SCS-C02 Security Logging and Monitoring Practice Question
A security engineer needs to ensure that all API calls in an AWS account are logged for auditing purposes. Which TWO services should the engineer enable? (Select TWO.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse VPC Flow Logs (network traffic) with API call logging, or think CloudWatch Logs is the primary logging service, when in fact CloudTrail is the dedicated service for API auditing.
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
✓
AWS CloudTrail
AWS CloudTrail is the correct service because it records all API calls made in an AWS account, including the identity of the caller, the time of the call, the source IP address, and the request parameters. This provides a complete audit trail of all management and data plane operations, which is essential for security auditing and compliance.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
VPC Flow Logs
Why it's wrong here
VPC Flow Logs capture network traffic metadata, not API calls.
- ✓
AWS CloudTrail
Why this is correct
CloudTrail logs API calls for governance and auditing.
- ✗
Amazon CloudWatch Logs
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch Logs stores logs but does not generate API logs by itself.
- ✗
Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
GuardDuty is a threat detection service, not a logging service.
- ✓
AWS Config
Why this is correct
AWS Config records configuration changes and can be used for auditing.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.