DEA-C01 Data Operations and Support Practice Question
This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data operations and support. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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.
An IAM policy is attached to an IAM role used by an EC2 instance in the 10.0.0.0/8 VPC. The EC2 instance cannot read objects from the S3 bucket. What is the most likely cause?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
The policy does not grant s3:ListBucket permission.
Why wrong: s3:GetObject does not require ListBucket for reading objects.
B
The S3 bucket has a bucket policy that denies public access, and the IAM policy alone is insufficient.
The IAM policy allows access, but if the bucket policy denies all access except from specific principals, the IAM role may still be denied. The bucket policy must explicitly allow the role.
C
The bucket is encrypted with SSE-KMS and the role does not have kms:Decrypt permission.
Why wrong: The policy does not include KMS permissions, but the question does not mention encryption.
D
The EC2 instance's public IP is not in the 10.0.0.0/8 range.
Why wrong: EC2 instances in a VPC use private IPs, which are in that range, so this condition should be satisfied.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The S3 bucket has a bucket policy that denies public access, and the IAM policy alone is insufficient.
Option D is correct because IAM policies cannot use the aws:SourceIp condition for services that use the principal's IP, but for EC2 with an IAM role, the source IP is the instance's private IP, which is within the condition, so the condition should work. However, the issue is that S3 bucket policies are required for cross-account access or when the bucket is not public. The exhibited policy is an IAM policy, not a bucket policy. The bucket itself likely has a bucket policy that denies access or the bucket is not public. Option A (wrong IP) is not necessarily true. Option B (no KMS) is irrelevant. Option C (no s3:ListBucket) is not required for GetObject.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 policy does not grant s3:ListBucket permission.
Why it's wrong here
s3:GetObject does not require ListBucket for reading objects.
✓
The S3 bucket has a bucket policy that denies public access, and the IAM policy alone is insufficient.
Why this is correct
The IAM policy allows access, but if the bucket policy denies all access except from specific principals, the IAM role may still be denied. The bucket policy must explicitly allow the role.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
The bucket is encrypted with SSE-KMS and the role does not have kms:Decrypt permission.
Why it's wrong here
The policy does not include KMS permissions, but the question does not mention encryption.
✗
The EC2 instance's public IP is not in the 10.0.0.0/8 range.
Why it's wrong here
EC2 instances in a VPC use private IPs, which are in that range, so this condition should be satisfied.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
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
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which DEA-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Data Operations and Support — This question tests Data Operations and Support — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The S3 bucket has a bucket policy that denies public access, and the IAM policy alone is insufficient. — Option D is correct because IAM policies cannot use the aws:SourceIp condition for services that use the principal's IP, but for EC2 with an IAM role, the source IP is the instance's private IP, which is within the condition, so the condition should work. However, the issue is that S3 bucket policies are required for cross-account access or when the bucket is not public. The exhibited policy is an IAM policy, not a bucket policy. The bucket itself likely has a bucket policy that denies access or the bucket is not public. Option A (wrong IP) is not necessarily true. Option B (no KMS) is irrelevant. Option C (no s3:ListBucket) is not required for GetObject.
What should I do if I get this DEA-C01 question wrong?
Identify which DEA-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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