The answer is to configure an S3 Lifecycle policy that transitions CloudTrail logs to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days and expires them after 7 years. This solution meets the compliance requirement with the least operational overhead because S3 Lifecycle policies automate both the cost-effective archival and eventual deletion of objects entirely within the S3 service, requiring no custom scripts, manual oversight, or additional AWS services. On the AWS Certified Security Specialty SCS-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of balancing retention compliance with operational efficiency, often appearing as a trap where candidates might over-engineer with Lambda or AWS Batch when a native S3 policy suffices. The key distinction is that lifecycle policies handle both the transition to cold storage (like Glacier Deep Archive) and the final expiration date, making them the fully automated, zero-touch answer. Memory tip: think “Lifecycle = set it and forget it” — the policy handles the entire timeline from warm to cold to gone.
SCS-C02 Security Logging and Monitoring Practice Question
This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of security logging and monitoring. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company is required to retain CloudTrail logs for 7 years for compliance. Which solution meets this requirement with the LEAST operational overhead?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "least"
Why it matters: You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Configure an S3 Lifecycle policy to transition logs to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days and expire after 7 years.
Option D is correct because it uses an S3 Lifecycle policy to automatically transition CloudTrail logs to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days (reducing storage costs) and then expire (delete) the objects after 7 years, meeting the retention requirement with zero ongoing operational effort. This is the least operational overhead solution as it is fully automated within S3, requiring no custom code, manual intervention, or additional services.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Store logs in CloudWatch Logs with a retention period of 7 years.
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch Logs retention max is 10 years but costs more for long-term cold storage.
✗
Configure CloudTrail to automatically delete logs older than 7 years.
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail does not delete logs; it delivers to S3.
✗
Use an AWS Lambda function to delete logs older than 7 years.
Why it's wrong here
This adds operational overhead.
✓
Configure an S3 Lifecycle policy to transition logs to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days and expire after 7 years.
Why this is correct
Lifecycle policies automate retention and minimize costs.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "least" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Export logs to AWS Snowball for offline archival.
Why it's wrong here
Snowball is not designed for long-term retention.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may think CloudTrail itself manages log retention (Option B) or that CloudWatch Logs is the simplest option (Option A), but AWS explicitly requires you to manage retention at the destination, and S3 Lifecycle policies are the native, automated, and lowest-overhead solution for long-term archival and deletion.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
S3 Lifecycle policies allow you to define rules that transition objects to colder storage classes (e.g., S3 Standard-IA, S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval, S3 Glacier Deep Archive) and then expire them after a specified number of days. For CloudTrail logs, a common pattern is to transition to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days to minimize costs, as Deep Archive has the lowest storage cost but retrieval times of 12-48 hours. The expiration action permanently deletes the objects after 7 years (2555 days), ensuring compliance without manual intervention. Note that CloudTrail logs are delivered in gzip format and can be queried using AWS Athena or Amazon S3 Select if needed.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Security Logging and Monitoring — This question tests Security Logging and Monitoring — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Configure an S3 Lifecycle policy to transition logs to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days and expire after 7 years. — Option D is correct because it uses an S3 Lifecycle policy to automatically transition CloudTrail logs to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 90 days (reducing storage costs) and then expire (delete) the objects after 7 years, meeting the retention requirement with zero ongoing operational effort. This is the least operational overhead solution as it is fully automated within S3, requiring no custom code, manual intervention, or additional services.
What should I do if I get this SCS-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "least". You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
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These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company has a requirement to retain AWS CloudTrail logs for 7 years for compliance. The logs are stored in an S3 bucket. The company wants to reduce storage costs by automatically moving older logs to a cheaper storage class. Which solution should the company implement?
medium
A.Use S3 Intelligent-Tiering to automatically move logs to the most cost-effective access tier.
✓ B.Configure an S3 Lifecycle policy to transition objects from S3 Standard to S3 Glacier after a specified number of days.
C.Move logs to S3 Standard-IA after 30 days.
D.Use S3 Batch Operations to manually copy logs to S3 Glacier.
Why B: Option A is correct because S3 Lifecycle policies can transition objects to Glacier after a specified period. Option B is wrong because S3 Intelligent-Tiering is for unknown access patterns, but the goal is to reduce costs for logs that are rarely accessed. Option C is wrong because S3 Standard-IA is for infrequently accessed data but not the cheapest for archival. Option D is wrong because S3 Batch Operations is for bulk actions, not automatic transitions.
Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
Question Discussion
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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.
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