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Question 991 of 1,705

Network Security, Compliance and Governance →easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

Enforce SSE-KMS Encryption on S3 Buckets

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 has an S3 bucket that stores sensitive documents. They need to ensure that all objects in the bucket are encrypted at rest using server-side encryption with AWS KMS (SSE-KMS). Additionally, they want to prevent any uploads that do not specify the required KMS key. Which combination of bucket policy and default encryption should they implement?

A
Enable default encryption on the bucket with SSE-KMS using the required KMS key, and add a bucket policy that denies s3:PutObject unless the request includes the x-amz-server-side-encryption-aws-kms-key-id header with the required key ARN.
Default encryption ensures objects are encrypted if no header is provided. The bucket policy enforces that uploads must use the specific KMS key.
B
Enable default encryption with SSE-S3, and add a bucket policy that denies s3:PutObject unless the request uses the required KMS key.
Why wrong: SSE-S3 is not KMS, so the policy would conflict. The default encryption must match the policy requirement.
C
Use a bucket policy that requires the kms:Encrypt permission for the required key, but do not enable default encryption.
Why wrong: Without default encryption, objects could be uploaded without encryption if the policy is bypassed. The policy should require the encryption header.
D
Enable default encryption with SSE-KMS using the required key, and rely on IAM policies to enforce encryption, not bucket policies.
Why wrong: IAM policies alone cannot enforce encryption headers on S3 PutObject. A bucket policy with condition keys is necessary.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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

✓

Enable default encryption on the bucket with SSE-KMS using the required KMS key, and add a bucket policy that denies s3:PutObject unless the request includes the x-amz-server-side-encryption-aws-kms-key-id header with the required key ARN.

Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

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.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

✓
Enable default encryption on the bucket with SSE-KMS using the required KMS key, and add a bucket policy that denies s3:PutObject unless the request includes the x-amz-server-side-encryption-aws-kms-key-id header with the required key ARN.
Why this is correct
Default encryption ensures objects are encrypted if no header is provided. The bucket policy enforces that uploads must use the specific KMS key.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Enable default encryption with SSE-S3, and add a bucket policy that denies s3:PutObject unless the request uses the required KMS key.
Why it's wrong here
SSE-S3 is not KMS, so the policy would conflict. The default encryption must match the policy requirement.
✗
Use a bucket policy that requires the kms:Encrypt permission for the required key, but do not enable default encryption.
Why it's wrong here
Without default encryption, objects could be uploaded without encryption if the policy is bypassed. The policy should require the encryption header.
✗
Enable default encryption with SSE-KMS using the required key, and rely on IAM policies to enforce encryption, not bucket policies.
Why it's wrong here
IAM policies alone cannot enforce encryption headers on S3 PutObject. A bucket policy with condition keys is necessary.

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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.

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

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.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this ANS-C01 question test?

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: Enable default encryption on the bucket with SSE-KMS using the required KMS key, and add a bucket policy that denies s3:PutObject unless the request includes the x-amz-server-side-encryption-aws-kms-key-id header with the required key ARN.

What should I do if I get this ANS-C01 question wrong?

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

About these practice questions

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Same concept, more angles

2 more ways this is tested on ANS-C01

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 wants to encrypt data at rest in an S3 bucket. Which AWS service can manage the encryption keys if the company wants to use server-side encryption with AWS KMS?

easy

A.AWS Certificate Manager (ACM)
B.AWS CloudHSM
C.AWS Secrets Manager
✓ D.AWS Key Management Service (KMS)

Why D: AWS Key Management Service (KMS) is the service that manages encryption keys for server-side encryption (SSE-KMS). Option D is correct. AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) manages SSL/TLS certificates. AWS CloudHSM provides dedicated hardware security modules but is not required for SSE-KMS. AWS Secrets Manager manages secrets like database credentials.

Variation 2. Refer to the exhibit. A company has an S3 bucket policy that denies PutObject if the object is not encrypted with SSE-KMS. However, uploads are still being allowed without encryption. What is the most likely reason?

medium

A.The bucket policy has a syntax error and is not being enforced.
B.The IAM user has an explicit Allow that overrides the Deny in the bucket policy.
✓ C.The condition key 's3:x-amz-server-side-encryption' is not present in the upload request, so the condition is not evaluated and the Deny is not applied.
D.The bucket policy must be attached to the bucket in the same region as the request.

Why C: The correct answer is C. The bucket policy uses a condition key 's3:x-amz-server-side-encryption' to deny uploads that are not encrypted with SSE-KMS. However, if the upload request does not include the 'x-amz-server-side-encryption' header at all, the condition key is not present in the request, so the condition is not evaluated. As a result, the Deny effect is not applied, and the upload is allowed. Option A is incorrect because the policy is valid JSON and would be enforced if the condition were met. Option B is incorrect because an explicit Allow in an IAM policy cannot override a Deny in a bucket policy; the Deny would still apply. Option D is incorrect because bucket policies are evaluated regardless of region as long as the bucket is in the same region as the request's endpoint; the region is not the issue here.

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