SCS-C02 Security Logging and Monitoring Practice Question
A security engineer needs to monitor for suspicious API calls in near real-time and trigger an automated response. Which AWS service should be used to capture and analyze these API calls?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse GuardDuty's threat detection capabilities with the actual capture of API calls, forgetting that GuardDuty consumes CloudTrail logs rather than generating them, so the service that captures the calls is CloudTrail, not GuardDuty.
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 captures all API calls made to the AWS environment, including those from the AWS Management Console, SDKs, CLI, and AWS services. By enabling CloudTrail Insights or using CloudWatch Events with CloudTrail logs, you can monitor for suspicious API calls in near real-time and trigger automated responses via Lambda functions or SNS notifications.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
AWS CloudHSM
Why it's wrong here
AWS CloudHSM provides dedicated hardware security modules for key storage and cryptographic operations; it generates no API call telemetry, so nothing can be analysed or acted upon. It is tempting because CloudHSM logs its own HSM client activity, and would be correct when the requirement is FIPS-validated key custody rather than threat detection.
- ✗
Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
Amazon GuardDuty analyses CloudTrail management events, VPC flow logs and DNS logs to surface findings, but it does not itself capture raw API calls or execute automated remediation; EventBridge and Lambda do that. It is tempting because GuardDuty is a managed threat-detection service, and would be correct for identifying malicious activity rather than capturing and responding to it.
- ✓
AWS CloudTrail
Why this is correct
CloudTrail records API activity across the account, capturing who called which AWS API, from where, and when. Its event history and trail delivery to CloudWatch Logs or EventBridge enable near-real-time detection and automated response to suspicious calls.
- ✗
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config records resource configuration changes and evaluates compliance rules; it does not stream API activity events for near-real-time detection, so it cannot trigger the required automated response. It is tempting because Config does log API-driven resource changes, and would be correct for tracking configuration drift or compliance posture instead.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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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.