The correct service to use for SSL/TLS certificates on an ALB is AWS Certificate Manager (ACM). ACM is the right choice because it provisions, manages, and automatically renews public and private SSL/TLS certificates that integrate natively with Application Load Balancers, enabling HTTPS termination at the load balancer to encrypt data in transit between clients and the ALB without manual certificate handling. On the AWS Certified Developer Associate DVA-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of ACM’s seamless integration with ALBs and its automatic renewal feature, which eliminates the risk of expired certificates. A common trap is confusing ACM with AWS Certificate Manager Private Certificate Authority (ACM PCA) or thinking you must upload certificates manually via IAM—remember, ACM handles both public and private certificates for ALBs, while ACM PCA is only for private CAs. Memory tip: ACM = Automatic Certificate Manager, because it auto-renews and auto-attaches to ALBs.
DVA-C02 Security Practice Question
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 developer is deploying a web application on EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB). The application needs to encrypt data in transit between the client and the ALB. Which AWS service should be used to manage the SSL/TLS certificate?
ACM provisions, manages, and deploys SSL/TLS certificates for AWS services including ALB, allowing automatic renewal and easy attachment to load balancers.
B
AWS Key Management Service (KMS)
Why wrong: KMS is used for creating and managing encryption keys for data at rest, not for SSL/TLS certificates for data in transit.
C
AWS Secrets Manager
Why wrong: Secrets Manager stores secrets such as database credentials and API keys, not SSL/TLS certificates.
D
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Why wrong: IAM manages user identities and permissions, but does not handle SSL/TLS certificate lifecycle management.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
AWS Certificate Manager (ACM)
AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) is the correct service because it provisions, manages, and deploys public and private SSL/TLS certificates that can be associated with an Application Load Balancer (ALB) to encrypt data in transit between clients and the ALB. ACM handles certificate renewal automatically and integrates natively with ALB, removing the need for manual certificate management. This ensures HTTPS termination at the load balancer, securing the client-to-ALB communication.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✓
AWS Certificate Manager (ACM)
Why this is correct
ACM provisions, manages, and deploys SSL/TLS certificates for AWS services including ALB, allowing automatic renewal and easy attachment to load balancers.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
AWS Key Management Service (KMS)
Why it's wrong here
KMS is used for creating and managing encryption keys for data at rest, not for SSL/TLS certificates for data in transit.
✗
AWS Secrets Manager
Why it's wrong here
Secrets Manager stores secrets such as database credentials and API keys, not SSL/TLS certificates.
✗
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Why it's wrong here
IAM manages user identities and permissions, but does not handle SSL/TLS certificate lifecycle management.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may confuse AWS KMS (used for encryption at rest) with ACM (used for encryption in transit), or incorrectly assume IAM can manage SSL/TLS certificates for ALBs when it only supports legacy certificate uploads for CloudFront and Elastic Load Balancers in specific cases.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
ACM integrates with ALB to handle the TLS handshake using the configured certificate, offloading the encryption overhead from EC2 instances. The certificate must be deployed in the same AWS Region as the ALB, and ACM automatically renews certificates 60 days before expiration, provided the certificate's DNS records are validated via DNS or email. For public certificates, ACM uses the AWS-managed Certificate Authority (CA) to issue certificates that are trusted by major browsers, eliminating the need for manual CA interaction.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Security — This question tests Security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) — AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) is the correct service because it provisions, manages, and deploys public and private SSL/TLS certificates that can be associated with an Application Load Balancer (ALB) to encrypt data in transit between clients and the ALB. ACM handles certificate renewal automatically and integrates natively with ALB, removing the need for manual certificate management. This ensures HTTPS termination at the load balancer, securing the client-to-ALB communication.
What should I do if I get this DVA-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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