SAP-C02 Practice Question: Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity
A company has multiple AWS accounts and wants to centralize the management of security policies. The security team needs to enforce that all IAM users in all accounts must use multi-factor authentication (MFA) to access the AWS Management Console. The solution must be centrally managed and automatically applied to new accounts as they are added. Which approach should be taken?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse IAM Identity Center (federated users) with native IAM users, or they assume AWS Config can enforce policies when it only detects and alerts, leading them to pick a non-preventive or non-centralized solution.
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
✓
Create an SCP that denies console access for IAM users if MFA is not present.
AWS Organizations Service Control Policies (SCPs) can centrally deny AWS API actions (including console access) for all IAM users across multiple accounts if the `aws:MultiFactorAuthPresent` condition key is false. This approach is centrally managed from the management account and automatically applies to new accounts added to the organization, meeting the requirement for centralized enforcement and scalability.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use AWS Config to detect IAM users without MFA and send alerts.
Why it's wrong here
Detection alone does not enforce MFA.
- ✓
Create an SCP that denies console access for IAM users if MFA is not present.
Why this is correct
SCPs are centrally managed and apply to all accounts.
- ✗
Use AWS IAM Identity Center to enforce MFA for all users accessing the console.
Why it's wrong here
IAM Identity Center does not manage IAM users in member accounts.
- ✗
Create an IAM policy in each account that denies console access without MFA.
Why it's wrong here
This is not centrally managed and must be applied to each account manually.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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