SAA-C03 Design Secure Architectures Practice Question
A claims portal stores audit logs in S3. The compliance team requires that logs cannot be overwritten or deleted for seven years. What should be configured?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse versioning (which only preserves history but allows deletion via delete markers) with Object Lock's ability to enforce immutability, or they mistakenly think server access logging or lifecycle policies can prevent data modification.
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
✓
S3 Object Lock in compliance mode with an appropriate retention period
C is correct because S3 Object Lock in compliance mode enforces a write-once-read-many (WORM) model that prevents any user, including the root user, from overwriting or deleting objects for the specified retention period. This meets the compliance team's requirement that logs cannot be altered or removed for seven years, as compliance mode provides the highest level of protection and cannot be bypassed or shortened.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
S3 server access logging
Why it's wrong here
Server access logging captures detailed records of every request made to the bucket, such as requester IP, request action, and timestamps, outputting them as log objects to a destination bucket. However, these log objects are ordinary S3 objects that can be deleted or overwritten, and the feature has no capability to prevent or block write/delete operations on the source audit logs. Therefore, it provides no retention guarantee and is unsuitable for enforcing immutable compliance.
- ✗
S3 versioning only
Why it's wrong here
Versioning preserves prior versions of objects, but it does not impose any restrictions on write or delete actions. An authorized user with s3:PutObject can still overwrite the current version, and a user with s3:DeleteObject can create delete markers or permanently delete specific versions. Without a separate retention mechanism like Object Lock, there is no way to enforce a fixed retention period, so versioning alone does not satisfy immutability requirements.
- ✓
S3 Object Lock in compliance mode with an appropriate retention period
Why this is correct
S3 Object Lock in compliance mode enforces a write-once-read-many (WORM) model where every object version is locked for a specified retention period. During that period, neither the object owner, the bucket owner, nor even the AWS root user can overwrite or delete the object; any such attempt fails. This makes it the only option that provides true immutability and regulatory-grade protection, such as meeting SEC Rule 17a-4 requirements, for audit log storage.
- ✗
S3 lifecycle expiration after seven years
Why it's wrong here
A lifecycle rule that expires objects after seven years simply schedules automatic permanent deletion of objects upon reaching that age. It does not place any lock or retention on objects, so users with proper permissions can still delete or overwrite them at any time before the expiration date. In fact, lifecycle expiration actively removes data, which contradicts the goal of preserving audit logs for compliance and can result in early loss.
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 |
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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