DBS-C01 Database Security Practice Question
A company is migrating an on-premises Oracle database to Amazon RDS for Oracle. The database contains personally identifiable information (PII). The security team requires that all PII columns be transparently encrypted and that the encryption keys be stored in AWS CloudHSM. Which solution meets these requirements?
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 Oracle Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) with AWS CloudHSM as the key store.
Oracle Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) with AWS CloudHSM as the key store enables transparent encryption of PII columns and stores the encryption keys in CloudHSM, meeting the security requirements. Option A is wrong because Amazon RDS encryption at rest uses AWS KMS, not CloudHSM, and it encrypts the entire database instance, not specific columns. Option B is wrong because modifying an Oracle database to use AWS KMS for column-level encryption is not supported natively in RDS; Oracle TDE is required for transparent column encryption. Option C is wrong because Oracle Data Pump is an export/import utility, not a column-level encryption solution; it does not provide transparent encryption of PII columns in the live database.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Enable Amazon RDS encryption at rest using a KMS key and rely on that encryption.
Why it's wrong here
RDS encryption encrypts the entire instance, not individual columns, and uses KMS, not CloudHSM.
- ✗
Modify the Oracle database to use AWS KMS for column-level encryption.
Why it's wrong here
RDS for Oracle does not support KMS for column-level encryption; you need native Oracle TDE.
- ✗
Use Oracle Data Pump to export data with encryption and store the encryption key in AWS Secrets Manager.
Why it's wrong here
Data Pump is for data migration, not real-time transparent encryption.
- ✓
Use Oracle Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) with AWS CloudHSM as the key store.
Why this is correct
Oracle TDE provides transparent column encryption, and CloudHSM can serve as the hardware security module for key storage.
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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.