This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of infrastructure security. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company wants to restrict access to an S3 bucket so that only requests from a specific VPC are allowed. Which policy should be used?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
S3 bucket policy with aws:SourceVpc condition
Option C is correct because S3 bucket policies support the `aws:SourceVpc` condition key, which allows you to restrict access to requests originating from a specific VPC. This works by evaluating the VPC ID from which the request was made, using the source VPC information that AWS automatically includes in requests from VPC endpoints. No other mechanism (security groups, IAM source IP conditions, or network ACLs) can directly enforce VPC-level access control on S3.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Security group assigned to the S3 bucket
Why it's wrong here
Security groups are for EC2 instances, not S3 buckets.
✗
IAM policy with aws:SourceIp condition
Why it's wrong here
IAM policies control user permissions, not network origin.
✓
S3 bucket policy with aws:SourceVpc condition
Why this is correct
The aws:SourceVpc condition key restricts access to requests originating from the specified VPC.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Network ACL attached to the S3 bucket
Why it's wrong here
Network ACLs are for subnets, not S3 buckets.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse network-level controls (security groups, NACLs) with service-level controls (bucket policies) and assume that S3 can be protected like an EC2 instance, when in fact S3 only supports bucket policies and IAM policies for access control.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The `aws:SourceVpc` condition key relies on the VPC ID being present in the request context when traffic traverses a VPC endpoint (either Gateway Endpoint for S3 or Interface Endpoint). This condition is evaluated at the S3 service side, not at the network layer, meaning it works even if the request comes through a NAT gateway or VPN as long as the VPC ID is preserved. A common real-world scenario is enforcing that only a specific VPC (e.g., production VPC) can access a sensitive S3 bucket, while blocking all other VPCs or internet traffic.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Infrastructure Security — This question tests Infrastructure Security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: S3 bucket policy with aws:SourceVpc condition — Option C is correct because S3 bucket policies support the `aws:SourceVpc` condition key, which allows you to restrict access to requests originating from a specific VPC. This works by evaluating the VPC ID from which the request was made, using the source VPC information that AWS automatically includes in requests from VPC endpoints. No other mechanism (security groups, IAM source IP conditions, or network ACLs) can directly enforce VPC-level access control on S3.
What should I do if I get this SCS-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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