- A
Use IAM roles in each account with cross-account trust from a central identity provider, granting only required permissions.
Roles allow temporary credentials with limited permissions.
- B
Apply SCPs to deny high-risk actions across all accounts.
SCPs enforce boundaries.
- C
Generate long-term access keys for each user in the central account.
Why wrong: Long-term keys are insecure and not least-privilege.
- D
Share the root user credentials of each account with the central team.
Why wrong: Root user access is dangerous and not auditable.
- E
Create IAM users in each account with full administrator access for all users.
Why wrong: Violates least-privilege.
Question 602 of 1,746
SAP-C02 Practice Question: Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design solutions for organizational complexity. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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.
Which TWO actions should a company take to implement a least-privilege access model across multiple AWS accounts? (Choose TWO.)
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"least"Why it matters: You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.
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 IAM roles in each account with cross-account trust from a central identity provider, granting only required permissions.
Option A is correct because using IAM roles with cross-account trust from a central identity provider (e.g., AWS IAM Identity Center or an external IdP) allows users to assume roles in each account with only the permissions required for their tasks. This eliminates the need for long-term credentials and enables centralized access management while adhering to least-privilege principles. Option B is correct because Service Control Policies (SCPs) are applied at the AWS Organizations level to deny high-risk actions across all accounts, providing a guardrail that enforces least-privilege by preventing even privileged users from performing dangerous operations.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 IAM roles in each account with cross-account trust from a central identity provider, granting only required permissions.
Why this is correct
Roles allow temporary credentials with limited permissions.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "least" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✓
Apply SCPs to deny high-risk actions across all accounts.
Why this is correct
SCPs enforce boundaries.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "least" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Generate long-term access keys for each user in the central account.
Why it's wrong here
Long-term keys are insecure and not least-privilege.
- ✗
Share the root user credentials of each account with the central team.
Why it's wrong here
Root user access is dangerous and not auditable.
- ✗
Create IAM users in each account with full administrator access for all users.
Why it's wrong here
Violates least-privilege.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse SCPs with IAM permissions policies, thinking SCPs grant access rather than acting as a deny-only guardrail, or they mistakenly believe long-term access keys or shared root credentials are acceptable for cross-account access when they are explicitly anti-patterns for least-privilege.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, cross-account IAM roles rely on the AWS Security Token Service (STS) to issue temporary credentials via the AssumeRole API, which are valid for a configurable duration (default 1 hour, max 12 hours). SCPs operate as a deny-by-default filter at the organization root, OU, or account level, and they affect all IAM users, roles, and even the root user (except for a small set of service-linked actions). A real-world scenario is a multi-account environment where SCPs block actions like 'ec2:DeleteInternetGateway' across all accounts while IAM roles grant specific read-only access to S3 buckets in a production account, ensuring no single user can escalate privileges.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
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
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAP-C02 question test?
Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — This question tests Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use IAM roles in each account with cross-account trust from a central identity provider, granting only required permissions. — Option A is correct because using IAM roles with cross-account trust from a central identity provider (e.g., AWS IAM Identity Center or an external IdP) allows users to assume roles in each account with only the permissions required for their tasks. This eliminates the need for long-term credentials and enables centralized access management while adhering to least-privilege principles. Option B is correct because Service Control Policies (SCPs) are applied at the AWS Organizations level to deny high-risk actions across all accounts, providing a guardrail that enforces least-privilege by preventing even privileged users from performing dangerous operations.
What should I do if I get this SAP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "least". You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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