DEA-C01 Data Security and Governance Practice Question
A data engineer needs to ensure that an Amazon Redshift cluster only accepts encrypted connections. Which parameter should be modified?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse `require_SSL` with other security-related parameters like `enable_user_activity_logging` (auditing) or assume that encryption is handled by a different mechanism (e.g., WLM or concurrency scaling), leading them to pick a wrong option that sounds security-adjacent but is technically unrelated.
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
✓
require_SSL
Setting the `require_SSL` parameter to `true` forces all connections to the Amazon Redshift cluster to use SSL/TLS encryption, ensuring that data in transit is encrypted. This parameter is modified in the cluster's parameter group and applies to both JDBC and ODBC connections, as well as the Redshift Query Editor.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
enable_user_activity_logging
Why it's wrong here
enable_user_activity_logging records user-level activity to system tables for auditing; it does not govern whether connections must use TLS. It is tempting because it is a real Redshift parameter and sounds security-adjacent, and it would be correct if the requirement were capturing user activity for audit purposes.
- ✗
max_concurrency_scaling_clusters
Why it's wrong here
max_concurrency_scaling_clusters controls how many concurrency-scaling clusters Redshift adds for queued queries; it has no bearing on transport encryption. It is tempting because it is a genuine cluster parameter, and tuning it would be correct when the requirement concerns query throughput or workload management rather than connection security.
- ✓
require_SSL
Why this is correct
The require_SSL parameter in the Redshift cluster's parameter group enforces TLS, rejecting unencrypted client connections. Modifying it satisfies the constraint that the cluster accept only encrypted connections, whereas other parameters govern query behaviour or logging rather than transport encryption.
- ✗
wlm_json_configuration
Why it's wrong here
The wlm_json_configuration parameter manages workload management queues, concurrency and query routing, so it cannot enforce TLS on incoming connections. It is tempting because it is a commonly modified Redshift parameter, and it would be the right choice when tuning query concurrency, memory allocation or queue assignment for mixed workloads.
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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.