The correct method is to use AWS Lake Formation to grant SELECT permission on the specific table to the user. Lake Formation enables fine-grained, table-level permissions in Athena by decoupling data access from IAM policies, allowing you to control visibility and query access at the table, column, or row level without affecting other tables in the same database. On the AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate DEA-C01 exam, this concept tests your understanding of how Lake Formation overcomes the limitations of S3 bucket policies and IAM policies, which cannot restrict Athena table access granularly—a common trap where candidates mistakenly choose IAM or Workgroup policies. Remember: Lake Formation is the only service that provides true table-level access control for Athena, so think “Lake for the table, IAM for the service.”
DEA-C01 Data Security and Governance Practice Question
This DEA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data security and governance. 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.
A data engineer needs to grant an IAM user access to query a specific table in Amazon Athena, but the user should not be able to view other tables in the same database. Which method should the engineer use?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use AWS Lake Formation to grant SELECT permission on the specific table to the user
Option A is correct because Lake Formation provides fine-grained table-level permissions. Option B is wrong because S3 bucket policies do not control Athena table access. Option C is wrong because IAM policies alone cannot restrict table access in Athena without Lake Formation. Option D is wrong because Workgroup policies do not provide table-level security.
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.
✗
Attach an IAM policy that allows athena:StartQueryExecution and restrict the query by table name
Why it's wrong here
IAM cannot restrict to specific tables.
✓
Use AWS Lake Formation to grant SELECT permission on the specific table to the user
Why this is correct
Lake Formation enables table-level access control.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Apply an S3 bucket policy that restricts access to the table's underlying data
Why it's wrong here
S3 bucket policy affects all objects, not table-level.
✗
Create a separate Athena workgroup with a query limit that only allows queries on that table
Why it's wrong here
Workgroup does not restrict table access.
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 Security and Governance — This question tests Data Security and Governance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use AWS Lake Formation to grant SELECT permission on the specific table to the user — Option A is correct because Lake Formation provides fine-grained table-level permissions. Option B is wrong because S3 bucket policies do not control Athena table access. Option C is wrong because IAM policies alone cannot restrict table access in Athena without Lake Formation. Option D is wrong because Workgroup policies do not provide table-level security.
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.
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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