DEA-C01 Data Security and Governance Practice Question
A data team uses AWS Glue ETL jobs to process data from an S3 bucket (s3://data-lake-raw) and write results to another S3 bucket (s3://data-lake-processed). Both buckets are encrypted with SSE-KMS using the same KMS key (alias 'data-key'). The Glue job runs in the same account. The team recently enabled S3 Server Access Logging for the raw bucket, sending logs to a separate logging account. After enabling logging, the Glue job starts failing with 'AccessDenied' when reading from the raw bucket. The Glue job's IAM role has s3:GetObject permission on the raw bucket. Which additional permission is most likely missing?
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
✓
kms:Decrypt on the KMS key (alias 'data-key').
When S3 Server Access Logging is enabled for a bucket encrypted with SSE-KMS, the S3 service must write log objects to the target bucket. If the target bucket is in a different account, the S3 service needs permission to use the KMS key. However, the failure is on the Glue job reading from the raw bucket, not writing logs. The issue could be that the raw bucket's S3 access log delivery writes to a target bucket that uses a different KMS key, but that would affect logging, not Glue reads. Re-reading: The Glue job reading the raw bucket fails after enabling logging. It's likely that the raw bucket policy was modified to allow log delivery, inadvertently restricting other access. Actually, the most likely cause is that the S3 bucket policy now includes a condition that denies access unless a specific header is present, or the KMS key policy was changed. Given the options, the correct answer is that the KMS key policy for the data-key now denies the Glue role because the S3 service principal was added for cross-account logging. But the Glue role needs kms:Decrypt permission. The scenario says the same key is used for both buckets. The correct answer is B: The KMS key policy does not allow the Glue role to decrypt because the S3 log delivery service is using the key and the key policy may have a condition. Actually, the most direct answer: The Glue role is missing kms:Decrypt permission on the KMS key. But the team might have added a statement to allow S3 logging that inadvertently denies the Glue role. However, the simplest answer is that the Glue role lacks kms:Decrypt. But the question says 'Which additional permission is most likely missing?' The options are specific permissions. I'll go with the need for kms:Decrypt on the KMS key.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
s3:GetBucketLocation on the raw bucket.
Why it's wrong here
This is not required for reading objects.
- ✓
kms:Decrypt on the KMS key (alias 'data-key').
Why this is correct
The Glue job needs permission to decrypt the objects using the KMS key.
- ✗
s3:PutObject on the processed bucket.
Why it's wrong here
The failure occurs when reading from the raw bucket, not writing.
- ✗
kms:GenerateDataKey on the KMS key.
Why it's wrong here
This is used for encryption, not decryption.
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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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on DEA-C01
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. An organization is using AWS Glue to process sensitive data. The data is stored in S3 with server-side encryption using AWS KMS (SSE-KMS). The Glue job fails with an error indicating that it cannot read the data. The IAM role used by Glue has the following policy. What is missing?
hard- A.The s3:GetObject permission on the bucket
- ✓ B.The kms:Decrypt permission on the KMS key
- C.The kms:GenerateDataKey permission on the KMS key
- D.The kms:ReEncrypt permission on the KMS key
Why B: The Glue job fails because the IAM role lacks the kms:Decrypt permission on the KMS key. While s3:GetObject is also required, the role already has that permission (or it is not the missing permission causing the error). The key missing permission for decrypting SSE-KMS encrypted data is kms:Decrypt. Option A is incorrect because s3:GetObject is present. Option B is correct. Options C and D are incorrect because they are not required for read operations.
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.