SAP-C02 Practice Question: Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity
A multinational corporation is deploying a multi-account AWS environment using AWS Organizations. The security team requires that all S3 buckets across all accounts be encrypted with a specific AWS KMS key managed by the security account. Which solution should the company implement to enforce this policy across the organization?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates choose AWS Config rules (Option C) thinking they provide preventive enforcement, but Config rules are detective and reactive, not preventive, whereas SCPs proactively block non-compliant API calls before the resource is created.
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
✓
Attach a service control policy (SCP) to the root that denies S3 actions unless encryption conditions are met
A service control policy (SCP) attached to the root of the AWS Organizations hierarchy can deny S3 PutObject or CreateBucket actions unless the request includes the specific KMS key ID (via the s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption-aws-kms-key-id condition key). This enforces encryption centrally across all accounts, as SCPs are inherited by all member accounts and cannot be overridden by IAM policies within those 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.
- ✗
Create IAM policies in each account to enforce encryption
Why it's wrong here
IAM policies only govern AWS API principals; they cannot constrain how S3 encrypts objects at rest, so a bucket owner could still write unencrypted data. They are tempting because IAM policy is the usual access-control lever, and would be correct for restricting who may call KMS or S3 actions.
- ✓
Attach a service control policy (SCP) to the root that denies S3 actions unless encryption conditions are met
Why this is correct
SCPs attached at the organisation root define the maximum permissions for every account, so a deny on S3 actions lacking the required KMS encryption condition blocks non-compliant bucket creation and uploads organisation-wide. This enforces the mandated key across all accounts without per-account policy management.
- ✗
Use AWS Config rules with auto-remediation in each account
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config rules detect non-compliant buckets after creation and remediate reactively; they cannot prevent creation of an unencrypted bucket in the first place. They are tempting because Config is the standard compliance-audit tool, and would be correct for continuous detection and drift reporting rather than preventive enforcement.
- ✗
Deploy a CloudFormation StackSet that creates S3 buckets with encryption
Why it's wrong here
A StackSet only creates compliant buckets; it cannot prevent users creating unencrypted buckets outside the template, so the policy is not enforced. StackSets suit standardised resource deployment across accounts, whereas SCPs or Config rules with remediation deny or correct non-compliant buckets.
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.