Quick Answer
The answer is Amazon GuardDuty. This is correct because GuardDuty continuously monitors for malicious activity by leveraging integrated threat intelligence feeds, including known command and control (C2) IP addresses, to check IP reputation against outbound traffic from your EC2 instances. On the AWS Certified Security Specialty SCS-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of how GuardDuty’s threat detection differs from logging-only services like VPC Flow Logs or CloudTrail—a common trap is to confuse metadata analysis with reputation checking. Remember that GuardDuty is the only service that actively evaluates destination IPs against curated threat lists, making it the go-to tool for identifying C2 communication on port 443. A helpful memory tip: “GuardDuty guards the duty of reputation—Flow Logs only flow the data.”
This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of security logging and monitoring. Examine the command output carefully: the correct answer depends on what the output actually shows, not on general recall alone. 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 investigating a potential compromise. The engineer notices that an EC2 instance is sending outbound traffic to an unknown IP address on port 443. The engineer needs to determine if the instance is communicating with a known command and control (C2) server. Which AWS service can the engineer use to check the reputation of the destination IP address?
AWS CloudTrail
Why wrong: CloudTrail records API calls, not network traffic analysis.
VPC Flow Logs
Why wrong: VPC Flow Logs show traffic but do not provide IP reputation.
AWS Trusted Advisor
Why wrong: Trusted Advisor does not provide IP reputation checks.
Amazon GuardDuty
GuardDuty uses threat intelligence to detect communication with known malicious IPs.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Amazon GuardDuty
Option C is correct because GuardDuty uses threat intelligence feeds to identify known malicious IPs. Option A is wrong because VPC Flow Logs only show traffic metadata, not reputation. Option B is wrong because CloudTrail does not analyze network traffic. Option D is wrong because Trusted Advisor provides best practice checks, not IP reputation.
Key principle: NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail records API calls, not network traffic analysis.
VPC Flow Logs
Why it's wrong here
VPC Flow Logs show traffic but do not provide IP reputation.
AWS Trusted Advisor
Why it's wrong here
Trusted Advisor does not provide IP reputation checks.
Amazon GuardDuty
Common exam traps
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Trap categories for this question
Command / output trap
VPC Flow Logs show traffic but do not provide IP reputation.
Detailed technical explanation
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
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
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related SCS-C02 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
Security Logging and Monitoring — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Security Logging and Monitoring — This question tests Security Logging and Monitoring — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
The correct answer is: Amazon GuardDuty — Option C is correct because GuardDuty uses threat intelligence feeds to identify known malicious IPs. Option A is wrong because VPC Flow Logs only show traffic metadata, not reputation. Option B is wrong because CloudTrail does not analyze network traffic. Option D is wrong because Trusted Advisor provides best practice checks, not IP reputation.
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related SCS-C02 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 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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