DBS-C01 Database Security Practice Question
A company wants to enforce that all new Amazon RDS DB instances are created with encryption at rest enabled. Which approach should be taken?
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 an IAM policy that denies the rds:CreateDBInstance action unless rds:StorageEncrypted is set to true.
An IAM policy with a condition key `rds:StorageEncrypted` set to `true` can deny the `rds:CreateDBInstance` action when encryption is not enabled, enforcing encryption at rest at creation time. Option B is wrong because CloudTrail is an auditing service; it logs API calls but cannot automatically delete unencrypted instances without additional services like Lambda. Option C is wrong because AWS Config detects and reports noncompliant resources but does not prevent creation; it is reactive. Option D is wrong because Amazon RDS does not offer a default encryption setting at the account level; encryption must be explicitly enabled per instance.
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 an IAM policy that denies the rds:CreateDBInstance action unless rds:StorageEncrypted is set to true.
Why this is correct
This preventive control enforces encryption at creation time via IAM conditions.
- ✗
Use AWS CloudTrail to detect unencrypted instance creation and automatically delete them.
Why it's wrong here
This is reactive and not a preventive control.
- ✗
Use AWS Config rules to mark unencrypted instances as noncompliant.
Why it's wrong here
This is detective, not preventive.
- ✗
Enable encryption by default in the RDS console.
Why it's wrong here
RDS does not have an account-level default encryption setting.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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JA
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.