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 data exfiltration from an S3 bucket. The engineer needs to identify which IAM role or user accessed the bucket and from which IP address. Which AWS service should the engineer use to obtain this information?
AWS CloudTrail
CloudTrail logs all API calls to S3, including IAM principal and source IP.
AWS Config
Why wrong: AWS Config tracks resource configuration changes, not API calls.
VPC Flow Logs
Why wrong: VPC Flow Logs capture network traffic metadata but not IAM principal details.
Amazon GuardDuty
Why wrong: GuardDuty analyzes findings but does not provide detailed access logs.
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 CloudTrail
AWS CloudTrail is the correct service because it records all API calls made to S3, including the IAM role or user identity (via the `userIdentity` field) and the source IP address (via the `sourceIPAddress` field). For data exfiltration investigation, you need these specific details from management events or data events (e.g., `GetObject`, `PutObject`), which CloudTrail captures. Other services either lack identity-level detail or focus on network-level traffic without user attribution.
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.
AWS CloudTrail
Why this is correct
CloudTrail logs all API calls to S3, including IAM principal and source IP.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config tracks resource configuration changes, not API calls.
VPC Flow Logs
Why it's wrong here
VPC Flow Logs capture network traffic metadata but not IAM principal details.
Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
GuardDuty analyzes findings but does not provide detailed access logs.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse VPC Flow Logs (which show network traffic but not user identity) with CloudTrail (which shows API calls with identity), leading them to select VPC Flow Logs for IP-based investigation without realizing they need the IAM role or user context.
Detailed technical explanation
CloudTrail data events for S3 must be explicitly enabled on the bucket or at the trail level to log object-level operations like `GetObject` and `PutObject`. The `sourceIPAddress` field in the CloudTrail record can be the actual client IP or the IP of a proxy/load balancer if `vpcEndpointId` is present. In a real-world scenario, if the bucket uses S3 Access Points or Object Lambda, CloudTrail logs include the access point ARN, which helps pinpoint the exact entry point for exfiltration.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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
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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 CloudTrail — AWS CloudTrail is the correct service because it records all API calls made to S3, including the IAM role or user identity (via the `userIdentity` field) and the source IP address (via the `sourceIPAddress` field). For data exfiltration investigation, you need these specific details from management events or data events (e.g., `GetObject`, `PutObject`), which CloudTrail captures. Other services either lack identity-level detail or focus on network-level traffic without user attribution.
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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