Quick Answer
The answer is AWS CloudTrail, IAM Access Analyzer, and AWS Organizations. These three services combine to enable a central IAM permissions audit across a multi-account environment because CloudTrail records all API calls for complete audit trails, IAM Access Analyzer identifies external or unintended access to resources, and Organizations provides a single point of governance to apply policies and view permissions across all accounts. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish between auditing IAM permissions versus monitoring resource configurations or threats—a common trap is selecting AWS Config (which tracks resource state, not IAM permissions) or GuardDuty (which detects threats, not permissions). Remember the mnemonic “CAT” for CloudTrail, Access Analyzer, and Teams (Organizations) to recall the trio that delivers centralized, cross-account IAM visibility.
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design solutions for organizational complexity. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 has a multi-account AWS environment with a central security account. The security team wants to implement a solution that allows them to centrally manage and audit IAM permissions across all accounts. Which THREE services should be combined to achieve this?
AWS Organizations
Organizations provides a central view and management of all accounts.
AWS Config
Why wrong: Config tracks resource configuration but does not audit IAM permissions.
AWS IAM Access Analyzer
Access Analyzer helps identify resources shared with external entities.
AWS CloudTrail
CloudTrail logs all IAM-related API calls for audit.
Amazon GuardDuty
Why wrong: GuardDuty detects threats, not IAM permission audit.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
AWS Organizations
Options A, C, and D are correct. IAM Access Analyzer helps identify external access to resources. AWS CloudTrail logs all API calls for auditing. AWS Organizations provides a central view and management of accounts. Option B is wrong because AWS Config is for resource configuration, not IAM permissions. Option E is wrong because Amazon GuardDuty is for threat detection, not IAM audit.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
AWS Organizations
Why this is correct
Organizations provides a central view and management of all accounts.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
Config tracks resource configuration but does not audit IAM permissions.
AWS IAM Access Analyzer
Why this is correct
Access Analyzer helps identify resources shared with external entities.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS CloudTrail
Why this is correct
CloudTrail logs all IAM-related API calls for audit.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
GuardDuty detects threats, not IAM permission audit.
Common exam traps
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
What to study next
Identify which SAP-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
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FAQ
Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — This question tests Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: AWS Organizations — Options A, C, and D are correct. IAM Access Analyzer helps identify external access to resources. AWS CloudTrail logs all API calls for auditing. AWS Organizations provides a central view and management of accounts. Option B is wrong because AWS Config is for resource configuration, not IAM permissions. Option E is wrong because Amazon GuardDuty is for threat detection, not IAM audit.
Identify which SAP-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 2026
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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