- A
Enable VPC Flow Logs on the ENI and stream to Amazon S3 for analysis.
Why wrong: VPC Flow Logs capture metadata (source, destination, port, protocol) but not the full packet payload, which is needed for deep analysis.
- B
Attach a security group to the instance that logs all traffic to CloudWatch Logs.
Why wrong: Security Groups are stateful firewalls that allow/deny traffic; they do not capture or log traffic payloads.
- C
Use VPC Traffic Mirroring to mirror the EC2 instance's ENI traffic to a monitoring appliance in a separate VPC.
VPC Traffic Mirroring copies traffic at the ENI level without inline inspection, enabling passive capture for analysis without alerting the attacker.
- D
Enable AWS Network Firewall on the VPC and configure a rule to log all traffic to the malicious IP.
Why wrong: AWS Network Firewall is an inline service that would actively inspect and potentially block traffic, alerting the attacker. It also does not provide full packet capture for analysis.
SCS-C02 Threat Detection and Incident Response Practice Question
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 investigating a potential compromise. An EC2 instance running Amazon Linux 2 is sending outbound traffic to a known malicious IP address. The engineer needs to capture the network traffic for analysis without alerting the attacker. Which solution meets these requirements?
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
Use VPC Traffic Mirroring to mirror the EC2 instance's ENI traffic to a monitoring appliance in a separate VPC.
Option C is correct because VPC Traffic Mirroring captures all network traffic at the packet level from the EC2 instance's Elastic Network Interface (ENI) and forwards it to a monitoring appliance without any inline processing or modification of the traffic. This allows the security engineer to perform deep packet analysis while remaining completely transparent to the attacker, as the mirrored traffic is a copy and does not affect the original flow. Unlike other options, Traffic Mirroring provides full packet capture (including headers and payloads) for forensic analysis, which is essential for investigating a compromise.
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.
- ✗
Enable VPC Flow Logs on the ENI and stream to Amazon S3 for analysis.
Why it's wrong here
VPC Flow Logs capture metadata (source, destination, port, protocol) but not the full packet payload, which is needed for deep analysis.
- ✗
Attach a security group to the instance that logs all traffic to CloudWatch Logs.
Why it's wrong here
Security Groups are stateful firewalls that allow/deny traffic; they do not capture or log traffic payloads.
- ✓
Use VPC Traffic Mirroring to mirror the EC2 instance's ENI traffic to a monitoring appliance in a separate VPC.
Why this is correct
VPC Traffic Mirroring copies traffic at the ENI level without inline inspection, enabling passive capture for analysis without alerting the attacker.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Enable AWS Network Firewall on the VPC and configure a rule to log all traffic to the malicious IP.
Why it's wrong here
AWS Network Firewall is an inline service that would actively inspect and potentially block traffic, alerting the attacker. It also does not provide full packet capture for analysis.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse VPC Flow Logs (which only provide metadata) with full packet capture, or assume that security groups or Network Firewall can log traffic passively, when in fact they are active security controls that could interfere with the attacker's activities.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
VPC Traffic Mirroring uses the Remote Port Mirroring (RPM) feature, which operates at Layer 2/3 of the OSI model and can mirror traffic from a source ENI to a target ENI (e.g., a Network Load Balancer or an EC2 instance running packet capture tools like tcpdump or Wireshark). The mirrored traffic is encapsulated using VXLAN (UDP port 4789) to preserve the original packet integrity, allowing the monitoring appliance to reconstruct the full session. In real-world incident response, this enables the capture of encrypted traffic (e.g., TLS handshakes) and non-IP protocols (e.g., ARP) that flow logs cannot see.
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.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SCS-C02 question test?
Threat Detection and Incident Response — This question tests Threat Detection and Incident Response — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use VPC Traffic Mirroring to mirror the EC2 instance's ENI traffic to a monitoring appliance in a separate VPC. — Option C is correct because VPC Traffic Mirroring captures all network traffic at the packet level from the EC2 instance's Elastic Network Interface (ENI) and forwards it to a monitoring appliance without any inline processing or modification of the traffic. This allows the security engineer to perform deep packet analysis while remaining completely transparent to the attacker, as the mirrored traffic is a copy and does not affect the original flow. Unlike other options, Traffic Mirroring provides full packet capture (including headers and payloads) for forensic analysis, which is essential for investigating a compromise.
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.
About these practice questions
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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