ANS-C01 Network Security, Compliance and Governance Practice Question
A company is using AWS CloudHSM to store sensitive encryption keys. Which of the following is a security best practice for managing the HSM?
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
✓
Store the CloudHSM security officer (CO) password in AWS Secrets Manager.
Storing the CloudHSM security officer (CO) password in AWS Secrets Manager is a security best practice. Secrets Manager provides secure storage, automatic rotation, and fine-grained access control for sensitive credentials, reducing the risk of exposure. Option A is incorrect because disabling two-factor authentication would weaken the security posture of the HSM. Option B is incorrect because AWS KMS cannot rotate CloudHSM partition passwords; KMS manages encryption keys, not HSM passwords. Option D is incorrect because granting AWS support access would compromise the customer-managed security model of CloudHSM, where only the customer controls the HSM cluster.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Disable two-factor authentication for the HSM to simplify management.
Why it's wrong here
Disabling 2FA reduces security.
- ✗
Use AWS KMS to automatically rotate the CloudHSM partition password.
Why it's wrong here
CloudHSM does not integrate with KMS for password rotation.
- ✓
Store the CloudHSM security officer (CO) password in AWS Secrets Manager.
Why this is correct
Best practice to protect the CO password.
- ✗
Allow AWS to manage the CloudHSM cluster by granting AWS support access.
Why it's wrong here
Customer manages the cluster; AWS support does not manage.
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 |
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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.