SCS-C02 Multi-Region key Practice Question
A company uses AWS KMS to encrypt data in Amazon S3. The security team notices that a KMS key has been deleted accidentally, causing data loss. The company wants to implement a solution to prevent accidental key deletion and enable recovery. What should the security team do?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates may think that enabling automatic key rotation prevents deletion, but it only rotates the key material. The actual prevention of deletion and recovery is achieved through multi-Region keys, which provide a replica in another Region.
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
✓
Create a multi-Region key and enable automatic key rotation.
Creating a multi-Region key replicates the key material to another AWS Region, providing a backup that can be used if the primary key is accidentally deleted. Enabling automatic key rotation further enhances security by regularly rotating the backing keys, but it does not prevent deletion. However, the multi-Region key approach allows recovery from accidental deletion by using the replica in another Region. Option A is incorrect because disabling the key only prevents its use, not its deletion; the deletion waiting period allows recovery only if the deletion is canceled within the waiting period. Option B is incorrect because automatic key rotation does not prevent deletion; it only creates new cryptographic material. Option D is incorrect because AWS CloudHSM does not directly integrate with S3 server-side encryption using KMS (SSE-KMS) for automatic encryption; it requires custom applications.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Enable the key's 'Disable key' option and set a deletion waiting period of 7 days.
Why it's wrong here
Disabling the key does not prevent deletion; it just prevents use.
- ✗
Enable automatic key rotation for the KMS key.
Why it's wrong here
Key rotation does not prevent deletion; it only creates new backing keys.
- ✓
Create a multi-Region key and enable automatic key rotation.
Why this is correct
Multi-Region keys provide a replica in another region for recovery, and automatic rotation improves security.
- ✗
Use AWS CloudHSM to store the key material and create a backup in another Region.
Why it's wrong here
CloudHSM does not integrate with S3 SSE-KMS.
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.