DVA-C02 Security Practice Question
Which AWS service provides a managed, rotating secret store for database credentials?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store (which can store secrets) with Secrets Manager, but Parameter Store lacks native automatic rotation, making Secrets Manager the only correct answer for a managed rotating secret store.
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 Secrets Manager
AWS Secrets Manager is the correct service because it is specifically designed to manage the entire lifecycle of secrets, including automatic rotation of database credentials on a configurable schedule (e.g., every 30 days). It natively integrates with Amazon RDS, Aurora, Redshift, and DocumentDB to rotate credentials without application downtime, using a built-in Lambda rotation function. This makes it the only fully managed, rotating secret store among the options.
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 Secrets Manager
Why this is correct
AWS Secrets Manager is a dedicated, managed service designed for securely storing, managing, and automatically rotating database credentials, API keys, and other secrets throughout their lifecycle. It provides built-in, configurable rotation for supported AWS services like RDS, Redshift, and DocumentDB, as well as custom rotation logic via AWS Lambda functions. This automatic rotation capability significantly enhances security by regularly changing credentials, minimizing the impact of compromised secrets.
- ✗
AWS KMS
Why it's wrong here
AWS Key Management Service (KMS) is a managed service that enables you to create and control encryption keys (Customer Master Keys - CMKs) used to encrypt your data. While KMS is fundamental for encrypting secrets stored in other services like Secrets Manager or Parameter Store, it does not store the actual secret values itself. KMS's role is solely to manage the lifecycle and access policies of cryptographic keys, not to provide secret storage or rotation mechanisms for application credentials.
- ✗
AWS IAM Roles
Why it's wrong here
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) roles are a core security feature that defines a set of permissions for making AWS service requests, which can be assumed by AWS services, applications, or users. IAM roles are a mechanism for granting temporary, least-privilege access to AWS resources without requiring long-term credentials. They are not designed for storing sensitive data or credentials and therefore do not offer any secret storage or rotation capabilities.
- ✗
AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store
Why it's wrong here
AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store offers secure, hierarchical storage for configuration data and secrets, including plaintext and encrypted parameters. While it can store sensitive information, leveraging AWS KMS for encryption of SecureString parameters, it does not provide a native, managed feature for automatic secret rotation. Users would need to implement custom automation, such as a Lambda function triggered by a schedule, to achieve rotation for parameters stored within Parameter Store.
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 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.