SCS-C02 Infrastructure Security Practice Question
A company has a multi-account AWS environment using AWS Organizations. The security team needs to enforce that all new S3 buckets created in any account in the organization are encrypted with a specific KMS key. Which approach should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse detective controls (AWS Config) with preventive controls (SCPs), or mistakenly think S3 bucket policies can govern bucket creation, when in fact bucket policies only apply to operations on existing buckets.
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
✓
Apply a Service Control Policy (SCP) that denies s3:CreateBucket unless encryption is configured
Service Control Policies (SCPs) in AWS Organizations can centrally deny the creation of S3 buckets unless specific encryption conditions are met. By using an SCP with a condition that requires `s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption-aws-kms-key-id` to match the specific KMS key ARN, the security team can enforce encryption at the organizational level, preventing any account from creating non-compliant buckets regardless of IAM permissions.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Set up AWS Config rules to detect non-compliant buckets
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config detects but does not prevent creation.
- ✓
Apply a Service Control Policy (SCP) that denies s3:CreateBucket unless encryption is configured
Why this is correct
SCPs can deny actions based on conditions, enforcing encryption at creation time.
- ✗
Create an IAM role that requires encryption and attach it to all users
Why it's wrong here
IAM roles do not enforce encryption on new buckets across accounts.
- ✗
Use an S3 bucket policy with a condition for encryption
Why it's wrong here
Bucket policies apply to existing buckets, not prevent creation.
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 SCS-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 SCS-C02 exam.