ANS-C01 Network Security, Compliance and Governance Practice Question
A company has deployed a web application on an EC2 instance that needs to access an S3 bucket and a DynamoDB table. The instance is in a private subnet. Which approach meets the security best practice of avoiding long-lived credentials on the instance?
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 policies granting access to S3 and DynamoDB, and attach the role to the EC2 instance profile.
The best practice is to attach an IAM role with the necessary permissions to the EC2 instance. The instance automatically obtains temporary credentials via the instance metadata service, avoiding long-lived credentials. Option D is correct. Option A (IAM user access keys) is not recommended as they are long-lived. Option B (security group rules) controls network traffic but does not grant access to S3 or DynamoDB. Option C (AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store) still requires credentials to access the parameters, which would not eliminate long-lived credentials.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Store IAM user access keys in the application configuration file.
Why it's wrong here
IAM user credentials are long-lived and should not be stored on EC2 instances.
- ✗
Configure security group rules to allow outbound traffic to S3 and DynamoDB endpoints.
Why it's wrong here
Security groups control network traffic but do not grant access to S3 or DynamoDB API operations.
- ✗
Use AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store to store credentials and retrieve them at runtime using the instance's IAM role.
Why it's wrong here
This still requires the instance to have an IAM role to access Parameter Store, but then the credentials from Parameter Store are still long-lived.
- ✓
Create an IAM role with policies granting access to S3 and DynamoDB, and attach the role to the EC2 instance profile.
Why this is correct
The instance can obtain temporary credentials from the instance metadata service, eliminating the need for long-lived credentials.
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 |
Go deeper
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This ANS-C01 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 ANS-C01 exam.