SCS-C02 Security Logging and Monitoring Practice Question
A company is implementing a security monitoring solution for its AWS environment. Which TWO services can be used to detect and alert on suspicious API activity? (Choose TWO.)
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse AWS CloudTrail (which logs API activity) with a service that also detects and alerts on suspicious activity, but CloudTrail itself does not analyze or alert—it only records events; GuardDuty is needed for detection and alerting.
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
✓
Amazon GuardDuty
Amazon GuardDuty is a threat detection service that continuously monitors for malicious or unauthorized behavior, including suspicious API activity. It analyzes AWS CloudTrail management and data events, VPC Flow Logs, and DNS logs to generate security findings and alerts. GuardDuty uses machine learning and anomaly detection to identify patterns such as unusual API calls, credential compromise, or reconnaissance attempts, making it a correct choice for detecting and alerting on suspicious API activity.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Amazon GuardDuty
Why this is correct
GuardDuty analyzes CloudTrail events and other data sources to detect suspicious API activity.
- ✓
AWS CloudTrail
Why this is correct
CloudTrail logs all API calls and can be used with CloudWatch Alarms for alerting.
- ✗
Amazon Inspector
Why it's wrong here
Inspector assesses applications for vulnerabilities and deviations from best practices.
- ✗
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config tracks resource changes, not API activity.
- ✗
VPC Flow Logs
Why it's wrong here
VPC Flow Logs capture network traffic metadata, not API activity.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every SCS-C02 question from scratch — 376 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.