Question 247 of 724
DVA-C02 Security Practice Question
A company has an S3 bucket containing confidential data. The security team wants to ensure that the bucket is never publicly accessible, even if a bucket policy or ACL is incorrectly set to allow public access. Which S3 feature should the developer enable?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse monitoring features (like logging) or object protection features (like Object Lock) with access control mechanisms, failing to recognize that S3 Block Public Access is the only feature specifically designed to enforce a hard block on public access regardless of other configurations.
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
✓
Enable S3 Block Public Access (bucket-level).
S3 Block Public Access (bucket-level) provides a definitive override that prevents any public access to the bucket, regardless of any bucket policies or ACLs that might otherwise grant public access. This feature acts as a safety net, ensuring that even if a policy or ACL is misconfigured to allow public access, the block public access settings will deny all public requests at the S3 service level before any policy evaluation occurs.
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 S3 Transfer Acceleration to ensure faster uploads.
Why it's wrong here
S3 Transfer Acceleration optimizes data transfer by routing uploads through AWS CloudFront edge locations, reducing latency for clients geographically distant from the S3 bucket. While it enhances performance, this feature solely impacts the speed and efficiency of data ingress, having no mechanism or control over the bucket's access policies or public accessibility settings. Therefore, it cannot prevent unauthorized public access to confidential data.
- ✓
Enable S3 Block Public Access (bucket-level).
Why this is correct
S3 Block Public Access provides an additional layer of security that prevents any public access, even if a bucket policy or ACL inadvertently allows it. It is the recommended way to ensure a bucket is never public.
- ✗
Enable S3 Server Access Logging to monitor access.
Why it's wrong here
S3 Server Access Logging records detailed information about requests made to an S3 bucket, including the requester, bucket name, request time, action performed, and the IP address of the requester. This feature is a crucial detective control for auditing and security analysis, providing visibility into who accessed what and when. However, it merely logs access events and does not actively prevent or block any form of access, public or otherwise, making it ineffective for preventing public data exposure.
- ✗
Enable S3 Object Lock to prevent objects from being deleted.
Why it's wrong here
S3 Object Lock implements a Write Once Read Many (WORM) model, preventing objects from being deleted or overwritten for a fixed period or indefinitely. This capability is designed for data retention, regulatory compliance, and protection against accidental or malicious deletion. While vital for data integrity and immutability, Object Lock does not govern who can *read* the objects; it only restricts modification or deletion, thus having no bearing on whether a bucket or its contents are publicly accessible.
Visual reference
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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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 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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