The answer is AWS Firewall Manager, which provides centralized network security controls by enabling you to deploy and enforce AWS Network Firewall policies across all accounts in an AWS Organization. AWS Network Firewall itself delivers stateful, application-layer filtering and intrusion prevention for individual VPCs, but without Firewall Manager you would need to configure each VPC separately, creating inconsistency. On the AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty ANS-C01 exam, this pairing tests your understanding of how to achieve scalable, centralized governance in multi-account architectures—a common scenario in the Network Security and Compliance domain. A frequent trap is selecting AWS Network Firewall alone, forgetting that it requires a central policy engine for multi-account enforcement. Memory tip: think of Firewall Manager as the “policy cop” that writes the rules, while Network Firewall is the “local guard” that enforces them in each VPC.
ANS-C01 Network Security, Compliance and Governance Practice Question
This ANS-C01 practice question tests your understanding of network security, compliance and governance. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 is designing a network security architecture for a multi-account AWS environment using AWS Organizations. The security team needs to centrally manage and enforce network security policies across all accounts. Which TWO services or features can be used to centrally enforce network security controls? (Choose TWO.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
AWS Network Firewall
AWS Network Firewall is a managed service that provides stateful, application-layer filtering and intrusion prevention for VPCs. It can be centrally deployed and managed across multiple accounts using AWS Firewall Manager, enabling consistent enforcement of network security policies at scale.
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.
✓
AWS Network Firewall
Why this is correct
Network Firewall can be centrally deployed and managed using Firewall Manager.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Network ACLs
Why it's wrong here
NACLs are associated with subnets and not centrally enforced across accounts.
✓
AWS Firewall Manager
Why this is correct
Firewall Manager provides centralized management of firewall rules across accounts.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
VPC Flow Logs
Why it's wrong here
Flow Logs are for monitoring traffic, not enforcing policies.
✗
VPC security groups with cross-account references
Why it's wrong here
Security group IDs are not automatically shared across accounts without manual setup.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
AWS often tests the distinction between monitoring tools (like VPC Flow Logs) and enforcement tools (like AWS Network Firewall), leading candidates to mistakenly select VPC Flow Logs as a security control.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
AWS Firewall Manager uses AWS Organizations to apply a common security policy across all accounts and VPCs, automatically remediating noncompliant resources. AWS Network Firewall supports stateful inspection with Suricata-compatible rule groups, enabling deep packet inspection (DPI) for protocols like HTTP, TLS, and SSH, and can be integrated with AWS WAF for application-layer protection. In a real-world scenario, a company with hundreds of accounts can use Firewall Manager to deploy a baseline Network Firewall policy that blocks known malicious IPs and enforces TLS inspection, reducing manual overhead.
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.
TExam Day Tips
→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
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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: AWS Network Firewall — AWS Network Firewall is a managed service that provides stateful, application-layer filtering and intrusion prevention for VPCs. It can be centrally deployed and managed across multiple accounts using AWS Firewall Manager, enabling consistent enforcement of network security policies at scale.
What should I do if I get this ANS-C01 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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