SCS-C02 Identity and Access Management Practice Question
A company uses an IAM role to allow an EC2 instance to access an S3 bucket. The security team wants to ensure that if the EC2 instance is compromised, the attacker cannot use the role credentials to access resources outside the account. What should the security team do?
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
✓
Attach a permissions boundary to the IAM role that limits access to only the required S3 bucket.
Using a permissions boundary restricts the maximum permissions the role can have, limiting the impact of a compromised instance.
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 the role credentials in AWS Secrets Manager and rotate them frequently.
Why it's wrong here
This does not prevent the role from being used elsewhere.
- ✗
Use an instance profile with a short-lived session token.
Why it's wrong here
This does not limit the scope of actions the role can perform.
- ✗
Use an SCP to deny all actions except S3 access for the role.
Why it's wrong here
SCPs apply to all principals in the account, not just the role.
- ✓
Attach a permissions boundary to the IAM role that limits access to only the required S3 bucket.
Why this is correct
Permissions boundaries set the maximum permissions for the role.
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.