Quick Answer
The answer is Amazon CloudWatch Logs used together with AWS CloudTrail. CloudTrail is the service that records every API call made in your AWS account, capturing details like the caller identity, source IP, and request parameters, while CloudWatch Logs provides the centralized storage, monitoring, and alerting layer needed to analyze those logs for security auditing. On the AWS Certified Developer Associate DVA-C02 exam, this pairing tests your understanding that CloudTrail handles the recording of audit data, but CloudWatch Logs is required for real-time anomaly detection and custom metric creation—a common trap is thinking CloudTrail alone provides monitoring, when it only delivers raw logs. To remember this, think: CloudTrail records the “who, what, when,” and CloudWatch Logs lets you “watch” for trouble.
This DVA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of security. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 wants to audit all API calls made in their AWS account for security analysis. Which TWO services should be used together to achieve this?
Amazon S3
Why wrong: Can store logs but is not a service for auditing API calls itself.
Amazon GuardDuty
Why wrong: Threat detection service, not for API call auditing.
AWS Config
Why wrong: Tracks resource configuration changes, not API calls.
AWS CloudTrail
Records API calls for auditing.
Amazon CloudWatch Logs
Can receive and monitor CloudTrail logs.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
AWS CloudTrail
AWS CloudTrail is the service that records all API calls made in an AWS account, capturing details like the identity of the caller, time of the call, source IP address, and request parameters. Amazon CloudWatch Logs can then be used to store, monitor, and alert on those CloudTrail logs for security analysis, enabling custom metrics and real-time anomaly detection. Together, they provide a complete audit trail and operational visibility for security auditing.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Amazon S3
Why it's wrong here
Can store logs but is not a service for auditing API calls itself.
Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
Threat detection service, not for API call auditing.
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
Tracks resource configuration changes, not API calls.
AWS CloudTrail
Why this is correct
Records API calls for auditing.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Amazon CloudWatch Logs
Why this is correct
Can receive and monitor CloudTrail logs.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse AWS Config (which tracks resource configuration changes) with CloudTrail (which records API calls), leading them to select AWS Config instead of CloudTrail for auditing API activity.
Detailed technical explanation
CloudTrail delivers log files in JSON format, which can be streamed to CloudWatch Logs via a CloudTrail-to-CloudWatch Logs integration, enabling real-time log-based metrics and alarms. Under the hood, CloudTrail uses a management event trail (default) or data event trail to capture API activity at the IAM principal level, while CloudWatch Logs uses log groups and metric filters to parse and alert on specific API calls, such as unauthorized `CreateUser` attempts. A real-world scenario is setting up a CloudWatch Logs metric filter on `errorCode = "AccessDenied"` to trigger an SNS notification for immediate security response.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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
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FAQ
Security — This question tests Security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: AWS CloudTrail — AWS CloudTrail is the service that records all API calls made in an AWS account, capturing details like the identity of the caller, time of the call, source IP address, and request parameters. Amazon CloudWatch Logs can then be used to store, monitor, and alert on those CloudTrail logs for security analysis, enabling custom metrics and real-time anomaly detection. Together, they provide a complete audit trail and operational visibility for security auditing.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
This DVA-C02 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 DVA-C02 exam.
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