ANS-C01 Network Security, Compliance and Governance Practice Question
Which THREE of the following are best practices for securing a VPC? (Choose three.)
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 AWS Shield Advanced for DDoS protection.
Options A, B, and C are correct. Enabling AWS Shield Advanced provides DDoS protection for VPC resources with public endpoints. Security groups act as a virtual firewall at the instance level, controlling inbound and outbound traffic. Network ACLs provide a stateless layer of defense at the subnet level, complementing security groups. Option D is incorrect because allowing all outbound traffic is not a security best practice; outbound traffic should be restricted to only necessary destinations. Option E is incorrect because the default security group should be restrictive, not allowing all traffic.
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 AWS Shield Advanced for DDoS protection.
Why this is correct
AWS Shield Advanced provides enhanced DDoS protection for VPC resources.
- ✓
Use security groups to control inbound and outbound traffic at the instance level.
Why this is correct
Security groups act as a virtual firewall for instances.
- ✓
Use network ACLs as a stateless layer of defense for subnets.
Why this is correct
Network ACLs provide an additional security layer at the subnet level.
- ✗
Allow all outbound traffic from the VPC to the internet.
Why it's wrong here
Outbound traffic should be restricted based on least privilege.
- ✗
Assign a default security group that allows all traffic.
Why it's wrong here
The default security group should be restrictive, not allow all traffic.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way 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. Which TWO of the following are best practices for securing a VPC?
easy- A.Enable VPC Flow Logs on all subnets to block malicious traffic.
- ✓ B.Use multiple Availability Zones for redundancy.
- C.Place database instances in public subnets for easier management.
- ✓ D.Restrict inbound SSH access to specific IP ranges.
- E.Use the default VPC security group for all instances.
Why B: (Use multiple Availability Zones) is correct because it provides redundancy and improves availability, which is a key security best practice by ensuring fault tolerance. Option D (Restrict inbound SSH access to specific IP ranges) is correct as it minimizes the attack surface by limiting administrative access to authorized IPs only. Option A is wrong: VPC Flow Logs capture IP traffic information but do not block traffic; they are used for monitoring and analysis, not as a security control. Option C is wrong: placing databases in public subnets exposes them to the internet, increasing risk; they should be in private subnets with controlled access. Option E is wrong: the default VPC security group allows all inbound traffic, which is overly permissive; custom security groups should be used to implement least privilege.
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.