This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of security logging and monitoring. 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 needs to capture network traffic between EC2 instances in a VPC for analysis. Which TWO services can provide this capability? (Choose TWO.)
AWS CloudTrail
Why wrong: CloudTrail logs API calls, not network traffic.
Amazon CloudWatch Logs
CloudWatch Logs can ingest and analyze VPC Flow Logs.
VPC Flow Logs
VPC Flow Logs capture network traffic information.
AWS Config
Why wrong: Config records configuration changes.
Amazon GuardDuty
Why wrong: GuardDuty analyzes logs but does not capture network traffic.
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 CloudWatch Logs
Amazon CloudWatch Logs can capture network traffic by using a unified CloudWatch agent or the EC2 instance's operating system to collect and forward log data, such as syslog or custom application logs that include network packet details. VPC Flow Logs capture metadata about IP traffic going to and from network interfaces in a VPC, including source/destination IPs, ports, protocols, and packet counts, but not the full packet payload. Together, these two services enable both detailed OS-level traffic logging (CloudWatch Logs) and network-level flow metadata (VPC Flow Logs) for comprehensive analysis.
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 it's wrong here
CloudTrail logs API calls, not network traffic.
Amazon CloudWatch Logs
Why this is correct
CloudWatch Logs can ingest and analyze VPC Flow Logs.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
VPC Flow Logs
Why this is correct
VPC Flow Logs capture network traffic information.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
Config records configuration changes.
Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
GuardDuty analyzes logs but does not capture network traffic.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse VPC Flow Logs with capturing full packet contents, but they only capture metadata (Layer 3-4 headers), not the payload, while CloudWatch Logs can ingest actual packet data from the OS, making the pair complementary for traffic analysis.
Detailed technical explanation
VPC Flow Logs capture network metadata at the ENI level using a sampled flow log format (e.g., version 2-5), recording fields like srcaddr, dstaddr, srcport, dstport, protocol, packets, bytes, and action (ACCEPT/REJECT), but never the packet payload. CloudWatch Logs can ingest full packet captures if the EC2 instance runs tools like tcpdump or Wireshark and forwards the output via the CloudWatch agent, though this requires careful IAM permissions and log group configuration. In real-world scenarios, combining both allows a security engineer to correlate high-level flow patterns (e.g., unexpected port scans) with detailed OS-level packet data for forensic analysis.
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
Security Logging and Monitoring — This question tests Security Logging and Monitoring — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Amazon CloudWatch Logs — Amazon CloudWatch Logs can capture network traffic by using a unified CloudWatch agent or the EC2 instance's operating system to collect and forward log data, such as syslog or custom application logs that include network packet details. VPC Flow Logs capture metadata about IP traffic going to and from network interfaces in a VPC, including source/destination IPs, ports, protocols, and packet counts, but not the full packet payload. Together, these two services enable both detailed OS-level traffic logging (CloudWatch Logs) and network-level flow metadata (VPC Flow Logs) for comprehensive analysis.
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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