SCS-C02 Management and Security Governance Practice Question
This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of management and security governance. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 designing a governance framework for a multi-account AWS environment. The engineer needs to ensure that all accounts comply with the principle of least privilege for IAM roles and that any non-compliant resources are automatically reported. Which two AWS services should the engineer use together to achieve this? (Choose TWO.)
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "least"
Why it matters: You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
AWS Security Hub
AWS Security Hub is correct because it provides a comprehensive view of security alerts and compliance status across multiple AWS accounts, aggregating findings from various AWS services and third-party tools. AWS Config is correct because it continuously monitors and records AWS resource configurations, enabling you to define rules (e.g., IAM least privilege policies) and automatically evaluate resource compliance, triggering notifications or remediation actions for non-compliant resources. Together, Security Hub can ingest AWS Config rule compliance results as findings, allowing centralized reporting and automated response to IAM role violations.
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.
✓
AWS Security Hub
Why this is correct
Security Hub aggregates findings from AWS Config and other services, providing a compliance dashboard and automated reporting.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "least" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
AWS Service Catalog
Why it's wrong here
Service Catalog helps manage approved IT services but does not monitor IAM role compliance.
✗
Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
GuardDuty detects threats but does not assess IAM role permissions.
✓
AWS Config
Why this is correct
AWS Config can use managed or custom rules to evaluate IAM roles for compliance with least privilege.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "least" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail records API calls but does not evaluate resource configurations against policies.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse AWS Config (resource compliance evaluation) with AWS CloudTrail (API activity logging) or Amazon GuardDuty (threat detection), failing to recognize that only AWS Config can directly assess IAM role configurations against least privilege rules and automatically report non-compliance.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
AWS Config evaluates resources against managed or custom rules written in AWS Lambda (e.g., a rule that checks if IAM roles have attached policies granting 'Effect: Allow' with 'Action: *' and 'Resource: *'). Security Hub integrates with AWS Config via the 'AWS Config rule' finding type, enabling automated compliance dashboards and event-driven remediation using Amazon EventBridge. In a multi-account setup, AWS Config aggregator can collect compliance data from all accounts into a single payer account, which Security Hub then centralizes for cross-account reporting.
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 company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
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.
Management and Security Governance — This question tests Management and Security Governance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: AWS Security Hub — AWS Security Hub is correct because it provides a comprehensive view of security alerts and compliance status across multiple AWS accounts, aggregating findings from various AWS services and third-party tools. AWS Config is correct because it continuously monitors and records AWS resource configurations, enabling you to define rules (e.g., IAM least privilege policies) and automatically evaluate resource compliance, triggering notifications or remediation actions for non-compliant resources. Together, Security Hub can ingest AWS Config rule compliance results as findings, allowing centralized reporting and automated response to IAM role violations.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "least". You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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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.
Question Discussion
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