SAP-C02 Practice Question: Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity
A company wants to implement a data lake strategy using Amazon S3 across multiple AWS accounts. They need to ensure that data is encrypted at rest using a centralized AWS KMS key from a security account. Which THREE steps should they take?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse S3 bucket policies with default encryption settings, thinking a bucket policy can enforce a specific KMS key ARN, when in reality bucket policies can only check for the presence of encryption headers or a key ID via condition keys, not enforce the exact key used for encryption.
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
✓
Configure S3 buckets in each account to use the shared KMS key for server-side encryption.
Configuring S3 buckets to use the shared KMS key for server-side encryption (SSE-KMS) ensures that all objects written to the bucket are encrypted at rest with the centralized key. Option C is correct because the KMS key must be created in the security account and shared via AWS RAM to allow other accounts to use it for encryption. Option E is correct because a service control policy (SCP) can be applied to deny s3:PutObject unless the request includes the required KMS key, providing an additional enforcement layer. Together, these steps enforce centralized encryption across accounts.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Configure S3 bucket policies in each account to enforce encryption using the KMS key.
Why it's wrong here
Bucket policies are per-account and cannot enforce the use of a specific external KMS key effectively.
- ✓
Configure S3 buckets in each account to use the shared KMS key for server-side encryption.
Why this is correct
Buckets must be configured to use the shared key for encryption.
- ✓
Create a customer managed KMS key in the security account and share it with the other accounts using AWS Resource Access Manager (RAM).
Why this is correct
RAM allows sharing KMS keys across accounts.
- ✗
Create IAM users in the security account and grant them access to the KMS key.
Why it's wrong here
IAM users are not needed; RAM handles cross-account access.
- ✓
Apply a service control policy (SCP) that denies s3:PutObject unless the request uses the required KMS key.
Why this is correct
SCPs can enforce encryption requirements centrally.
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.