← DOP-C02·Amazon Web Services

Question 277 of 1,750

Security and Compliance →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

DOP-C02 Security and Compliance Practice Question

This DOP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of security and compliance. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 hosts a web application on EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer. The application stores sensitive user data in an S3 bucket. A Security Engineer needs to ensure that the EC2 instances can only access the specific S3 bucket and no other AWS services. Which solution meets these requirements?

A
Attach a bucket policy to the S3 bucket that allows access only from the ALB's security group.
Why wrong: The bucket policy would restrict access based on the source IP or VPC endpoint, but the ALB's security group is not a valid principal for S3 bucket policies. Also, the instances could still access other AWS services.
B
Create an IAM role with a policy that grants s3:PutObject and s3:GetObject access to the specific bucket, and attach the role to the EC2 instances as an instance profile.
This grants the EC2 instances only the permissions needed for that bucket, and they cannot access other AWS services unless additional policies are attached.
C
Configure a VPC endpoint for S3 and modify the route table to route S3 traffic through the endpoint.
Why wrong: A VPC endpoint provides private connectivity but does not restrict which S3 buckets the instances can access; it only ensures traffic stays within the AWS network.
D
Create a security group that allows outbound HTTPS traffic only to the S3 bucket's IP address range.
Why wrong: Security groups cannot filter based on destination IP ranges for S3, as S3 IP ranges are shared with other services. Also, this does not prevent access to other AWS services.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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

✓

Create an IAM role with a policy that grants s3:PutObject and s3:GetObject access to the specific bucket, and attach the role to the EC2 instances as an instance profile.

Creating an IAM role with a policy that grants s3:PutObject and s3:GetObject access only to the specific S3 bucket, and attaching that role to the EC2 instances as an instance profile, ensures that the instances can only access that bucket. This method uses AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) to restrict permissions per resource. Option A is incorrect because an S3 bucket policy restricting access to the ALB's security group cannot control what the instances themselves do; the instances can still access S3 directly if they have credentials. Option C is incorrect because a VPC endpoint for S3 provides private connectivity but does not restrict which resources the instances can access; it only ensures traffic stays within the AWS network. Option D is incorrect because security groups cannot filter traffic based on S3 bucket names or policies; they only filter IP addresses and ports, and S3 uses HTTPS which is not restrictable by security group to a specific bucket.

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.

✗
Attach a bucket policy to the S3 bucket that allows access only from the ALB's security group.
Why it's wrong here
The bucket policy would restrict access based on the source IP or VPC endpoint, but the ALB's security group is not a valid principal for S3 bucket policies. Also, the instances could still access other AWS services.
✓
Create an IAM role with a policy that grants s3:PutObject and s3:GetObject access to the specific bucket, and attach the role to the EC2 instances as an instance profile.
Why this is correct
This grants the EC2 instances only the permissions needed for that bucket, and they cannot access other AWS services unless additional policies are attached.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Configure a VPC endpoint for S3 and modify the route table to route S3 traffic through the endpoint.
Why it's wrong here
A VPC endpoint provides private connectivity but does not restrict which S3 buckets the instances can access; it only ensures traffic stays within the AWS network.
✗
Create a security group that allows outbound HTTPS traffic only to the S3 bucket's IP address range.
Why it's wrong here
Security groups cannot filter based on destination IP ranges for S3, as S3 IP ranges are shared with other services. Also, this does not prevent access to other AWS services.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.

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.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.

TExam Day Tips

Underline the problem statement mentally.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.

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

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which DOP-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.

Related DOP-C02 practice-question pages

Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.

Configuration Management and IaC practice questions

Practise DOP-C02 questions linked to Configuration Management and IaC.

Resilient Cloud Solutions practice questions

Practise DOP-C02 questions linked to Resilient Cloud Solutions.

Monitoring and Logging practice questions

Practise DOP-C02 questions linked to Monitoring and Logging.

Incident and Event Response practice questions

Practise DOP-C02 questions linked to Incident and Event Response.

Security and Compliance practice questions

Practise DOP-C02 questions linked to Security and Compliance.

SDLC Automation practice questions

Practise DOP-C02 questions linked to SDLC Automation.

DOP-C02 fundamentals practice questions

Practise DOP-C02 questions linked to DOP-C02 fundamentals.

DOP-C02 scenario practice questions

Practise DOP-C02 questions linked to DOP-C02 scenario.

DOP-C02 troubleshooting practice questions

Practise DOP-C02 questions linked to DOP-C02 troubleshooting.

Practice this exam

Start a free DOP-C02 practice session

Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.

10 questions 20 questions 30 questions 50 questions Timed 30

DOP-C02 practice-test guide →Study guide →Browse all practice tests

FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this DOP-C02 question test?

Security and Compliance — This question tests Security and Compliance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Create an IAM role with a policy that grants s3:PutObject and s3:GetObject access to the specific bucket, and attach the role to the EC2 instances as an instance profile. — Creating an IAM role with a policy that grants s3:PutObject and s3:GetObject access only to the specific S3 bucket, and attaching that role to the EC2 instances as an instance profile, ensures that the instances can only access that bucket. This method uses AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) to restrict permissions per resource. Option A is incorrect because an S3 bucket policy restricting access to the ALB's security group cannot control what the instances themselves do; the instances can still access S3 directly if they have credentials. Option C is incorrect because a VPC endpoint for S3 provides private connectivity but does not restrict which resources the instances can access; it only ensures traffic stays within the AWS network. Option D is incorrect because security groups cannot filter traffic based on S3 bucket names or policies; they only filter IP addresses and ports, and S3 uses HTTPS which is not restrictable by security group to a specific bucket.

What should I do if I get this DOP-C02 question wrong?

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

About these practice questions

Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →

How Courseiva writes practice questions · Editorial policy

Keep practising

Question Discussion

Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.

Loading comments…

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.