This DOP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of security and compliance. 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 DevOps engineer needs to ensure that all API calls made to AWS are recorded for auditing purposes. Which AWS service should be used?
AWS CloudTrail
CloudTrail records all AWS API calls for auditing.
AWS Config
Why wrong: AWS Config records resource configuration changes, not API calls.
Amazon CloudWatch Logs
Why wrong: CloudWatch Logs stores logs but does not automatically record API calls.
Amazon VPC Flow Logs
Why wrong: VPC Flow Logs capture IP traffic, not API calls.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
AWS CloudTrail
AWS CloudTrail is the correct service because it records all API calls made to AWS, including the identity of the caller, the time of the call, the source IP address, and the request parameters. This provides a complete audit trail of user activity and API usage, which is essential for auditing, security analysis, and compliance requirements.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
AWS CloudTrail
Why this is correct
CloudTrail records all AWS API calls for auditing.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config records resource configuration changes, not API calls.
Amazon CloudWatch Logs
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch Logs stores logs but does not automatically record API calls.
Amazon VPC Flow Logs
Why it's wrong here
VPC Flow Logs capture IP traffic, not API calls.
Common exam traps
The trap here is confusing AWS Config (which tracks resource configuration changes) with CloudTrail (which records API calls), as both are used for auditing but serve fundamentally different purposes.
Detailed technical explanation
CloudTrail delivers log files to an S3 bucket in JSON format, with each event containing fields like eventSource, eventName, userIdentity, and requestParameters. It supports multi-region trails and can be configured to log management events (control plane) and data events (e.g., S3 object-level operations) separately, allowing granular control over auditing scope. A real-world scenario is using CloudTrail to detect unauthorized IAM role assumption by analyzing the userIdentity.sessionContext attributes.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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
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FAQ
Security and Compliance — This question tests Security and Compliance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: AWS CloudTrail — AWS CloudTrail is the correct service because it records all API calls made to AWS, including the identity of the caller, the time of the call, the source IP address, and the request parameters. This provides a complete audit trail of user activity and API usage, which is essential for auditing, security analysis, and compliance requirements.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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.
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