ANS-C01 Network Security, Compliance and Governance Practice Question
A company uses AWS Organizations with multiple accounts. The security team needs to enforce that all S3 buckets in the organization have block public access enabled. Which approach should be used?
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) that denies bucket creation without block public access.
A service control policy (SCP) can deny the s3:PutBucketPublicAccessBlock action or enforce the block public access settings across all accounts in the organization. Option A (CloudTrail) is incorrect because CloudTrail only logs API calls for auditing, it does not enforce compliance. Option B (AWS Config) is incorrect because although AWS Config can detect noncompliant buckets, it requires additional automation for remediation and is not a direct enforcement mechanism like an SCP. Option D (IAM role) is incorrect because IAM roles grant permissions to principals and cannot enforce bucket-level settings across accounts; SCPs are the appropriate tool for organization-wide policy enforcement.
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 AWS CloudTrail to monitor bucket creation and alert.
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail logs events but does not prevent noncompliant actions.
- ✗
Use AWS Config rules to detect and remediate noncompliant buckets.
Why it's wrong here
Config rules can remediate but may have a delay; SCP provides preventive control.
- ✓
Apply a service control policy (SCP) that denies bucket creation without block public access.
Why this is correct
SCPs can centrally enforce policies across all accounts.
- ✗
Create an IAM role in each account that restricts bucket permissions.
Why it's wrong here
IAM roles do not automatically enforce settings across all buckets.
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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Same concept, more angles
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Variation 1. A company uses AWS Organizations with multiple accounts. The security team wants to centrally enforce that no Amazon S3 buckets are publicly accessible across all accounts. Which solution meets this requirement with the least operational overhead?
medium- A.Use AWS Trusted Advisor to check for public buckets and send alerts.
- ✓ B.Apply a service control policy (SCP) in AWS Organizations that denies the s3:PutBucketPublicAccessBlock action or enforces a bucket policy condition.
- C.Create an IAM role in each account with a policy to deny public bucket access, and require users to assume that role.
- D.Configure security group rules to block public internet access to the S3 endpoints.
Why B: A service control policy (SCP) can be applied at the root organizational unit to deny the s3:PutBucketPublicAccessBlock action and enforce that no S3 buckets are publicly accessible across all accounts. Option A is incorrect because Trusted Advisor provides recommendations, not enforcement. Option C is incorrect because IAM roles are per-account and cannot centrally enforce across all accounts without additional overhead. Option D is incorrect because security groups apply to EC2 instances, not S3 buckets.
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.