DEA-C01 Data Store Management Practice Question
Which TWO methods can be used to enforce least-privilege access to an Amazon S3 bucket? (Choose two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse network-level controls (like VPC endpoints) with identity-based access controls, or they mistakenly think that granting full control to the owner is a form of least privilege, when in fact it violates the principle by providing excessive permissions.
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
✓
Use IAM policies to grant specific permissions to users and roles.
IAM policies allow you to grant granular, specific permissions to individual users and roles, adhering to the principle of least privilege by explicitly allowing only the actions required. This avoids granting broad or default permissions, ensuring that each identity has only the access necessary for its function.
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 IAM policies to grant specific permissions to users and roles.
Why this is correct
IAM policies allow granular permissions.
- ✗
Set bucket ACLs to allow full control to the bucket owner only.
Why it's wrong here
ACLs are not recommended for fine-grained control.
- ✓
Use an S3 bucket policy that explicitly denies actions not required.
Why this is correct
Bucket policies can enforce least privilege.
- ✗
Configure a VPC endpoint to restrict access to the bucket.
Why it's wrong here
VPC endpoints control network access, not permissions.
- ✗
Generate pre-signed URLs for all access.
Why it's wrong here
Pre-signed URLs grant time-limited access but not least-privilege enforcement.
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
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This DEA-C01 question is part of Courseiva's 1,711-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.