PAS-C01 Operations and Maintenance Practice Question
A company uses Amazon CloudWatch Logs to store SAP application logs. The Security team requires that logs be encrypted at rest using a customer-managed KMS key (CMK). How can this be achieved?
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
✓
Associate the KMS key with the CloudWatch Logs log group.
CloudWatch Logs supports encryption at rest using a customer-managed KMS key (CMK) by associating the key with the log group. This encrypts all log data stored in the log group. Option B is incorrect because S3 default encryption applies only to data stored in S3, not to CloudWatch Logs data that is not exported. Option C is incorrect because encrypting the EBS volume of EC2 instances does not encrypt the logs after they are sent to CloudWatch Logs. Option D is incorrect because encryption is configured at the log group level, not the log stream level.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Associate the KMS key with the CloudWatch Logs log group.
Why this is correct
CloudWatch Logs allows encryption at rest using a KMS CMK associated with the log group.
- ✗
Enable default encryption on the S3 bucket where logs are exported.
Why it's wrong here
Logs are stored in CloudWatch Logs, not S3, unless exported.
- ✗
Use an encrypted EBS volume for the EC2 instances generating the logs.
Why it's wrong here
EBS encryption does not encrypt logs in CloudWatch Logs.
- ✗
Enable encryption on the CloudWatch Logs log stream.
Why it's wrong here
Encryption is configured at the log group level, not the stream level.
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 |
Go deeper
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JA
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.