- A
Create IAM roles in each account that deny non-encrypted S3 operations and attach to all users.
Why wrong: IAM roles cannot enforce policies on the root user and require manual setup per account.
- B
Create AWS Organizations service control policies (SCPs) that deny PutBucketPolicy with anonymous effects and PutObject without encryption.
SCPs centrally enforce restrictions across all accounts, covering all users including root.
- C
Use S3 bucket policies with Deny statements for anonymous access and missing encryption.
Why wrong: Bucket policies must be applied to each bucket individually, which is not efficient for many buckets.
- D
Deploy AWS Config rules to detect unencrypted buckets and anonymous access, with auto-remediation using Lambda.
Why wrong: Config rules are detective, not preventive; remediation may have delays and not prevent initial violations.
SAP-C02 Practice Question: Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity
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 multinational company operates a multi-account AWS environment using AWS Organizations. The security team needs to enforce that all Amazon S3 buckets are encrypted at rest using AWS KMS customer managed keys (CMKs) and that no bucket policies allow anonymous access. What is the MOST efficient way to achieve this across all accounts?
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
Create AWS Organizations service control policies (SCPs) that deny PutBucketPolicy with anonymous effects and PutObject without encryption.
AWS Organizations Service Control Policies (SCPs) can centrally enforce restrictions across all accounts in the organization without requiring per-account configuration. By creating SCPs that deny `s3:PutBucketPolicy` actions with an anonymous effect (using a condition key like `aws:SourceAccount` or inspecting the policy content) and deny `s3:PutObject` without the `x-amz-server-side-encryption-aws:kms` header, the security team ensures that no bucket can be made publicly accessible and no object can be uploaded without KMS encryption. This approach is the most efficient because it applies globally and proactively prevents non-compliant actions rather than detecting them after the fact.
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.
- ✗
Create IAM roles in each account that deny non-encrypted S3 operations and attach to all users.
Why it's wrong here
IAM roles cannot enforce policies on the root user and require manual setup per account.
- ✓
Create AWS Organizations service control policies (SCPs) that deny PutBucketPolicy with anonymous effects and PutObject without encryption.
Why this is correct
SCPs centrally enforce restrictions across all accounts, covering all users including root.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use S3 bucket policies with Deny statements for anonymous access and missing encryption.
Why it's wrong here
Bucket policies must be applied to each bucket individually, which is not efficient for many buckets.
- ✗
Deploy AWS Config rules to detect unencrypted buckets and anonymous access, with auto-remediation using Lambda.
Why it's wrong here
Config rules are detective, not preventive; remediation may have delays and not prevent initial violations.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often choose reactive detective controls (like AWS Config with auto-remediation) because they seem comprehensive, but the question asks for the 'most efficient' way, which is a proactive preventive control using SCPs that blocks non-compliant actions before they happen.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
SCPs operate at the AWS Organizations root, OU, or account level and act as a guardrail that limits the maximum permissions for all IAM users and roles in the account, including the root user. The SCP can use the `s3:PutBucketPolicy` action with a condition key like `s3:x-amz-acl` or inspect the policy document using `aws:SourceArn` to detect anonymous principals, but a more robust method is to use a custom condition that checks for `Principal":"*"` in the policy string. For encryption, the SCP denies `s3:PutObject` unless the request includes the `x-amz-server-side-encryption` header set to `aws:kms`, which enforces KMS encryption at the API level.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
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 |
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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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: Create AWS Organizations service control policies (SCPs) that deny PutBucketPolicy with anonymous effects and PutObject without encryption. — AWS Organizations Service Control Policies (SCPs) can centrally enforce restrictions across all accounts in the organization without requiring per-account configuration. By creating SCPs that deny `s3:PutBucketPolicy` actions with an anonymous effect (using a condition key like `aws:SourceAccount` or inspecting the policy content) and deny `s3:PutObject` without the `x-amz-server-side-encryption-aws:kms` header, the security team ensures that no bucket can be made publicly accessible and no object can be uploaded without KMS encryption. This approach is the most efficient because it applies globally and proactively prevents non-compliant actions rather than detecting them after the fact.
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.
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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