The correct approach is to create a service control policy (SCP) that denies s3:PutBucketPolicy and s3:PutObject actions unless the request includes the specified KMS key. This works because SCPs operate at the AWS Organizations root, OU, or account level, providing a centralized guardrail that overrides all IAM policies within member accounts without requiring any changes to individual bucket policies. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how SCPs enforce organization-wide compliance, often appearing as a distractor against bucket policies or KMS key policies—common traps include assuming you must modify every bucket or use a separate KMS grant. The key insight is that SCPs can conditionally deny API calls based on encryption context, making them ideal for enforcing encryption standards across a multi-account structure. Memory tip: think "SCP as a bouncer"—it checks the encryption ID at the door before allowing any S3 write or policy change.
SAP-C02 Practice Question: Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design solutions for organizational complexity. 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 uses AWS Organizations with a multi-account strategy. The central IT team needs to enforce that all Amazon S3 buckets across the organization are encrypted with AWS KMS using a specific customer managed key. The security policy must be applied without modifying individual bucket policies. Which approach meets these requirements?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a service control policy (SCP) that denies s3:PutBucketPolicy and s3:PutObject actions unless the request includes the specified KMS key.
Option B is correct because a service control policy (SCP) can centrally enforce encryption requirements across all accounts in an AWS Organization without modifying individual bucket policies. The SCP denies s3:PutBucketPolicy and s3:PutObject actions unless the request includes the specified KMS key, ensuring compliance at the organization level.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 the S3 default encryption feature to automatically encrypt new objects with the specified KMS key.
Why it's wrong here
Default encryption does not enforce a specific KMS key across all buckets.
✓
Create a service control policy (SCP) that denies s3:PutBucketPolicy and s3:PutObject actions unless the request includes the specified KMS key.
Why this is correct
SCPs can centrally enforce encryption requirements across all accounts.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use AWS Config rules to detect unencrypted buckets and trigger a Lambda function to remediate.
Why it's wrong here
This is detective, not preventive.
✗
Create an S3 bucket policy in each account that denies PutObject if the object is not encrypted with the specified KMS key.
Why it's wrong here
This requires manual modification of each bucket policy.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often choose reactive solutions like AWS Config or default encryption, overlooking that SCPs can proactively deny API actions based on request parameters, which is the only way to enforce encryption without touching individual bucket policies.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
SCPs in AWS Organizations use AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) policy language with conditions like 'aws:SourceArn' or 's3:x-amz-server-side-encryption-aws-kms-key-id' to enforce encryption at the API level. The SCP is evaluated before any IAM or bucket policy, so it can block non-compliant PutObject requests even if the user has full IAM permissions. This approach ensures that encryption is enforced proactively across all accounts, including future accounts added to the organization.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
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
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — This question tests Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create a service control policy (SCP) that denies s3:PutBucketPolicy and s3:PutObject actions unless the request includes the specified KMS key. — Option B is correct because a service control policy (SCP) can centrally enforce encryption requirements across all accounts in an AWS Organization without modifying individual bucket policies. The SCP denies s3:PutBucketPolicy and s3:PutObject actions unless the request includes the specified KMS key, ensuring compliance at the organization level.
What should I do if I get this SAP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
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 →
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company uses AWS Organizations with a central security account. They need to ensure that any S3 bucket created in any account is configured with encryption and versioning enabled. Which THREE steps should they take?
hard
A.Create IAM policies in each account that require encryption and versioning for any bucket creation.
✓ B.Use AWS CloudFormation StackSets to deploy a stack in each account that creates a bucket with encryption and versioning, and use SCPs to prevent deletion.
✓ C.Deploy AWS Config rules across all accounts to detect buckets without encryption or versioning and trigger auto-remediation.
✓ D.Apply a service control policy (SCP) that denies s3:CreateBucket unless encryption and versioning are specified.
E.Use AWS CloudTrail to monitor bucket creation and send alerts.
Why B: Option B is correct because AWS CloudFormation StackSets allow you to deploy a standardized stack across multiple accounts in an organization, ensuring that any bucket created by the stack has encryption and versioning enabled. Combining this with a service control policy (SCP) that denies s3:CreateBucket unless encryption and versioning are specified (Option D) provides a preventive guardrail at the organization level. Additionally, deploying AWS Config rules with auto-remediation (Option C) acts as a detective and corrective measure, ensuring compliance even if buckets are created outside the approved stack.
Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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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.
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