- A
Add a Deny statement for all S3 actions on the bucket and its objects when aws:SecureTransport is false, and add a Deny statement for s3:PutObject when the request does not specify server-side encryption with AES256 (s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption = "AES256").
This enforces HTTPS for all S3 requests by denying any non-TLS access and enforces encryption at rest by denying uploads that do not request SSE-S3. Because the controls are in the bucket policy, compliance does not depend on application behavior.
- B
Use S3 website hosting to redirect users to HTTPS and rely on bucket default encryption for all uploads.
Why wrong: Website redirects do not enforce HTTPS for SDK or API calls, and default encryption does not ensure requests are rejected when the application omits encryption settings. This is not a policy-based enforcement approach.
- C
Add a Deny statement for s3:GetObject when aws:SecureTransport is false, and enable default encryption on the bucket.
Why wrong: This only blocks non-TLS reads, not non-TLS writes or other S3 actions. It also relies on default encryption rather than explicitly enforcing encrypted uploads through policy conditions.
- D
Allow only IAM principals from your account to access the bucket and require clients to configure HTTPS in their applications.
Why wrong: Restricting principals does not enforce TLS or encryption at rest. Requiring application-side configuration does not satisfy the requirement for bucket-level enforcement.
SAA-C03 Design Secure Architectures Practice Question
This SAA-C03 practice question tests your understanding of design secure architectures. 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.
Your company requires that all requests to an S3 bucket use HTTPS and that all objects uploaded to the bucket are encrypted at rest. You manage the S3 bucket policy and want enforcement that does not rely on application code compliance.
Which bucket policy change best enforces both requirements?
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
Add a Deny statement for all S3 actions on the bucket and its objects when aws:SecureTransport is false, and add a Deny statement for s3:PutObject when the request does not specify server-side encryption with AES256 (s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption = "AES256").
Option A is correct because it uses a Deny statement with the `aws:SecureTransport` condition to block any request that does not use HTTPS, enforcing encryption in transit. It also adds a Deny statement for `s3:PutObject` when the request does not include the `x-amz-server-side-encryption` header set to `AES256`, ensuring that all uploaded objects are encrypted at rest with SSE-S3. This policy-based enforcement works regardless of application code, meeting the requirement for non-reliance on client-side compliance.
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.
- ✓
Add a Deny statement for all S3 actions on the bucket and its objects when aws:SecureTransport is false, and add a Deny statement for s3:PutObject when the request does not specify server-side encryption with AES256 (s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption = "AES256").
Why this is correct
This enforces HTTPS for all S3 requests by denying any non-TLS access and enforces encryption at rest by denying uploads that do not request SSE-S3. Because the controls are in the bucket policy, compliance does not depend on application behavior.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use S3 website hosting to redirect users to HTTPS and rely on bucket default encryption for all uploads.
Why it's wrong here
Website redirects do not enforce HTTPS for SDK or API calls, and default encryption does not ensure requests are rejected when the application omits encryption settings. This is not a policy-based enforcement approach.
- ✗
Add a Deny statement for s3:GetObject when aws:SecureTransport is false, and enable default encryption on the bucket.
Why it's wrong here
This only blocks non-TLS reads, not non-TLS writes or other S3 actions. It also relies on default encryption rather than explicitly enforcing encrypted uploads through policy conditions.
When this WOULD be correct
This option would be correct if the question required enforcing HTTPS only for read operations (e.g., s3:GetObject) and ensuring all objects are encrypted at rest via default encryption, without requiring client-side encryption headers. For example: 'Your company wants to ensure that all downloads from an S3 bucket use HTTPS and that all objects stored in the bucket are encrypted at rest. You do not need to enforce encryption at upload time.'
- ✗
Allow only IAM principals from your account to access the bucket and require clients to configure HTTPS in their applications.
Why it's wrong here
Restricting principals does not enforce TLS or encryption at rest. Requiring application-side configuration does not satisfy the requirement for bucket-level enforcement.
When this WOULD be correct
This option would be correct if the question required restricting access to only IAM principals from your account (e.g., for cross-account access control) and did not mandate encryption enforcement via bucket policy.
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The SAA-C03 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓Add a Deny statement for all S3 actions on the bucket and its objects when aws:SecureTransport is false, and add a Deny statement for s3:PutObject when the request does not specify server-side encryption with AES256 (s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption = "AES256").Correct answer▾
Why this is correct
This enforces HTTPS for all S3 requests by denying any non-TLS access and enforces encryption at rest by denying uploads that do not request SSE-S3. Because the controls are in the bucket policy, compliance does not depend on application behavior.
✗Use S3 website hosting to redirect users to HTTPS and rely on bucket default encryption for all uploads.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
S3 website hosting does not enforce HTTPS; it only redirects HTTP to HTTPS, but the bucket policy still allows HTTP requests. Default encryption encrypts new objects but does not enforce that uploads specify encryption headers, so unencrypted uploads via API without headers are still accepted.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
This option would be correct if the question asked for a solution that does not require a bucket policy but instead uses client-side compliance and server-side defaults, and the requirement was only to encrypt data at rest (not enforce HTTPS or encryption headers).
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think that website hosting with redirect and default encryption is a simpler, policy-free way to enforce both requirements, misunderstanding that redirects do not block HTTP requests and default encryption does not enforce encryption on uploads.
✗Add a Deny statement for s3:GetObject when aws:SecureTransport is false, and enable default encryption on the bucket.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Option C only denies s3:GetObject when HTTPS is not used, but does not deny other actions like s3:PutObject or s3:ListBucket. It also relies on default encryption, which does not enforce that uploads specify encryption headers, allowing unencrypted uploads if default encryption is bypassed.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
This option would be correct if the question required enforcing HTTPS only for read operations (e.g., s3:GetObject) and ensuring all objects are encrypted at rest via default encryption, without requiring client-side encryption headers. For example: 'Your company wants to ensure that all downloads from an S3 bucket use HTTPS and that all objects stored in the bucket are encrypted at rest. You do not need to enforce encryption at upload time.'
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think that default encryption covers all uploads and that denying s3:GetObject without HTTPS is sufficient for transport security, overlooking that other actions (like uploads) also need HTTPS enforcement and that default encryption can be overridden by client-specified encryption headers.
✗Allow only IAM principals from your account to access the bucket and require clients to configure HTTPS in their applications.Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Option D does not enforce HTTPS at the bucket policy level; it relies on application code compliance, which the question explicitly wants to avoid. It also does not enforce encryption at rest for uploaded objects.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
This option would be correct if the question required restricting access to only IAM principals from your account (e.g., for cross-account access control) and did not mandate encryption enforcement via bucket policy.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think that limiting access to IAM principals and relying on client-side HTTPS configuration is sufficient, but they overlook the requirement for policy-level enforcement without application code changes.
Analysis generated from the official SAA-C03blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse default encryption with policy-based enforcement, assuming that enabling default encryption on the bucket alone guarantees all objects are encrypted at rest, but it does not prevent clients from overriding it with unencrypted uploads via the request header.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The `aws:SecureTransport` condition key evaluates the `True` or `False` value of the TLS/SSL connection; when set to `false`, it indicates HTTP. The `s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption` condition key checks the request header; if the header is missing or set to a value other than `AES256`, the Deny statement blocks the upload. A subtle behavior is that default bucket encryption does not prevent clients from uploading unencrypted objects if they explicitly set `x-amz-server-side-encryption` to a different value or omit the header—only a bucket policy Deny can enforce this unconditionally.
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
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
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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 — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Add a Deny statement for all S3 actions on the bucket and its objects when aws:SecureTransport is false, and add a Deny statement for s3:PutObject when the request does not specify server-side encryption with AES256 (s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption = "AES256"). — Option A is correct because it uses a Deny statement with the `aws:SecureTransport` condition to block any request that does not use HTTPS, enforcing encryption in transit. It also adds a Deny statement for `s3:PutObject` when the request does not include the `x-amz-server-side-encryption` header set to `AES256`, ensuring that all uploaded objects are encrypted at rest with SSE-S3. This policy-based enforcement works regardless of application code, meeting the requirement for non-reliance on client-side compliance.
What should I do if I get this SAA-C03 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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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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