SCS-C02 Data Protection Practice Question
A company is using Amazon S3 to store sensitive data. The security team wants to ensure that all data is encrypted in transit between the company's on-premises data center and AWS. Which solution should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse encryption at rest (SSE-S3, KMS) with encryption in transit, and assume that encrypting data before sending it (e.g., with KMS) automatically secures the transmission channel, when in fact a transport-layer encryption mechanism like IPsec or TLS is required to protect data during transit.
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
✓
Use an AWS Site-to-Site VPN with IPsec to encrypt traffic
An AWS Site-to-Site VPN with IPsec is the correct solution because it creates an encrypted tunnel between the on-premises data center and AWS, ensuring all data in transit is protected. IPsec operates at the network layer (Layer 3) and encrypts the entire IP packet, providing confidentiality and integrity for data moving over the public internet. This directly addresses the requirement to encrypt data in transit between the two environments.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Use an AWS Site-to-Site VPN with IPsec to encrypt traffic
Why this is correct
VPN provides encrypted transit.
- ✗
Use AWS CloudHSM to encrypt the data in transit
Why it's wrong here
CloudHSM is an HSM, not for transit encryption.
- ✗
Enable SSE-S3 on the S3 bucket
Why it's wrong here
SSE-S3 is for at-rest encryption.
- ✗
Use AWS KMS to encrypt the data before transmission
Why it's wrong here
KMS is for key management, not transit encryption.
Quick reference
VPN Protocol Comparison
| Protocol | Port | Encryption | Authentication | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IKEv2 / IPsec | UDP 500 / 4500 | AES-256 | Certificates / PSK | Site-to-site & remote access |
| SSL / TLS VPN | TCP 443 | TLS 1.3 | Certificates / MFA | Clientless remote access |
| L2TP / IPsec | UDP 1701 | AES (IPsec) | PSK / Certificates | Legacy remote access |
| WireGuard | UDP 51820 | ChaCha20 | Public keys | Modern high-performance VPN |
| PPTP | TCP 1723 | MPPE (weak) | MS-CHAPv2 | Legacy — avoid in production |
PPTP is considered insecure. IKEv2/IPsec and SSL VPN are the current recommended options.
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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.