- A
Enable an AWS Organizations CloudTrail organization trail that delivers management event logs (including IAM) to a centralized S3 bucket in a dedicated audit account, for all regions.
CloudTrail management events provide authoritative audit logs for API actions like IAM policy changes and can be centralized via an organization trail.
- B
Use CloudWatch Logs metric filters on application logs to infer which principals changed trust policies.
Why wrong: CloudWatch metric filters cannot capture AWS management API calls for IAM changes unless explicitly logged by the application.
- C
Rely on GuardDuty alerts to provide the full request parameters for every IAM policy change.
Why wrong: GuardDuty focuses on threat detection and does not provide comprehensive, authoritative audit trails for every IAM change.
- D
Enable AWS Config only and store periodic snapshots without CloudTrail management events.
Why wrong: AWS Config records configuration state changes, but CloudTrail is the primary service for detailed API action audit logging.
SAA-C03 Design Secure Architectures Practice Question
This SAA-C03 practice question tests your understanding of design secure architectures. 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. A key principle to apply: cloudTrail records all API calls made to AWS services.. 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 SOC analyst needs an immutable, centralized audit record of configuration and API changes across multiple AWS accounts. Recently, an operator changed an IAM role trust policy, and investigators must determine exactly which principal made the change and which parameters were used.
Your current setup sends application logs to CloudWatch Logs, but there is no organization-level API audit logging.
Which approach best satisfies the requirement?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"best"Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
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 an AWS Organizations CloudTrail organization trail that delivers management event logs (including IAM) to a centralized S3 bucket in a dedicated audit account, for all regions.
Option A is correct because an AWS Organizations CloudTrail organization trail captures management events (including IAM API calls like ChangeTrustPolicy) across all accounts and regions, storing immutable logs in a centralized S3 bucket in a dedicated audit account. This provides the exact principal ARN, source IP, and request parameters needed for forensic investigation, meeting the immutable and centralized audit requirement.
Key principle: CloudTrail records all API calls made to AWS services.
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 an AWS Organizations CloudTrail organization trail that delivers management event logs (including IAM) to a centralized S3 bucket in a dedicated audit account, for all regions.
Why this is correct
CloudTrail management events provide authoritative audit logs for API actions like IAM policy changes and can be centralized via an organization trail.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
CloudTrail records all API calls made to AWS services.
- ✗
Use CloudWatch Logs metric filters on application logs to infer which principals changed trust policies.
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch metric filters cannot capture AWS management API calls for IAM changes unless explicitly logged by the application.
- ✗
Rely on GuardDuty alerts to provide the full request parameters for every IAM policy change.
Why it's wrong here
GuardDuty focuses on threat detection and does not provide comprehensive, authoritative audit trails for every IAM change.
- ✗
Enable AWS Config only and store periodic snapshots without CloudTrail management events.
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config records configuration state changes, but CloudTrail is the primary service for detailed API action audit logging.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may confuse AWS Config's configuration tracking with CloudTrail's API-level auditing, or assume GuardDuty provides detailed request parameters, but only CloudTrail management events capture the full principal identity and API call details required for forensic analysis.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
CloudTrail organization trails automatically apply to all existing and future accounts in the AWS Organization, delivering logs to a single S3 bucket with S3 Object Lock for immutability. Management events include IAM actions like ChangeTrustPolicy, and the log record contains the userIdentity (e.g., IAM user ARN, role session name), sourceIPAddress, and requestParameters (e.g., the trust policy document). This ensures a complete, tamper-proof audit trail for compliance and incident response.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- CloudTrail records all API calls made to AWS services.
- An organization trail centralizes CloudTrail logs for all accounts in AWS Organizations.
- Management events in CloudTrail include IAM policy changes.
- CloudTrail logs provide principal identity, API action, and request parameters.
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
CloudTrail records all API calls made to AWS services.
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.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Review cloudTrail records all API calls made to AWS services., then practise related SAA-C03 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAA-C03 question test?
Design Secure Architectures — This question tests Design Secure Architectures — CloudTrail records all API calls made to AWS services..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Enable an AWS Organizations CloudTrail organization trail that delivers management event logs (including IAM) to a centralized S3 bucket in a dedicated audit account, for all regions. — Option A is correct because an AWS Organizations CloudTrail organization trail captures management events (including IAM API calls like ChangeTrustPolicy) across all accounts and regions, storing immutable logs in a centralized S3 bucket in a dedicated audit account. This provides the exact principal ARN, source IP, and request parameters needed for forensic investigation, meeting the immutable and centralized audit requirement.
What should I do if I get this SAA-C03 question wrong?
Review cloudTrail records all API calls made to AWS services., then practise related SAA-C03 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
What is the key concept behind this question?
CloudTrail records all API calls made to AWS services.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This SAA-C03 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 SAA-C03 exam.
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