The correct choice is to create a customer managed key and manually rotate it every 90 days. This is necessary because AWS KMS automatic key rotation for customer managed keys only supports a minimum rotation period of 365 days, which cannot satisfy a 90-day requirement. Manual rotation, by contrast, allows you to generate new cryptographic key material on demand while retaining the previous backing key for decryption of older data, giving you full control over the rotation schedule. On the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional DOP-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of the key rotation limitations in KMS and the distinction between automatic and manual rotation. A common trap is assuming automatic rotation can be configured for any interval, but AWS enforces the 365-day minimum for automatic rotation, making manual rotation the only viable path for sub-yearly compliance. Memory tip: think “Manual for 90, Auto for 365” to quickly recall that manual rotation is required when the policy demands a rotation period shorter than one year.
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 uses AWS KMS to encrypt data in S3. The security team requires that the key material be rotated every 90 days. What should be done to meet this requirement?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a customer managed key and manually rotate it every 90 days.
Option D is correct because AWS KMS customer managed keys support manual rotation, which allows you to rotate the key material every 90 days as required. Automatic key rotation for customer managed keys is only available with a minimum rotation period of 365 days (yearly), so it cannot meet a 90-day requirement. Manual rotation creates a new backing key while retaining the old one for decryption of previously encrypted data, ensuring compliance with the 90-day rotation policy.
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.
✗
Create a customer managed key and enable automatic yearly rotation.
Why it's wrong here
Yearly rotation does not meet 90-day requirement.
✗
Use an AWS managed key (SSE-S3) and enable rotation.
Why it's wrong here
AWS managed keys rotate every 3 years, not configurable.
✗
Use a custom key store with imported key material and enable automatic rotation.
Why it's wrong here
Imported key material cannot be automatically rotated.
✓
Create a customer managed key and manually rotate it every 90 days.
Why this is correct
Customer managed keys support manual rotation.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates assume automatic rotation can be configured to any interval, but AWS KMS only supports automatic rotation with a fixed 365-day period for customer managed keys, so a 90-day requirement forces manual rotation.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
When you manually rotate a customer managed key in AWS KMS, KMS generates a new backing key (the cryptographic material) and designates it as the current key for encryption, while retaining all previous backing keys for decryption of older ciphertext. The key ID, ARN, and aliases remain unchanged, so applications using the key do not need modification. This approach is essential for compliance scenarios requiring a specific rotation interval shorter than the 365-day automatic rotation minimum, such as PCI DSS or internal security policies.
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 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.
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 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 a customer managed key and manually rotate it every 90 days. — Option D is correct because AWS KMS customer managed keys support manual rotation, which allows you to rotate the key material every 90 days as required. Automatic key rotation for customer managed keys is only available with a minimum rotation period of 365 days (yearly), so it cannot meet a 90-day requirement. Manual rotation creates a new backing key while retaining the old one for decryption of previously encrypted data, ensuring compliance with the 90-day rotation policy.
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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Question Discussion
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