ANS-C01 Network Security, Compliance and Governance Practice Question
A company wants to audit all changes to security group rules in their AWS account. Which AWS service should be used to record these changes?
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
✓
AWS CloudTrail
AWS CloudTrail records API calls made in the AWS account, including calls to authorize security group rule changes (e.g., AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress, RevokeSecurityGroupEgress). This makes it the appropriate service for auditing changes to security group rules. AWS Config (Option B) records resource configurations and can track changes, but it is not the primary service for API-level auditing. VPC Flow Logs (Option C) capture network traffic metadata, not configuration changes. Amazon Inspector (Option D) is a vulnerability assessment service, not an audit service for changes.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
AWS CloudTrail
Why this is correct
CloudTrail records all API calls, including security group modifications.
- ✗
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config records configuration changes and evaluates compliance, making it tempting for auditing security group rules. However, it tracks *resource configuration history* and changes to that state, not the specific API calls that initiated those modifications. For auditing *who* made *what* change, capturing the underlying API events is required. Config would be the correct choice for continuously monitoring resource configurations against desired baselines or evaluating compliance with internal policies, such as ensuring no security group allows unrestricted SSH access.
- ✗
VPC Flow Logs
Why it's wrong here
Flow logs capture network traffic, not changes.
- ✗
Amazon Inspector
Why it's wrong here
Inspector scans for vulnerabilities.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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