SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
A financial services company needs to design a solution for storing sensitive customer data that must be encrypted at rest using a customer-managed key stored in AWS Key Management Service (KMS). The data will be accessed by multiple EC2 instances in an Auto Scaling group. The company needs to rotate the key every 90 days and ensure that old encrypted data can still be decrypted. Which key strategy should they use?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is that candidates may assume AWS KMS automatic key rotation can be customized to any frequency (e.g., 90 days), but it is fixed at 365 days. They might incorrectly select option C because it satisfies the 'old data decryptable' requirement, while overlooking the explicit 90-day rotation 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
✓
Use a customer-managed CMK and generate a new key every 90 days, re-encrypting all data.
It uses a customer-managed CMK with manual rotation every 90 days, which meets the specific rotation requirement. By generating a new key and keeping the old key enabled, old encrypted data remains decryptable. Option C is incorrect because automatic rotation in AWS KMS has a fixed interval of 365 days, which does not satisfy the 90-day rotation requirement.
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 AWS CloudHSM to generate a key and store it in a hardware security module.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. AWS CloudHSM stores keys in a hardware security module but does not provide automatic key rotation. Additionally, it may introduce operational complexity and does not directly meet the 90-day rotation requirement.
- ✗
Use an AWS managed key for S3 and enable automatic rotation.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. An AWS managed key for S3 has automatic rotation but the rotation period is approximately 365 days, not 90 days as required. Also, it does not use a customer-managed key.
- ✗
Use a customer-managed CMK and enable automatic key rotation.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. While a customer-managed CMK with automatic rotation ensures key rotation and old data can be decrypted, automatic rotation is fixed at 365 days, not the required 90 days.
- ✓
Use a customer-managed CMK and generate a new key every 90 days, re-encrypting all data.
Why this is correct
Correct. A customer-managed CMK with manual rotation every 90 days meets the specific requirement. Old keys are retained to allow decryption of historical data, and the new key is used for new encryptions.
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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.