Quick Answer
The answer is AWS KMS and AWS CloudTrail. AWS KMS enables you to encrypt and audit data lake S3 objects at rest by managing customer master keys that control access to the encryption process, while CloudTrail records every API call made to your S3 buckets, including who accessed or modified the encrypted data, providing a complete audit trail. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this pairing tests your understanding that encryption alone is insufficient for compliance—you must also log key usage and bucket access to satisfy auditing requirements. A common trap is choosing SSE-S3, which encrypts data but offers no audit capability, or Macie, which discovers sensitive data but does not encrypt it. Remember the mnemonic: “Keys for encryption, logs for inspection.”
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design for new solutions. 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.
A company is designing a data lake on S3 with sensitive data that must be encrypted at rest and audited. Which TWO services should be used? (Choose TWO.)
S3 Server-Side Encryption (SSE-S3)
Why wrong: SSE-S3 does not provide audit logs.
Amazon Macie
Why wrong: Macie discovers sensitive data, but does not encrypt.
AWS CloudTrail
CloudTrail logs API calls to S3 for auditing.
AWS KMS
KMS provides key management and audit trails.
Amazon GuardDuty
Why wrong: GuardDuty is for threat detection, not encryption or audit.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
AWS CloudTrail
Options B and D are correct. AWS KMS provides encryption keys, and CloudTrail logs access to S3 buckets. Option A is wrong because SSE-S3 provides encryption but no audit. Option C is wrong because Macie is for data discovery, not encryption. Option E is wrong because GuardDuty is for threat detection.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
S3 Server-Side Encryption (SSE-S3)
Why it's wrong here
SSE-S3 does not provide audit logs.
Amazon Macie
Why it's wrong here
Macie discovers sensitive data, but does not encrypt.
AWS CloudTrail
Why this is correct
CloudTrail logs API calls to S3 for auditing.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS KMS
Why this is correct
KMS provides key management and audit trails.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
GuardDuty is for threat detection, not encryption or audit.
Common exam traps
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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
Identify which SAP-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Design for New Solutions — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
Design for New Solutions practice questions
Targeted practice on this topic area only
All SAP-C02 questions
1,746 questions across all exam domains
AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 study guide
Full concept coverage aligned to exam objectives
SAP-C02 practice test guide
How to use practice tests most effectively before exam day
Related practice questions
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity.
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to Design for New Solutions.
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions.
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization.
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to SAA-C03 VPC.
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to SAA-C03 S3 lifecycle policy questions.
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to SAA-C03 RDS Multi-AZ questions.
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to SAA-C03 IAM policy.
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to SAA-C03 Route 53 failover questions.
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to SAA-C03 CloudFront.
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to SAA-C03 NAT gateway questions.
Practise SAP-C02 questions linked to SAA-C03 VPC endpoint questions.
Practice this exam
Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.
FAQ
Design for New Solutions — This question tests Design for New Solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: AWS CloudTrail — Options B and D are correct. AWS KMS provides encryption keys, and CloudTrail logs access to S3 buckets. Option A is wrong because SSE-S3 provides encryption but no audit. Option C is wrong because Macie is for data discovery, not encryption. Option E is wrong because GuardDuty is for threat detection.
Identify which SAP-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Keep practising
Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.