SCS-C02 Infrastructure Security Practice Question
A company needs to securely store database credentials used by a Lambda function. The credentials must be automatically rotated. Which service should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse Parameter Store's SecureString parameter (which can store encrypted secrets) with Secrets Manager's automatic rotation feature, overlooking that Parameter Store does not natively rotate secrets.
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 Secrets Manager
AWS Secrets Manager is the correct choice because it is specifically designed to securely store, manage, and automatically rotate database credentials and other secrets throughout their lifecycle. It natively supports automatic rotation for Amazon RDS, Redshift, and DocumentDB databases without requiring custom code, and it integrates directly with Lambda via the AWS SDK to retrieve secrets on demand.
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 it's wrong here
IAM governs identities and access control by authenticating principals and authorizing API operations via policies. It has no data plane for storing secret values, so it cannot hold database credentials or version them. IAM policies can only grant or deny access to a separate secrets service, making IAM an access layer, not a secret store.
- ✗
AWS Key Management Service (KMS)
Why it's wrong here
KMS creates and manages customer master keys and performs cryptographic operations such as encrypt, decrypt, and re-encrypt. It protects data at rest but does not persist arbitrary secret values like a database password; instead, it provides raw keys and envelope encryption. KMS also lacks any notion of rotating a database credential—it rotates AWS-managed keys automatically, but cannot rotate an application's database password.
- ✗
AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store
Why it's wrong here
Parameter Store is a hierarchical store for configuration data, including SecureString parameters that are encrypted with KMS. While it can technically hold a database password as a SecureString, it does not natively schedule automatic rotation of that value—you must build a custom Lambda or external process to update it. For a company that needs managed, recurring rotation of database credentials, Secrets Manager is the more appropriate fit.
- ✓
AWS Secrets Manager
Why this is correct
Secrets Manager is the purpose-built service for storing sensitive data like database credentials, API keys, and passwords. It provides native automatic rotation using a configurable Lambda function and integrates with RDS, Redshift, and DocumentDB for out-of-the-box rotation. Secrets Manager also maintains versions and enforces fine-grained IAM policies, so it is the correct choice when credentials must be rotated automatically and safely.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every SCS-C02 question from scratch — 1,205 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.