SAP-C02 Practice Question: Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization

Exhibit

Refer to the exhibit.

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": "s3:PutObject",
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::my-bucket/*",
      "Condition": {
        "StringEquals": {
          "s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption": "AES256"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Deny",
      "Action": "s3:PutObject",
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::my-bucket/*",
      "Condition": {
        "StringNotEquals": {
          "s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption": "AES256"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

A company is migrating data to Amazon S3 and requires that all objects uploaded to the bucket 'my-bucket' are encrypted with SSE-S3. The above IAM policy is attached to an IAM user. An application using the user's credentials attempts to upload an object without specifying the x-amz-server-side-encryption header. What will happen?

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

✓

The upload fails because the Deny statement denies the request when encryption is not AES256.

The IAM policy includes a Deny statement that denies the upload if the x-amz-server-side-encryption header is not set to AES256. Since the application does not include this header, the Deny condition is triggered and the upload fails. Option A is incorrect because the Deny statement overrides the Allow statement when the condition is met. Option B is incorrect because the scenario only involves an IAM policy, not a bucket policy. Option D is incorrect because the absence of the encryption header means the Deny statement applies, so the upload does not proceed even though SSE-S3 is the default.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

✗
The upload succeeds because the Allow statement grants permission.
Why it's wrong here
The Deny statement overrides the Allow when the condition is met.
✗
The upload fails because the bucket policy overrides the IAM policy.
Why it's wrong here
The IAM policy itself causes the denial, not a bucket policy.
✓
The upload fails because the Deny statement denies the request when encryption is not AES256.
Why this is correct
The Deny statement explicitly denies PutObject if encryption is not AES256, and without the header, it is considered not AES256.
✗
The upload succeeds because the object is encrypted with the default SSE-S3.
Why it's wrong here
Even if default encryption is set, the IAM policy requires the header to be present; without it, the condition in Deny applies.

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

SAP-C02 Practice Question: Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization

Exhibit

Why each option matters

Option-by-option breakdown

AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison

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