SAP-C02 Practice Question: Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity
A company has multiple AWS accounts managed under AWS Organizations. The security team needs to enforce that all newly created S3 buckets in any account are automatically tagged with a 'CostCenter' tag. Which solution is the MOST operationally efficient?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers choose reactive solutions like AWS Config or Lambda because they are familiar with auto-remediation, but they overlook that SCPs can proactively deny API calls based on request parameters, which is more operationally efficient and aligns with the 'prevent rather than remediate' best practice.
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
✓
Use a service control policy (SCP) to deny s3:CreateBucket unless the request includes a 'CostCenter' tag.
A service control policy (SCP) can deny the s3:CreateBucket action unless the request includes a 'CostCenter' tag, using the 'aws:RequestTag' condition key. This enforces tagging at the point of creation across all accounts in the organization, preventing untagged buckets from being created in the first place, which is the most operationally efficient approach as it avoids the need for remediation or post-creation tagging.
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 an AWS Lambda function triggered by AWS CloudTrail to tag buckets after creation.
Why it's wrong here
This is reactive and less efficient than prevention.
- ✗
Use an AWS Config rule to mark non-compliant buckets and automatically apply tags.
Why it's wrong here
Config detects but does not prevent; automatic remediation requires additional setup and is not as efficient.
- ✗
Use AWS CloudFormation StackSets to deploy a template that creates tagged buckets in each account.
Why it's wrong here
This only works for buckets created via CloudFormation, not manual or console creation.
- ✓
Use a service control policy (SCP) to deny s3:CreateBucket unless the request includes a 'CostCenter' tag.
Why this is correct
SCPs can deny API calls based on conditions, enforcing tagging across all accounts.
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 |
Go deeper
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SAP-C02 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 SAP-C02 exam.