This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data security and governance. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A team is designing a data lake on S3 and needs to enforce encryption at rest. They want to use server-side encryption with a KMS key that they manage. Which encryption option should they configure on the S3 bucket?
SSE-KMS
SSE-KMS uses KMS keys that the customer manages.
Client-side encryption
Why wrong: Client-side encryption is performed before data reaches S3.
SSE-S3
Why wrong: SSE-S3 uses S3 managed keys, not customer managed.
SSE-C
Why wrong: SSE-C uses customer-provided keys, not KMS.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
SSE-KMS
SSE-KMS is the correct choice because it provides server-side encryption using a customer-managed KMS key. This allows the team to enforce encryption at rest with their own key, giving them control over key rotation, access policies, and audit trails via AWS CloudTrail, which aligns with the requirement to manage the encryption key themselves.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
SSE-KMS
Why this is correct
SSE-KMS uses KMS keys that the customer manages.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Client-side encryption
Why it's wrong here
Client-side encryption is performed before data reaches S3.
SSE-S3
Why it's wrong here
SSE-S3 uses S3 managed keys, not customer managed.
SSE-C
Why it's wrong here
SSE-C uses customer-provided keys, not KMS.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse SSE-S3 with SSE-KMS, assuming both use customer-managed keys, but SSE-S3 uses AWS-managed keys and does not provide the customer with key management control or audit capabilities.
Detailed technical explanation
SSE-KMS integrates with AWS KMS to generate a unique data key for each object, which is then encrypted under the customer-managed KMS key. This provides envelope encryption, where the encrypted data key is stored alongside the object in S3, and decryption requires the KMS key to be enabled and accessible. A subtle behavior is that using SSE-KMS can incur additional KMS API costs for each PUT and GET request, and the KMS key must be in the same region as the S3 bucket.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
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FAQ
Data Security and Governance — This question tests Data Security and Governance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: SSE-KMS — SSE-KMS is the correct choice because it provides server-side encryption using a customer-managed KMS key. This allows the team to enforce encryption at rest with their own key, giving them control over key rotation, access policies, and audit trails via AWS CloudTrail, which aligns with the requirement to manage the encryption key themselves.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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.
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