SCS-C02 Infrastructure Security Practice Question
A company wants to implement a defense-in-depth strategy for its web application running on EC2 instances. Which TWO AWS services should be used to provide both network and application-layer protection?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse AWS Shield Advanced (which provides DDoS protection) with application-layer filtering, or assume Network ACLs can inspect application data, when in fact they operate only at the network layer and are stateless.
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 WAF
AWS WAF is correct because it provides application-layer protection by inspecting HTTP/HTTPS requests to your web application, allowing you to block common attack patterns such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS) using customizable rules. Security Groups are correct because they act as a virtual firewall at the instance level (network layer), controlling inbound and outbound traffic based on IP addresses, ports, and protocols, thus forming the first line of defense in a defense-in-depth strategy.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
GuardDuty is a threat detection service, not a firewall.
- ✓
AWS WAF
Why this is correct
WAF provides application-layer protection.
- ✓
Security Groups
Why this is correct
Security Groups provide stateful network-layer firewall.
- ✗
AWS Shield Advanced
Why it's wrong here
Shield Advanced provides DDoS protection, not application-layer filtering.
- ✗
Network ACLs
Why it's wrong here
NACLs provide network-layer filtering but are stateless and less granular.
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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.