PAS-C01 Migration Practice Question
A company is migrating its SAP system to AWS and needs to maintain compliance with regulatory requirements that mandate data encryption at rest. Which AWS service should be used to manage encryption keys for Amazon EBS volumes?
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
✓
AWS Key Management Service (KMS)
WS Key Management Service (KMS). KMS is used to create and control encryption keys for encrypting Amazon EBS volumes. Option A (AWS Secrets Manager) is for managing secrets like database credentials, not encryption keys. Option B (AWS Certificate Manager) handles SSL/TLS certificates. Option D (AWS CloudHSM) provides hardware security modules but is more complex and typically used for specific compliance needs; KMS is the standard service for managing EBS encryption keys.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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AWS Secrets Manager
Why it's wrong here
Secrets Manager stores secrets, not encryption keys for EBS.
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AWS Certificate Manager (ACM)
Why it's wrong here
ACM is for SSL/TLS certificates, not encryption keys.
- ✓
AWS Key Management Service (KMS)
Why this is correct
KMS is the managed service for encryption keys and integrates with EBS.
- ✗
AWS CloudHSM
Why it's wrong here
AWS CloudHSM provides dedicated, single-tenant hardware security modules for customers requiring exclusive control over their cryptographic keys and operations, often for stringent compliance like FIPS 140-2 Level 3. However, managing encryption keys for Amazon EBS volumes is natively handled by AWS Key Management Service (KMS), which provisions and manages the necessary encryption keys without requiring a dedicated HSM instance. CloudHSM would be the correct choice if the requirement was for a dedicated, customer-controlled hardware appliance for custom application-level key storage or cryptographic processing, rather than integrated EBS encryption key management.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PAS-C01 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 PAS-C01 exam.