SAP-C02 Practice Question: Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity
A large enterprise has a multi-account AWS environment with over 200 accounts organized under AWS Organizations. The central platform team uses AWS CloudFormation StackSets to deploy a standard VPC with a CIDR of 10.0.0.0/16 into each account. Recently, a business unit created a new account that was not included in the StackSet deployment, and the team manually deployed the VPC using a CloudFormation template. Now, the central team wants to ensure that all accounts have exactly the same VPC configuration and that any drift is automatically corrected. The team also wants to prevent unauthorized changes to the VPC configuration. What is the MOST efficient and secure solution?
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
✓
Enable drift detection on the StackSet and configure automatic stack drift remediation. Additionally, apply an SCP that denies ec2:CreateVpc, ec2:DeleteVpc, ec2:ModifyVpcAttribute, and similar actions unless they are performed by the StackSet's service role.
The most efficient and secure solution because it uses StackSets drift detection with automatic remediation to continuously detect and correct any deviations from the intended VPC configuration across all accounts. Additionally, applying an SCP that denies VPC-related actions (e.g., ec2:CreateVpc, ec2:DeleteVpc, ec2:ModifyVpcAttribute) unless performed by the StackSet's service role prevents unauthorized changes at the organization level. Option A is reactive and does not prevent drift; Option B requires manual provisioning and does not enforce consistent configuration automatically; Option C requires custom coding (Lambda function) and is less integrated than StackSets' built-in remediation.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Create a custom Amazon EventBridge rule that catches VPC modification events and automatically re-deploys the CloudFormation stack.
Why it's wrong here
This option is reactive—it only responds after a change occurs, and it does not prevent unauthorized changes. It also requires custom logic to detect all VPC modifications, which is less efficient than StackSets' built-in drift detection.
- ✗
Use AWS Service Catalog to create a VPC product and require all accounts to provision VPCs through the product.
Why it's wrong here
Service Catalog requires accounts to provision VPCs through the product, but it does not automatically remediate drift or prevent changes made outside the catalog. It also adds manual steps for each new account.
- ✗
Use AWS Config rules to detect VPC changes and trigger a Lambda function to revert them.
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config rules can detect changes, but triggering a Lambda function to revert them adds complexity and latency. This approach is less integrated than StackSets' drift remediation and does not prevent changes at the source.
- ✓
Enable drift detection on the StackSet and configure automatic stack drift remediation. Additionally, apply an SCP that denies ec2:CreateVpc, ec2:DeleteVpc, ec2:ModifyVpcAttribute, and similar actions unless they are performed by the StackSet's service role.
Why this is correct
This option combines StackSets' automatic drift detection and remediation to correct any drift across all accounts, along with an SCP to deny unauthorized VPC modifications. This ensures consistent configuration and prevents manual changes, making it the most efficient and secure solution.
Visual reference
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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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.