ANS-C01 Network Security, Compliance and Governance Practice Question
A company is using AWS Organizations with multiple accounts. The security team needs to enforce that all S3 buckets across the organization are encrypted with AWS KMS. Which approach should be used to enforce this policy?
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
✓
Apply a service control policy (SCP) at the root level that denies S3 bucket creation unless encryption is configured.
A service control policy (SCP) can be applied to the root organizational unit in AWS Organizations to centrally deny creating or modifying S3 buckets without KMS encryption across all accounts. Option A is incorrect because bucket policies are per-bucket and cannot enforce encryption at the organizational level. Option C is incorrect because AWS Config rules detect non-compliance after the fact but do not prevent creation; they require additional remediation. Option D is incorrect because IAM policies are account-specific and cannot be enforced across the entire organization.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Configure each S3 bucket with a bucket policy that denies access if encryption is not used.
Why it's wrong here
Bucket policies are per-bucket and not centrally managed; they do not enforce creation-time encryption.
- ✓
Apply a service control policy (SCP) at the root level that denies S3 bucket creation unless encryption is configured.
Why this is correct
SCPs can be applied to organizational units to centrally enforce policies across accounts.
- ✗
Use AWS Config rules to detect unencrypted S3 buckets and automatically remediate them.
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config can detect but not prevent; it can remediate after creation, but the requirement is to enforce encryption at creation.
- ✗
Create an IAM policy that denies creating S3 buckets without encryption and attach it to all users.
Why it's wrong here
IAM policies are account-specific and do not enforce across all accounts in the organization.
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.