DBS-C01 Database Security Practice Question
A company is designing a multi-tenant application using Amazon Aurora MySQL. Each tenant's data must be isolated from others. They need to encrypt data at rest with a unique AWS KMS key per tenant. How can this be achieved?
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
✓
Launch separate Aurora clusters for each tenant, each with its own KMS key for encryption at rest.
Aurora MySQL encryption at rest is applied at the cluster level using a single AWS KMS key. You cannot assign different KMS keys to individual databases or tables within the same cluster. Therefore, the only way to achieve unique per-tenant encryption keys is to use separate Aurora clusters, each with its own KMS key. Option A is incorrect because RDS encryption is cluster-wide, not per-database. Option B implements client-side encryption, not encryption at rest. Option C is not supported by Aurora MySQL, as there is no row-level encryption with per-tenant KMS keys. Thus, Option D is correct.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Create separate databases within the same Aurora cluster and assign a different KMS key to each database.
Why it's wrong here
Aurora encryption at rest is applied to the entire cluster; you cannot assign different KMS keys to individual databases.
- ✗
Use client-side encryption with different KMS keys per tenant before inserting data into the database.
Why it's wrong here
Client-side encryption is a valid approach but is not considered encryption at rest of the database storage itself.
- ✗
Use a single Aurora cluster with row-level encryption using different KMS keys per tenant.
Why it's wrong here
Aurora does not support row-level encryption with per-tenant keys; encryption at rest is cluster-wide.
- ✓
Launch separate Aurora clusters for each tenant, each with its own KMS key for encryption at rest.
Why this is correct
Each Aurora cluster can be encrypted with a different KMS key, providing per-tenant encryption at rest.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DBS-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 DBS-C01 exam.