SCS-C02 Identity and Access Management Practice Question
A company is using AWS Organizations with multiple accounts. The security team wants to ensure that no IAM user in any account can create new IAM users. Which approach should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse SCPs with IAM permissions boundaries or think SCPs can be attached directly to IAM users, but SCPs only apply to accounts or organizational units and are designed for centralized governance across an AWS Organization.
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) at the root organizational unit that denies IAM:CreateUser.
Service control policies (SCPs) are the correct mechanism because they allow you to centrally restrict permissions across all accounts in an AWS Organization. By attaching an SCP at the root organizational unit that denies the `iam:CreateUser` action, you ensure that no IAM user in any member account can create new IAM users, regardless of any IAM policies applied within those accounts. SCPs act as a guardrail that overrides any allow permissions granted by IAM policies.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Apply an IAM policy to the root user of each account.
Why it's wrong here
Only affects root user, not all IAM users.
- ✗
Use an SCP attached to each IAM user.
Why it's wrong here
SCPs cannot be attached to IAM users; they apply to accounts.
- ✗
Use an IAM permissions boundary on each IAM user.
Why it's wrong here
Permissions boundaries limit permissions but can be overridden by other policies.
- ✓
Apply a service control policy (SCP) at the root organizational unit that denies IAM:CreateUser.
Why this is correct
SCPs can deny actions across all accounts in the organization.
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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.