SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
A company runs a critical application on EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer. The security team requires that all traffic to the application be encrypted in transit and that the load balancer use a certificate from AWS Certificate Manager (ACM). The application currently uses HTTP. What should the company do to meet the security requirement?
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
✓
Add an HTTPS listener to the ALB using an ACM certificate, and configure the HTTP listener to redirect to HTTPS.
Adding an HTTPS listener to the ALB with an ACM certificate and configuring the HTTP listener to redirect to HTTPS ensures all traffic is encrypted in transit. This meets the security requirement directly without additional components. Option A is incorrect because Network Load Balancers do not support ACM certificates for TLS termination; they require TLS termination on the backend instances. Option B is incorrect because TCP listeners cannot terminate TLS, and self-signed certificates on EC2 instances would not provide trusted encryption for clients. Option C is incorrect because while CloudFront can provide HTTPS, it adds unnecessary complexity and cost; the requirement can be met natively with the ALB.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Replace the ALB with a Network Load Balancer and associate an ACM certificate with it.
Why it's wrong here
NLB with TLS listener can use ACM, but it's not a direct replacement and may require additional configuration.
- ✗
Change the ALB listener to TCP and use a self-signed certificate on the EC2 instances.
Why it's wrong here
TCP listener does not terminate TLS; encryption would be end-to-end but requires instance-level configuration.
- ✗
Place a CloudFront distribution in front of the ALB and configure HTTPS between viewers and CloudFront.
Why it's wrong here
While possible, it adds unnecessary complexity and cost.
- ✓
Add an HTTPS listener to the ALB using an ACM certificate, and configure the HTTP listener to redirect to HTTPS.
Why this is correct
This provides encryption and uses ACM for certificate management.
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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.