ANS-C01 Network Security, Compliance and Governance Practice Question
A company is designing a multi-VPC architecture with VPC peering. They need to ensure that traffic between VPCs is encrypted. What should they do?
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
✓
Use a third-party VPN appliance in each VPC to create an IPsec tunnel between them
VPC peering does not encrypt traffic natively. To ensure encryption between VPCs, you need to establish an IPsec tunnel, which can be achieved by deploying a third-party VPN appliance in each VPC. Option B is incorrect because a VPN connection using virtual private gateways is typically used to connect a VPC to an on-premises network, not directly between VPCs. Option C is incorrect because VPC peering does not support enabling encryption on the peering connection itself; encryption must be added via an overlay. Option D is incorrect because AWS Direct Connect is used for dedicated connections to on-premises data centers, not for inter-VPC traffic.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Use a third-party VPN appliance in each VPC to create an IPsec tunnel between them
Why this is correct
Provides encryption over VPC peering.
- ✗
Establish a VPN connection between the VPCs using virtual private gateways
Why it's wrong here
VPN gateways are for on-prem.
- ✗
Enable encryption on the VPC peering connection
Why it's wrong here
VPC peering does not support encryption.
- ✗
Use AWS Direct Connect to connect the VPCs
Why it's wrong here
Direct Connect is for on-prem to AWS.
Quick reference
VPN Protocol Comparison
| Protocol | Port | Encryption | Authentication | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IKEv2 / IPsec | UDP 500 / 4500 | AES-256 | Certificates / PSK | Site-to-site & remote access |
| SSL / TLS VPN | TCP 443 | TLS 1.3 | Certificates / MFA | Clientless remote access |
| L2TP / IPsec | UDP 1701 | AES (IPsec) | PSK / Certificates | Legacy remote access |
| WireGuard | UDP 51820 | ChaCha20 | Public keys | Modern high-performance VPN |
| PPTP | TCP 1723 | MPPE (weak) | MS-CHAPv2 | Legacy — avoid in production |
PPTP is considered insecure. IKEv2/IPsec and SSL VPN are the current recommended options.
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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.