SCS-C02 Infrastructure Security Practice Question
A company wants to restrict access to an S3 bucket so that only objects with specific tags can be accessed by a certain IAM role. Which THREE steps are required to implement this?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse S3 Inventory (a reporting tool) or CloudTrail logging (an auditing tool) with access control mechanisms, leading them to select options that do not actually restrict access.
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 an IAM policy to the role that uses the s3:ExistingObjectTag condition.
To restrict the IAM role to only access objects with specific tags, three steps are necessary. First, attach an IAM policy to the role using the s3:ExistingObjectTag condition key (option C). This alone, however, can be overridden by a bucket policy that grants broader access. Second, create a bucket policy that explicitly allows the role to access objects only when they have the required tag (option D). Third, create a bucket policy that denies the role access to objects that do not have the required tag (option E). The combination of IAM and bucket policies ensures tag-based access control is enforced, as IAM provides identity-based restrictions and bucket policies add resource-based checks, including an explicit deny for non-compliant objects.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use S3 Inventory to list objects and their tags.
Why it's wrong here
S3 Inventory is for reporting, not for access control.
- ✗
Enable S3 object-level logging in CloudTrail.
Why it's wrong here
Logging is not required for access control.
- ✓
Attach an IAM policy to the role that uses the s3:ExistingObjectTag condition.
Why this is correct
IAM policies can also use condition keys to restrict access based on tags.
- ✓
Create a bucket policy with a condition based on the s3:ExistingObjectTag key.
Why this is correct
Bucket policy can use condition keys to allow access only if object tags match.
- ✓
Set a bucket policy that denies access if the object does not have the required tag.
Why this is correct
A Deny statement with a condition ensures that untagged objects are blocked.
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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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.