ANS-C01 Network Security, Compliance and Governance Practice Question
This ANS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of network security, compliance and governance. 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 has a VPC with a public subnet containing a NAT gateway and a private subnet containing EC2 instances. The EC2 instances need to download patches from the internet. The security team wants to ensure that the EC2 instances cannot initiate outbound connections to any other internet destinations. What should the network engineer do?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Assign a security group to the EC2 instances that allows outbound HTTPS traffic only to the patch server's IP address.
Option D is correct because an egress-only Internet Gateway is for IPv6, not IPv4. For IPv4, the solution is to use a NAT gateway with a security group that denies all outbound traffic except to the patch server. However, the best approach is to configure the security group to allow only HTTPS outbound to the patch server's IP and deny all else. Option A is wrong because it would allow all outbound traffic. Option B is wrong because egress-only IGW is for IPv6. Option C is wrong because NACLs are stateless and not ideal for this granular control.
Key principle: Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Remove the NAT gateway and attach an Internet Gateway to the private subnet route table.
Why it's wrong here
Wrong: This would allow all outbound traffic without restriction.
✗
Attach an egress-only Internet Gateway to the VPC and route private subnet traffic to it.
Why it's wrong here
Wrong: Egress-only IGW is for IPv6 only.
✗
Configure a network ACL on the private subnet to allow outbound traffic only to the patch server's IP address.
Why it's wrong here
Wrong: NACLs are stateless and require return traffic rules; also not as flexible as security groups.
✓
Assign a security group to the EC2 instances that allows outbound HTTPS traffic only to the patch server's IP address.
Why this is correct
Correct: Security groups can restrict outbound traffic to specific destinations.
Common exam trap: usable hosts are not the same as total addresses
Subnetting questions often tempt you into counting all addresses. In normal IPv4 subnets, the network and broadcast addresses are not usable host addresses.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Subnetting questions test whether you can identify the network, broadcast address, usable range, mask and correct subnet. Slow down enough to calculate the block size correctly.
KKey Concepts to Remember
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
Block size helps identify subnet boundaries.
Network and broadcast addresses are not usable hosts in normal IPv4 subnets.
The required host count determines the smallest suitable subnet.
TExam Day Tips
→Write the block size before choosing the subnet.
→Check whether the question asks for hosts, subnets or a specific address range.
→Do not confuse /24, /25, /26 and /27 host counts.
Key takeaway
Count usable hosts — not total addresses — and remember that the network and broadcast addresses are not available to hosts in standard IPv4 subnets.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A healthcare organisation deploys an application with a public-facing web tier and a private database tier. The database subnet has no public IP and only accepts connections from the web tier's security group. Questions like this test whether you can design cloud network isolation using VNets/VPCs, subnets, and security group rules.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related ANS-C01 subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
Network Security, Compliance and Governance — This question tests Network Security, Compliance and Governance — CIDR notation defines the prefix length..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Assign a security group to the EC2 instances that allows outbound HTTPS traffic only to the patch server's IP address. — Option D is correct because an egress-only Internet Gateway is for IPv6, not IPv4. For IPv4, the solution is to use a NAT gateway with a security group that denies all outbound traffic except to the patch server. However, the best approach is to configure the security group to allow only HTTPS outbound to the patch server's IP and deny all else. Option A is wrong because it would allow all outbound traffic. Option B is wrong because egress-only IGW is for IPv6. Option C is wrong because NACLs are stateless and not ideal for this granular control.
What should I do if I get this ANS-C01 question wrong?
Review block sizes, usable host formulas (2^n − 2), and how to find network and broadcast addresses for /24 through /30. Then practise related ANS-C01 subnetting questions on CIDR, address ranges, and subnet selection.
What is the key concept behind this question?
CIDR notation defines the prefix length.
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Question Discussion
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