SCS-C02 Security Logging and Monitoring Practice Question
A security engineer notices that an S3 bucket containing sensitive logs is publicly accessible. Which service should be used to automatically remediate this by applying a bucket policy?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse AWS Config's monitoring and remediation capabilities with GuardDuty's threat detection or Trusted Advisor's advisory checks, failing to recognize that only AWS Config supports automated, rule-based remediation actions.
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 Config
AWS Config is the correct service because it can continuously monitor S3 bucket configurations and automatically remediate non-compliant resources using AWS Config Rules and AWS Systems Manager Automation documents. When a rule detects that an S3 bucket is publicly accessible, it can trigger an automatic remediation action, such as applying a bucket policy that denies all public access, without manual intervention.
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 Config
Why this is correct
AWS Config rules continuously evaluate the bucket against your desired state; a remediation action then invokes the bucket policy automatically. This satisfies the automatic remediation requirement, unlike services that only detect or report public access without applying policy changes.
- ✗
Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
GuardDuty detects threats and generates findings; it cannot apply bucket policies, so remediation would remain manual. It is tempting because GuardDuty does surface S3 public-access findings, and would be the right choice if the question asked which service identifies the exposure rather than fixes it.
- ✗
AWS Trusted Advisor
Why it's wrong here
Trusted Advisor only reports checks such as public S3 permissions; it has no mechanism to attach a bucket policy. It is tempting because it flags publicly accessible buckets, and would be correct if the question asked how to identify the misconfiguration rather than automatically remediate it.
- ✗
AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail records API activity and delivers audit logs; it cannot modify bucket policies or block public access. It would be correct for investigating who changed the bucket, but automated remediation requires a service that evaluates and applies policy, such as AWS Config.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
Go deeper
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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.