SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
A company is deploying a new web application that uses Amazon S3 to store static content and Amazon CloudFront for content delivery. The application also uses an API Gateway with Lambda for backend logic. The company wants to protect the API from common web exploits like SQL injection and cross-site scripting. Which AWS service should be added to the architecture?
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
✓
AWS WAF
AWS WAF integrates with API Gateway and CloudFront to protect against web exploits like SQL injection and cross-site scripting. Option A: Amazon GuardDuty is for threat detection, not inline protection. Option B: Amazon Inspector is for vulnerability assessment. Option C: AWS Shield Advanced provides DDoS protection, not application-layer filtering.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
GuardDuty analyses CloudTrail, VPC Flow Logs and DNS logs to detect malicious activity and compromised credentials; it is a detection service and cannot intercept or block SQL injection and cross-site scripting payloads. AWS WAF filters those requests; GuardDuty would be correct for identifying anomalous or hostile behaviour after the fact.
- ✗
Amazon Inspector
Why it's wrong here
Inspector scans EC2 instances, container images and Lambda functions for software vulnerabilities and unintended network exposure; it does not inspect inbound HTTP requests, so it cannot block SQL injection or cross-site scripting. AWS WAF performs that request filtering; Inspector suits continuous vulnerability assessment of compute resources.
- ✗
AWS Shield Advanced
Why it's wrong here
Shield Advanced defends against volumetric distributed denial-of-service and layer 3/4 attacks, not SQL injection or cross-site scripting, which are layer 7 exploits. AWS WAF inspects HTTP requests and blocks those patterns; Shield Advanced would be correct for absorbing large-scale DDoS floods against CloudFront or Route 53.
- ✓
AWS WAF
Why this is correct
AWS WAF attaches to API Gateway and inspects HTTP requests against managed rule groups that block SQL injection and cross-site scripting patterns. CloudFront and S3 serve static content, so WAF on the API layer satisfies the requirement to protect backend logic from common web exploits.
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.