DEA-C01 Data Security and Governance Practice Question
A data engineer needs to implement encryption for data at rest in an Amazon S3 bucket that stores sensitive financial records. The company's security policy requires that the encryption keys be managed by the company and rotated annually. The data engineer wants to use AWS Key Management Service (AWS KMS) to meet these requirements. Which solution should the data engineer implement?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse SSE-S3 with SSE-KMS; SSE-S3 uses Amazon-managed keys and does not provide customer control over key management or 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
✓
Use server-side encryption with AWS KMS customer managed keys (SSE-KMS) and configure automatic key rotation for the KMS key.
SSE-KMS with customer managed keys enables the company to control KMS keys and configure automatic annual rotation. This meets the security policy for company-managed keys and rotation, while providing seamless encryption for S3 objects.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use client-side encryption with a customer-provided key stored in AWS Secrets Manager, and manually rotate the key annually.
Why it's wrong here
Client-side encryption with a key in Secrets Manager requires the data engineer to manage encryption and decryption in the application, and manual rotation adds operational overhead. While the company controls the key, this approach does not leverage AWS KMS for centralized key management and automatic rotation, and it may not integrate seamlessly with all S3 features.
- ✗
Use server-side encryption with Amazon S3 managed keys (SSE-S3) and enable automatic key rotation.
Why it's wrong here
SSE-S3 uses keys managed by Amazon S3, not by the company. While S3 automatically rotates these keys, the company does not have control over key management or rotation policies. This does not meet the requirement for company-managed keys with annual rotation. SSE-S3 is also not integrated with AWS KMS for customer control.
- ✗
Use server-side encryption with customer-provided keys (SSE-C) and rotate the keys by re-uploading objects with new keys annually.
Why it's wrong here
SSE-C requires the customer to provide the encryption key with every request, and AWS does not store the key. Rotation would require re-encrypting all objects manually, which is error-prone and does not provide automatic rotation. This does not meet the requirement for managed keys with annual rotation and adds significant operational complexity.
- ✓
Use server-side encryption with AWS KMS customer managed keys (SSE-KMS) and configure automatic key rotation for the KMS key.
Why this is correct
SSE-KMS with customer managed keys allows the company to create and manage KMS keys. AWS KMS supports automatic annual rotation of customer managed keys, which aligns with the security policy. This solution provides the required control over key management and rotation, and it encrypts data at rest in S3 using KMS keys.
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
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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.