job fails when writing to 'secrets/' but succeeds for other prefixes where no Deny exists.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The job does not have permission to write to the bucket at all.
Why it's wrong here
Writes to other prefixes succeed, proving the role does have bucket write permission, so a total lack of access cannot explain the failure. It is tempting when a job fails broadly and permissions seem suspect, and would be correct if every write attempt, not just the secrets/ prefix, returned AccessDenied.
- ✗
The resource ARN in the Allow statement does not include the bucket itself.
Why it's wrong here
An Allow scoped to objects under a prefix still permits writes to those objects; omitting the bucket ARN does not block prefix-level PutObject calls. It is tempting because bucket-level and object-level ARNs look similar, and would be correct if the operation required bucket-level permissions such as ListBucket.
- ✗
The Deny statement is not effective because it is placed after the Allow.
Why it's wrong here
IAM evaluates all statements together, and an explicit Deny always overrides any Allow regardless of order, so placement does not nullify it. It is tempting because statement sequence appears to matter in policy documents, and would be correct if AWS processed statements sequentially with later ones overriding earlier ones.
- ✓
The Deny statement explicitly denies PutObject to the secrets/ prefix.
Why this is correct
The bucket policy's explicit Deny for `s3:PutObject` on the `secrets/` prefix overrides the role's Allow, because an explicit Deny in IAM always wins. This satisfies the stem's constraint that writes to other prefixes succeed while `secrets/` fails, confirming the Deny is scoped precisely to that prefix.
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
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every DEA-C01 question from scratch — 1,321 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or 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.