Quick Answer
The correct approach is to apply an SCP that denies all actions if the principal does not have MFA, because Service Control Policies in AWS Organizations act as a preventive guardrail that operates at the root, OU, or account level, overriding any permissive IAM policies in member accounts. This ensures that every API call from an IAM user or role is blocked unless MFA-authenticated, making it impossible for local account administrators to bypass the requirement. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of centralized governance versus account-level IAM policies, with a common trap being to choose an account-level IAM policy that can be overridden by a local admin. Remember the key distinction: SCPs set the maximum permissions boundary, while IAM policies grant permissions within that boundary. Memory tip: “SCP sets the floor for security, IAM sets the ceiling for access.”
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 setup with AWS Organizations. The security team wants to enforce that all IAM users must have MFA enabled. Which approach is most effective?
Use AWS Config rules to detect users without MFA and send alerts.
Why wrong: Reactive, does not enforce.
Use AWS CloudTrail to monitor and disable users without MFA.
Why wrong: Cannot enforce.
Set an IAM password policy that requires MFA for all users.
Why wrong: Password policy does not enforce MFA usage.
Apply an SCP that denies all actions if the principal does not have MFA.
Forces MFA for all API calls.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Apply an SCP that denies all actions if the principal does not have MFA.
Option D is correct because Service Control Policies (SCPs) in AWS Organizations can enforce preventive security controls across all accounts in the organization. By denying all actions when a principal does not have MFA, the SCP effectively blocks any API call from IAM users or roles that haven't authenticated with MFA, ensuring compliance at the organizational level regardless of individual account configurations.
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.
Use AWS Config rules to detect users without MFA and send alerts.
Why it's wrong here
Reactive, does not enforce.
Use AWS CloudTrail to monitor and disable users without MFA.
Why it's wrong here
Cannot enforce.
Set an IAM password policy that requires MFA for all users.
Why it's wrong here
Password policy does not enforce MFA usage.
Apply an SCP that denies all actions if the principal does not have MFA.
Why this is correct
Forces MFA for all API calls.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse detective controls (like AWS Config alerts) with preventive controls (like SCPs), or mistakenly think IAM password policies can enforce MFA, when in fact password policies only govern password characteristics, not multi-factor authentication.
Detailed technical explanation
SCPs operate at the organization root, OU, or account level and are evaluated before any IAM or resource-based policies. The SCP uses a condition key like `aws:MultiFactorAuthPresent` to check if the principal authenticated with MFA; if the condition evaluates to false, the `Deny` effect blocks all actions. This approach works across all AWS services that support IAM, including the AWS Management Console, CLI, and SDKs, and cannot be overridden by account administrators.
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
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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: Apply an SCP that denies all actions if the principal does not have MFA. — Option D is correct because Service Control Policies (SCPs) in AWS Organizations can enforce preventive security controls across all accounts in the organization. By denying all actions when a principal does not have MFA, the SCP effectively blocks any API call from IAM users or roles that haven't authenticated with MFA, ensuring compliance at the organizational level regardless of individual account configurations.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Same concept, more angles
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company uses AWS Organizations with a multi-account setup. The security team needs to ensure that all users in all accounts use multi-factor authentication (MFA) to access the AWS Management Console. Which THREE steps should be taken to enforce this?
hardWhy B: Option B is correct because AWS IAM Identity Center (SSO) allows you to centrally manage user access and enforce MFA at the identity provider level. By configuring MFA enforcement in IAM Identity Center, all users federating into any account in the organization are required to present a valid MFA token before accessing the AWS Management Console, ensuring consistent enforcement across the multi-account setup.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 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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