ANS-C01 Network Security, Compliance and Governance Practice Question
A company wants to audit all changes to security groups in their AWS account. Which AWS service should they use to track API calls that modify security groups?
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 account, including those that modify security groups. A (AWS Config) tracks resource configuration changes but not API calls. C (CloudWatch Logs) can store logs but does not capture API calls natively. D (VPC Flow Logs) captures network traffic metadata, not API calls.
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 Config
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config tracks resource configuration changes and compliance over time, not the specific API calls that initiated those modifications. While it records the configuration history of security groups, it does not provide the detailed API event logs necessary to audit *which* API call modified them. This option is tempting because Config monitors resource changes, and would be correct if the requirement was to assess security group configuration compliance or maintain a configuration history for auditing purposes.
- ✓
AWS CloudTrail
Why this is correct
AWS CloudTrail records all API calls made to the Amazon EC2 and VPC endpoints, including `AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress`, `RevokeSecurityGroupEgress`, and `CreateSecurityGroup`. By enabling CloudTrail’s management event logging, the company captures every modification to security groups, satisfying the audit requirement for tracking changes. This differs from AWS Config, which evaluates resource configuration compliance but does not log the API call history.
- ✗
Amazon CloudWatch Logs
Why it's wrong here
Amazon CloudWatch Logs can store log data but does not directly capture API calls. Incorrect.
- ✗
VPC Flow Logs
Why it's wrong here
VPC Flow Logs capture network traffic information, not API calls. Incorrect.
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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.