Quick Answer
The answer is AWS CloudTrail, because it records every API call made in your AWS account, including all IAM policy changes such as CreatePolicy, PutRolePolicy, and AttachUserPolicy. CloudTrail captures these events as log entries that detail who made the change, the exact timestamp, and the source IP address, creating a complete audit trail for security teams. On the AWS Certified Security Specialty SCS-C02 exam, this concept tests your understanding of how to meet compliance and auditing requirements—a common trap is confusing CloudTrail with AWS Config, which tracks resource configuration changes rather than API-level actions. Remember that CloudTrail is the service for “who did what and when” via API calls, while Config answers “what changed in my resource settings.” A quick memory tip: think of CloudTrail as the “API call recorder” for IAM policy audit trails.
This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of management and security governance. 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 team needs to audit all changes to IAM policies in their AWS account. Which AWS service should they use to record policy changes?
Amazon Inspector
Why wrong: Inspector assesses application security.
AWS CloudTrail
CloudTrail logs all API calls, including IAM policy changes.
Amazon GuardDuty
Why wrong: GuardDuty is a threat detection service.
AWS Config
Why wrong: Config records configuration changes but is not the primary audit trail.
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 in the AWS account, including IAM policy changes (e.g., CreatePolicy, PutRolePolicy, AttachUserPolicy). These events are captured as CloudTrail log entries, providing a complete audit trail of who made the change, when, and from which source IP. This directly meets the requirement to audit all changes to IAM policies.
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.
Amazon Inspector
Why it's wrong here
Inspector assesses application security.
AWS CloudTrail
Why this is correct
CloudTrail logs all API calls, including IAM policy changes.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
GuardDuty is a threat detection service.
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
Config records configuration changes but is not the primary audit trail.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse AWS Config (which tracks resource configuration state) with CloudTrail (which tracks API call history), leading them to choose AWS Config because it can detect drift, but it does not provide the detailed audit trail of who made the change and when.
Detailed technical explanation
CloudTrail records IAM policy changes as management events, which are enabled by default and delivered to an S3 bucket or CloudWatch Logs. Each event includes the user identity (IAM user, role, or federated principal), the request parameters, and the response elements, enabling forensic analysis. A subtle behavior is that CloudTrail does not record read-only IAM operations (e.g., GetPolicy) unless you enable data events, but all write operations like PutRolePolicy are always captured.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
What to study next
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Management and Security Governance — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Management and Security Governance — This question tests Management and Security Governance — 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 in the AWS account, including IAM policy changes (e.g., CreatePolicy, PutRolePolicy, AttachUserPolicy). These events are captured as CloudTrail log entries, providing a complete audit trail of who made the change, when, and from which source IP. This directly meets the requirement to audit all changes to IAM policies.
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.
About these practice questions
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Same concept, more angles
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company needs to audit all changes to IAM policies in their AWS account for compliance. Which AWS service should be enabled to record the API calls that modify IAM policies?
easyWhy C: Option C is correct because AWS CloudTrail records API calls, including IAM policy changes. Option A is incorrect because AWS Config records resource configurations but not API call history. Option B is incorrect because VPC Flow Logs capture network traffic. Option D is incorrect because CloudWatch Logs stores logs but does not capture API calls directly.
Variation 2. A company needs to audit all changes to IAM policies in its AWS account. Which AWS service should be used to record the change history of IAM policies?
mediumWhy C: Option A is correct because AWS CloudTrail records API calls, including IAM policy changes (CreatePolicy, PutPolicy, etc.). Option B is wrong because AWS Config records resource configurations but not the full history of each change. Option C is wrong because Amazon GuardDuty does not log changes. Option D is wrong because AWS CloudWatch Logs stores logs but does not automatically capture IAM changes.
Variation 3. A company needs to audit all changes to IAM policies in their AWS account. Which AWS service should they use to record these changes?
easyWhy D: AWS CloudTrail records API calls, including IAM policy changes. Option B is correct because CloudTrail logs all IAM policy modifications. Option A is wrong because AWS Config records resource state changes but not API calls. Option C is wrong because CloudWatch Logs stores logs but does not record API calls. Option D is wrong because S3 is a storage service.
Variation 4. A security team wants to audit all changes to IAM policies in the AWS account. Which AWS service should be used to track these changes?
easyWhy C: AWS CloudTrail records all API calls, including IAM policy changes. Config records resource configuration changes but CloudTrail provides detailed event history.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 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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