DVA-C02 Security Practice Question
A company wants to encrypt data at rest in Amazon S3. Which AWS service can be used to manage the encryption keys?
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
✓
AWS Key Management Service (KMS)
AWS Key Management Service (KMS) is the service that manages encryption keys for Amazon S3's server-side encryption with KMS (SSE-KMS). Option A is wrong because AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) handles SSL/TLS certificates, not encryption keys for S3. Option B is wrong because AWS CloudHSM provides hardware-based key management but is not directly integrated with S3 for SSE; KMS is the managed service for this use case. Option C is wrong because AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) controls access permissions, not encryption key management.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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AWS Certificate Manager (ACM)
Why it's wrong here
AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) provisions, manages, and deploys public and private SSL/TLS certificates primarily for securing network communications, ensuring encryption in transit for services like Elastic Load Balancing and CloudFront. These certificates establish identity and encrypt data exchanged between clients and servers over the network. ACM does not, however, provide or manage the symmetric encryption keys specifically used for encrypting data stored persistently at rest within Amazon S3 buckets.
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AWS CloudHSM
Why it's wrong here
AWS CloudHSM offers dedicated hardware security modules (HSMs) for cryptographic operations and secure key storage, providing FIPS 140-2 Level 3 validated security. While it offers robust key management capabilities, Amazon S3's native server-side encryption options, such as SSE-KMS, do not directly integrate with a customer-managed CloudHSM cluster for key management. Instead, S3 relies on AWS KMS for managing customer master keys (CMKs) used for its server-side encryption.
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AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Why it's wrong here
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) is a foundational service for securely controlling access to AWS resources by managing users, groups, roles, and their associated permissions. It defines who can perform what actions on which resources, including access to S3 buckets or KMS keys. However, IAM itself does not generate, store, or manage the cryptographic encryption keys that are actually used to encrypt data at rest within services like Amazon S3.
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AWS Key Management Service (KMS)
Why this is correct
AWS Key Management Service (KMS) is a fully managed service designed to simplify the creation, storage, and control of encryption keys used across various AWS services. It integrates seamlessly with Amazon S3 to provide server-side encryption with KMS-managed keys (SSE-KMS), where S3 utilizes your customer master keys (CMKs) to encrypt and decrypt objects. KMS ensures the secure lifecycle management and auditability of these cryptographic keys, which are fundamental for robust data-at-rest encryption in S3.
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 |
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.