This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of threat detection and incident response. 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 security engineer is configuring automated incident response for Amazon GuardDuty findings. The engineer wants to isolate a compromised EC2 instance by changing its security group and stopping the instance. Which THREE services should the engineer use together to achieve this? (Choose THREE.)
Amazon EC2
Why wrong: EC2 is the resource, not a service used to orchestrate the response.
AWS Config
Why wrong: Config is for compliance, not real-time incident response.
AWS Systems Manager
Systems Manager can run automation documents to isolate instances.
Amazon EventBridge
EventBridge can receive GuardDuty findings and trigger Lambda.
AWS Lambda
Lambda can execute custom remediation logic.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
AWS Systems Manager
AWS Systems Manager (SSM) is correct because it provides the Automation runbook capability that can be used to stop an EC2 instance and modify its security groups as part of an incident response workflow. SSM Automation can be triggered by an EventBridge rule and can invoke Lambda functions or run commands directly on the instance to isolate it. This allows the security engineer to automate the isolation and stopping of the compromised instance without manual intervention.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Amazon EC2
Why it's wrong here
EC2 is the resource, not a service used to orchestrate the response.
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
Config is for compliance, not real-time incident response.
AWS Systems Manager
Why this is correct
Systems Manager can run automation documents to isolate instances.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Amazon EventBridge
Why this is correct
EventBridge can receive GuardDuty findings and trigger Lambda.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS Lambda
Why this is correct
Lambda can execute custom remediation logic.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates may think AWS Config can directly remediate findings (e.g., via AWS Config Rules with auto-remediation), but Config only triggers evaluations and cannot perform actions like stopping instances or modifying security groups without a separate automation service like SSM or Lambda.
Detailed technical explanation
Under the hood, the solution uses an EventBridge rule that matches GuardDuty findings (e.g., 'UnauthorizedAccess:EC2/SSHBruteForce') and routes the event to an SSM Automation document (e.g., 'AWS-StopEC2Instance' or a custom document) or a Lambda function. The Lambda function then calls the EC2 ModifySecurityGroup and StopInstances APIs, ensuring the instance is isolated by removing all inbound rules and then stopping it. This pattern is commonly used in AWS Security Incident Response playbooks and can be extended to include forensic snapshotting or tagging.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A healthcare organisation deploys an application with a public-facing web tier and a private database tier. The database subnet has no public IP and only accepts connections from the web tier's security group. Questions like this test whether you can design cloud network isolation using VNets/VPCs, subnets, and security group rules.
What to study next
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FAQ
Threat Detection and Incident Response — This question tests Threat Detection and Incident Response — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: AWS Systems Manager — AWS Systems Manager (SSM) is correct because it provides the Automation runbook capability that can be used to stop an EC2 instance and modify its security groups as part of an incident response workflow. SSM Automation can be triggered by an EventBridge rule and can invoke Lambda functions or run commands directly on the instance to isolate it. This allows the security engineer to automate the isolation and stopping of the compromised instance without manual intervention.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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.
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