- A
Use Amazon Macie to automatically remediate the public access by updating the object ACLs.
Why wrong: Macie is for detection, not remediation.
- B
Remove the bucket policy granting public access and attach an IAM policy to the Glue and Athena roles to allow access to the bucket.
This removes public access while allowing authorized access.
- C
Set the bucket ACL to private and add a bucket policy that allows access to the Glue crawler and Athena.
Why wrong: ACLs are not recommended; also, the bucket policy may still allow public access if not carefully written.
- D
Enable S3 Block Public Access on the bucket and use a bucket policy to allow access from the Glue and Athena service principals.
Why wrong: Block Public Access prevents all public access, but service principals cannot be used in bucket policies for Glue and Athena; you need IAM roles.
Quick Answer
The answer is to remove the bucket policy granting public access and attach an IAM policy to the Glue and Athena roles. This is correct because of the fundamental AWS principle that an explicit deny in an S3 bucket policy overrides any allow from IAM—meaning the public read grant in the bucket policy was the root cause of the exposure. By removing that policy and instead using IAM policies on the specific service roles, you ensure that only authorized principals can access the bucket, while the S3 bucket policy deny override behavior no longer threatens security. On the DEA-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of the interaction between resource-based policies (bucket policies) and identity-based policies (IAM), a common trap where candidates confuse Macie’s detection role with enforcement. Remember: bucket policies affect all principals unless explicitly restricted, while IAM policies scope access to specific users or roles. Memory tip: “Deny always wins—so remove the public allow, then grant with IAM.”
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 company runs a data lake on Amazon S3 with AWS Glue and Amazon Athena. The security team recently ran a report using Amazon Macie and found that multiple S3 objects containing PII are publicly accessible. The data engineer is tasked with remediating this issue immediately. The S3 bucket is configured with a bucket policy that grants public read access to all objects. The data engineer needs to ensure that no objects are publicly accessible while maintaining the ability for authorized IAM users and roles to access the data via Athena. The bucket must also remain accessible to the Glue crawler. What is the MOST effective course of action?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"immediately / without restart"Why it matters: Time or reboot constraint — the correct answer must take effect right away without requiring a reboot or reload.
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
Remove the bucket policy granting public access and attach an IAM policy to the Glue and Athena roles to allow access to the bucket.
Option B is correct because removing the bucket policy that grants public access and using an S3 bucket policy or IAM policies to allow specific IAM principals (like Glue and Athena) resolves the public exposure while allowing authorized access. Option A is incorrect because Macie does not enforce access control. Option C is incorrect because enabling block public access is a good practice but does not grant access to authorized users; it may also block Glue if not configured correctly. Option D is incorrect because ACLs are legacy and less secure; also, public objects may have ACLs granting public access.
Key principle: ACLs process entries top to bottom and stop at the first match. Entry order and interface direction matter as much as the permit or deny statement.
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 Amazon Macie to automatically remediate the public access by updating the object ACLs.
Why it's wrong here
Macie is for detection, not remediation.
- ✓
Remove the bucket policy granting public access and attach an IAM policy to the Glue and Athena roles to allow access to the bucket.
Why this is correct
This removes public access while allowing authorized access.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "immediately / without restart" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Standard ACLs match source addresses.
- ✗
Set the bucket ACL to private and add a bucket policy that allows access to the Glue crawler and Athena.
Why it's wrong here
ACLs are not recommended; also, the bucket policy may still allow public access if not carefully written.
- ✗
Enable S3 Block Public Access on the bucket and use a bucket policy to allow access from the Glue and Athena service principals.
Why it's wrong here
Block Public Access prevents all public access, but service principals cannot be used in bucket policies for Glue and Athena; you need IAM roles.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: ACLs stop at the first match
ACLs are processed top to bottom. The first matching entry wins, and an implicit deny usually exists at the end.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
ACL questions test precision: source, destination, protocol, port and direction. A generally correct ACL can still fail if it is applied on the wrong interface or in the wrong direction.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Standard ACLs match source addresses.
- Extended ACLs can match source, destination, protocol and ports.
- The first matching ACL entry is used.
- There is usually an implicit deny at the end.
TExam Day Tips
- Check inbound versus outbound direction.
- Read the ACL from top to bottom.
- Look for a broader permit or deny above the intended line.
Key takeaway
ACLs process entries top to bottom and stop at the first match. Entry order and interface direction matter as much as the permit or deny statement.
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.
Review ACL processing order, placement rules (standard near destination, extended near source), and inbound vs outbound direction. Study wildcard masks and implicit deny. Then practise related DEA-C01 ACL questions on filtering logic and placement.
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Data Security and Governance — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this DEA-C01 question test?
Data Security and Governance — This question tests Data Security and Governance — Standard ACLs match source addresses..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Remove the bucket policy granting public access and attach an IAM policy to the Glue and Athena roles to allow access to the bucket. — Option B is correct because removing the bucket policy that grants public access and using an S3 bucket policy or IAM policies to allow specific IAM principals (like Glue and Athena) resolves the public exposure while allowing authorized access. Option A is incorrect because Macie does not enforce access control. Option C is incorrect because enabling block public access is a good practice but does not grant access to authorized users; it may also block Glue if not configured correctly. Option D is incorrect because ACLs are legacy and less secure; also, public objects may have ACLs granting public access.
What should I do if I get this DEA-C01 question wrong?
Review ACL processing order, placement rules (standard near destination, extended near source), and inbound vs outbound direction. Study wildcard masks and implicit deny. Then practise related DEA-C01 ACL questions on filtering logic and placement.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "immediately / without restart". Time or reboot constraint — the correct answer must take effect right away without requiring a reboot or reload.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Standard ACLs match source addresses.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
3 more ways 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. A data engineer needs to allow a Lambda function to read data from an S3 bucket in the same account. The Lambda function's execution role has the required permissions, but access is denied. The S3 bucket has a bucket policy that explicitly denies access to any principal that is not from the organization. What is the most likely issue?
medium- ✓ A.The Lambda execution role is not part of the AWS organization.
- B.The Lambda function is in a VPC without an S3 VPC endpoint.
- C.The S3 bucket is in a different AWS account.
- D.The Lambda function does not have kms:Decrypt permission.
Why A: Option C is correct because the explicit deny in the bucket policy overrides any allow in the Lambda role. Option A is wrong because the VPC endpoint policy is not mentioned. Option B is wrong because KMS permissions are not relevant. Option D is wrong because the bucket is in the same account.
Variation 2. Refer to the exhibit. An S3 bucket policy allows the DataEngineerRole to get objects only if the request uses HTTPS. However, requests from this role are being denied even when using HTTPS. What is the MOST likely reason?
hard- A.The IAM role does not have permission to use SSE-S3.
- B.The condition key aws:SecureTransport is misspelled.
- C.The bucket policy does not include a Deny statement for HTTP requests.
- ✓ D.The IAM role's attached policy does not allow s3:GetObject on the bucket.
Why D: Option D is correct because the condition key aws:SecureTransport evaluates to true when the request is made over HTTPS, but the IAM role's policy might also need to allow the action. Option A is wrong because the bucket policy already allows the role. Option B is wrong because SSE-S3 does not require additional permissions. Option C is wrong because the condition is correctly written.
Variation 3. A company is using Amazon EMR to process data stored in Amazon S3. The S3 bucket is configured with a bucket policy that denies access unless the request includes a specific tag. The EMR cluster's IAM role has s3:GetObject permission. However, the EMR job fails to read data from S3. What is the most likely cause?
hard- A.The bucket policy is not attached to the EMR role.
- B.The EMR cluster is not in the same account as the S3 bucket.
- ✓ C.The IAM role does not have a condition that matches the required tag.
- D.The EMR role does not have s3:GetObject permission.
Why C: The bucket policy denies access unless the request includes a specific tag. Even though the EMR cluster's IAM role has s3:GetObject permission, the IAM role does not have a condition key (e.g., aws:RequestTag) that matches the required tag. Therefore, the request is denied by the bucket policy, causing the EMR job to fail.
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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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