ANS-C01 Network Security, Compliance and Governance Practice Question
A company uses AWS Direct Connect to connect its data center to a VPC. The security team wants to ensure that only the on-premises network can initiate connections to EC2 instances in the VPC, but the EC2 instances should be allowed to initiate outbound connections to the internet. Which configuration should be implemented?
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
✓
Configure a security group with inbound allow from on-premises CIDR and outbound allow to 0.0.0.0/0
Security groups are stateful, so allowing inbound from on-premises and outbound to 0.0.0.0/0 works. Option B is correct because security groups automatically allow return traffic. Option A is wrong because NACLs are stateless and require explicit rules for return traffic; allowing inbound from on-premises and outbound to 0.0.0.0/0 would not automatically allow return traffic, so responses from EC2 instances to on-premises would be blocked. Option C is wrong because it would allow all inbound traffic from any source, not limiting to on-premises. Option D is wrong because it would deny all inbound traffic, blocking necessary connections from on-premises.
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 a network ACL with inbound allow from on-premises CIDR and outbound allow to 0.0.0.0/0
Why it's wrong here
NACLs are stateless and require separate outbound allow for ephemeral ports.
- ✓
Configure a security group with inbound allow from on-premises CIDR and outbound allow to 0.0.0.0/0
Why this is correct
Security groups are stateful and track connections.
- ✗
Configure a network ACL with inbound allow from 0.0.0.0/0 and outbound allow to 0.0.0.0/0
Why it's wrong here
This would allow all inbound traffic, violating the requirement.
- ✗
Configure a security group with inbound deny from 0.0.0.0/0 and outbound allow to 0.0.0.0/0
Why it's wrong here
This would block inbound from on-premises as well.
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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.