The correct answer is to create an AWS WAF rule with an IP set that allows the known IPs, and place it before the rate-based rule. This works because AWS WAF evaluates rules in order, so an allow rule for specific IPs positioned higher in the priority list will match and permit that traffic before the rate-based rule can throttle it, effectively creating a bypass for known legitimate sources. On the AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty ANS-C01 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how Shield Advanced delegates custom traffic management to WAF, a common trap being that candidates mistakenly look for a direct Shield Advanced allow list feature, which does not exist. Remember that Shield Advanced is a managed service that relies on WAF for granular rule customization, so any time you need to allow specific IPs, think WAF IP sets and rule priority. A helpful memory tip: “Allow first, rate later—IP sets before the throttler.”
ANS-C01 Network Security, Compliance and Governance Practice Question
This ANS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of network security, compliance and governance. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company uses AWS Shield Advanced for DDoS protection. During an attack, the security team notices that legitimate traffic is being throttled. They want to allow certain known IP addresses to bypass Shield Advanced rate-based rules. What should they do?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create an AWS WAF rule with an IP set that allows the known IPs, and place it before the rate-based rule
Option C is correct because AWS WAF rules can be configured with IP sets to allow traffic from specific IPs before applying rate-based rules. Option A is wrong because Shield Advanced does not support custom allow lists directly; it works with WAF. Option B is wrong because disabling rate-based rules would remove protection for all traffic. Option D is wrong because Shield Advanced does not have a bypass feature; it uses WAF for custom rules.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Disable rate-based rules during the attack
Why it's wrong here
Disabling rules would expose the application to DDoS.
✗
Use Shield Advanced automatic application layer DDoS mitigation
Why it's wrong here
Automatic mitigation does not allow specific IPs; it uses heuristics.
✓
Create an AWS WAF rule with an IP set that allows the known IPs, and place it before the rate-based rule
Why this is correct
This allows legitimate IPs to bypass rate-based restrictions.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Create an allow list in AWS Shield Advanced to exempt the IPs from all protections
Why it's wrong here
Shield Advanced does not have an allow list feature; it relies on WAF for custom rules.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which ANS-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Network Security, Compliance and Governance — This question tests Network Security, Compliance and Governance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create an AWS WAF rule with an IP set that allows the known IPs, and place it before the rate-based rule — Option C is correct because AWS WAF rules can be configured with IP sets to allow traffic from specific IPs before applying rate-based rules. Option A is wrong because Shield Advanced does not support custom allow lists directly; it works with WAF. Option B is wrong because disabling rate-based rules would remove protection for all traffic. Option D is wrong because Shield Advanced does not have a bypass feature; it uses WAF for custom rules.
What should I do if I get this ANS-C01 question wrong?
Identify which ANS-C01 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company uses AWS Shield Advanced to protect against DDoS attacks. They notice that some legitimate traffic is being throttled during a DDoS event. The security team wants to ensure that legitimate traffic from specific business partners is not affected. Which action should they take?
medium
A.Disable the rate-based rule in AWS WAF during the DDoS event.
B.Increase the global rate limit in AWS Shield Advanced.
C.Add the partners' IP addresses to the AWS Shield Advanced whitelist.
✓ D.Create a rate-based rule in AWS WAF with an IP set that includes the partners' IPs and set the rate limit high for that rule.
Why D: Option B is correct because AWS WAF rate-based rules with IP sets allow you to exclude specific IP addresses from rate limiting. Option A is wrong because increasing the rate limit for the entire web ACL may still allow malicious traffic. Option C is wrong because disabling the rate-based rule removes protection. Option D is wrong because Shield Advanced does not have built-in IP whitelisting at the application layer; that is done via WAF.
Variation 2. A company uses AWS Shield Advanced and AWS WAF to protect its web application. The security team notices that some legitimate traffic is being blocked. They want to allow traffic from a specific set of IP addresses used by their partners. How can they ensure that partner traffic is not blocked by WAF rules?
medium
A.Add the partner IPs to a Network ACL allow rule in the VPC.
B.Remove the blocking WAF rules and rely on Shield Advanced only.
C.Add the partner IPs to an AWS Shield Advanced IP whitelist.
✓ D.Create a WAF IP set and add a rule to allow traffic from that IP set, with a higher priority than blocking rules.
Why D: Option B is correct because creating an IP set in WAF and adding a rule to allow traffic from that IP set with higher priority than blocking rules will whitelist partner IPs. Option A is wrong because Shield Advanced does not have IP whitelisting; it's for DDoS protection. Option C is wrong because Network ACLs operate at the subnet level, not at the application layer. Option D is wrong because removing blocking rules entirely would weaken security.
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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.
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