SCS-C02 Data Protection Practice Question
A company needs to protect data in Amazon S3 by ensuring that only authorized users can access objects, and all access is logged. Which TWO services should be used together? (Choose TWO.)
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse AWS KMS with access control because encryption is related to data protection, but KMS does not authorize user access or log access events, which are the core requirements in this question.
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
✓
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) is correct because it enables you to define granular permissions for S3 objects, ensuring that only authorized users or roles can access them via IAM policies or S3 bucket policies. AWS CloudTrail is correct because it logs all API calls made to S3, including object-level operations like GetObject and PutObject, providing an audit trail for access. Together, they satisfy the requirement of controlling access and logging all access.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Why this is correct
AWS Identity and Access Management enforces authentication and authorisation through policies, satisfying the stem's requirement that only authorised users access S3 objects. It provides the permission boundary, while a logging service supplies the audit trail of that access.
- ✓
AWS CloudTrail
Why this is correct
AWS CloudTrail records API activity across the account, including S3 object-level data events when enabled, satisfying the stem's requirement that all access is logged. It complements an access-control service by providing the audit trail of who accessed which objects and when.
- ✗
AWS KMS
Why it's wrong here
AWS KMS encrypts data at rest but does not itself restrict who may access S3 objects or record those access attempts. It is tempting because encryption underpins S3 data protection, yet the scenario requires an identity-based access policy plus an audit trail, which KMS supplies neither.
- ✗
AWS WAF
Why it's wrong here
AWS WAF filters HTTP traffic against web exploits at CloudFront or Application Load Balancer, not identity-based access to S3 objects, and it produces no object-level access log. It is tempting because WAF protects web-facing resources, but S3 authorisation and access logging are handled elsewhere.
- ✗
Amazon CloudWatch
Why it's wrong here
Amazon CloudWatch collects metrics, logs and alarms, but it does not authorise users to access S3 objects, and S3 access logging is delivered separately rather than through CloudWatch itself. It is tempting because CloudWatch ingests logs, yet the scenario needs an access-control mechanism plus S3 server access logging.
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.