SCS-C02 Security Logging and Monitoring Practice Question
A company has a multi-account AWS environment using AWS Organizations. The security team wants to centralize all CloudTrail logs from all accounts into a single S3 bucket in the management account. The bucket policy allows cross-account access. However, logs from member accounts are not being delivered. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently assume CloudTrail cannot deliver across accounts (Option A) or that a missing prefix (Option B) is the issue, when in fact the root cause is almost always an insufficiently permissive S3 bucket policy that does not grant `s3:PutObject` to the member accounts' CloudTrail roles.
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
✓
The S3 bucket policy does not grant `s3:PutObject` permission to the member accounts.
The S3 bucket policy must explicitly grant the `s3:PutObject` permission to the IAM roles or users from the member accounts that CloudTrail uses to deliver logs. Without this permission, CloudTrail in the member accounts cannot write log files to the central bucket, even if the bucket is configured for cross-account access. The bucket policy must also include a condition that the object ownership is set to the bucket owner (via `s3:x-amz-acl: bucket-owner-full-control`) to ensure the management account retains control.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
CloudTrail cannot deliver logs to a bucket in a different account.
Why it's wrong here
Cross-account delivery is supported with proper permissions.
- ✗
The S3 bucket is not configured with a CloudTrail prefix.
Why it's wrong here
Prefix configuration does not affect delivery permissions.
- ✗
CloudTrail is not enabled in the member accounts.
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail is enabled by default in all accounts.
- ✓
The S3 bucket policy does not grant `s3:PutObject` permission to the member accounts.
Why this is correct
Without this permission, CloudTrail cannot write logs to the bucket.
Visual reference
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.