This DOP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of monitoring and logging. 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 is using Amazon CloudWatch Logs to store application logs. The DevOps engineer needs to ensure that log data is encrypted at rest using a customer-managed KMS key. What step must be taken?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a new KMS customer-managed key and associate it with the CloudWatch Logs log group.
Option C is correct because CloudWatch Logs supports encryption at rest using a customer-managed KMS key, which must be explicitly associated with the log group. When you create or update a log group, you can specify a KMS key ID (via the AWS CLI, SDK, or console) to encrypt all log data stored in that group. This ensures that the log data is encrypted using a key you control, not the default AWS-managed key.
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.
✗
Use AWS CloudTrail to encrypt the log data before it is sent to CloudWatch Logs.
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail does not encrypt CloudWatch Logs data.
✗
Create a KMS key and apply it to the IAM role used by the application.
Why it's wrong here
The key must be associated with the log group, not IAM role.
✓
Create a new KMS customer-managed key and associate it with the CloudWatch Logs log group.
Why this is correct
You can associate a CMK with a log group to encrypt logs at rest.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Enable server-side encryption on the log group using the default CloudWatch Logs key.
Why it's wrong here
Default encryption uses AWS-managed keys, not customer-managed.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse associating a KMS key with an IAM role (which controls access) with associating it directly with the log group (which controls encryption at rest), leading them to select Option B instead of C.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, CloudWatch Logs uses the KMS key specified in the log group's `kmsKeyId` parameter to encrypt log events at rest via envelope encryption. The log group's KMS key must grant the CloudWatch Logs service principal (`logs.<region>.amazonaws.com`) permissions to use the key via a key policy. A common real-world scenario is when compliance mandates separation of duties, requiring the DevOps team to manage the key while the security team audits its usage via CloudTrail.
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.
Monitoring and Logging — This question tests Monitoring and Logging — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create a new KMS customer-managed key and associate it with the CloudWatch Logs log group. — Option C is correct because CloudWatch Logs supports encryption at rest using a customer-managed KMS key, which must be explicitly associated with the log group. When you create or update a log group, you can specify a KMS key ID (via the AWS CLI, SDK, or console) to encrypt all log data stored in that group. This ensures that the log data is encrypted using a key you control, not the default AWS-managed key.
What should I do if I get this DOP-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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This DOP-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 DOP-C02 exam.
Question Discussion
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