- A
Attach a policy to the Glue job's IAM role that includes kms:GenerateDataKey and kms:Decrypt actions for the KMS key.
These permissions allow Glue to encrypt and decrypt data using the KMS key.
- B
Use S3 server-side encryption with customer-provided keys (SSE-C).
Why wrong: SSE-C requires the client to provide the encryption key, which is not suitable for Glue.
- C
Use S3 server-side encryption with SSE-S3, which is enabled by default.
Why wrong: SSE-S3 uses Amazon-managed keys, not customer-managed.
- D
Configure an S3 bucket policy to enforce encryption and attach it to the Glue job's IAM role.
Why wrong: Bucket policy controls permissions but does not grant KMS actions.
Question 575 of 1,755
MLS-C01 Data Engineering Practice Question
This MLS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of data engineering. 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 building a data pipeline to process sensitive customer data. The pipeline uses AWS Glue for ETL and stores results in Amazon S3. The security team requires that all data be encrypted at rest in S3 using customer-managed AWS KMS keys. Additionally, the Glue job must be able to write encrypted data to S3. What should the data engineer do to meet these requirements?
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
✓
Attach a policy to the Glue job's IAM role that includes kms:GenerateDataKey and kms:Decrypt actions for the KMS key.
Option A is correct because AWS Glue jobs use an IAM role to interact with AWS services. To write encrypted data to S3 using a customer-managed AWS KMS key, the IAM role must have permissions for `kms:GenerateDataKey` (to request a data key for encryption) and `kms:Decrypt` (to decrypt the data key when reading or writing). This allows the Glue job to encrypt objects at rest in S3 with the specified KMS key, meeting the security team's requirement.
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 policy to the Glue job's IAM role that includes kms:GenerateDataKey and kms:Decrypt actions for the KMS key.
Why this is correct
These permissions allow Glue to encrypt and decrypt data using the KMS key.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use S3 server-side encryption with customer-provided keys (SSE-C).
Why it's wrong here
SSE-C requires the client to provide the encryption key, which is not suitable for Glue.
- ✗
Use S3 server-side encryption with SSE-S3, which is enabled by default.
Why it's wrong here
SSE-S3 uses Amazon-managed keys, not customer-managed.
- ✗
Configure an S3 bucket policy to enforce encryption and attach it to the Glue job's IAM role.
Why it's wrong here
Bucket policy controls permissions but does not grant KMS actions.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume an S3 bucket policy alone can enforce encryption without realizing that the IAM role performing the write must also have explicit KMS permissions for the customer-managed key.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
When a Glue job writes to S3 with SSE-KMS, it calls the KMS API to generate a data key (`GenerateDataKey`) and then uses that key to encrypt the object. The `kms:Decrypt` permission is needed for reading encrypted data or for re-encrypting during ETL operations. Under the hood, the S3 PUT operation includes the KMS key ID, and S3 handles the encryption using the data key, but the IAM role must have the correct KMS actions to initiate this process.
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.
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
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this MLS-C01 question test?
Data Engineering — This question tests Data Engineering — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Attach a policy to the Glue job's IAM role that includes kms:GenerateDataKey and kms:Decrypt actions for the KMS key. — Option A is correct because AWS Glue jobs use an IAM role to interact with AWS services. To write encrypted data to S3 using a customer-managed AWS KMS key, the IAM role must have permissions for `kms:GenerateDataKey` (to request a data key for encryption) and `kms:Decrypt` (to decrypt the data key when reading or writing). This allows the Glue job to encrypt objects at rest in S3 with the specified KMS key, meeting the security team's requirement.
What should I do if I get this MLS-C01 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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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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