SCS-C02 Identity and Access Management Practice Question
A security team needs to audit all changes to IAM resources in their AWS account. Which AWS service should they use?
⚠ Common exam trap
SCS-C02 often tests the distinction between CloudTrail (API activity audit), AWS Config (resource configuration history and compliance), and VPC Flow Logs (network traffic metadata), so candidates must match the service to the specific audit requirement — IAM changes require CloudTrail.
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 records API activity across the AWS account, including all IAM resource changes such as CreateUser, AttachPolicy, DeleteRole, and UpdateAssumeRolePolicy. It captures the identity of the caller, the time, the source IP, and the request parameters, making it the authoritative audit trail for IAM modifications. CloudTrail event history provides 90 days of management events by default, and trails can deliver logs to S3 for long-term retention.
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 IP traffic metadata for network interfaces, recording accepted and rejected connections rather than IAM API activity. It is tempting for security auditing generally, but it would be correct for diagnosing connectivity, security group, or NACL behaviour.
- ✓
AWS CloudTrail
Why this is correct
AWS CloudTrail records API activity across the account, including every IAM create, update, and delete operation, with the identity, timestamp, and source IP. This provides the complete audit trail the security team needs to track all IAM resource changes.
- ✗
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config records resource configuration states and compliance over time, but IAM API calls such as CreateUser or AttachRolePolicy are captured by CloudTrail, which logs the identity, time, and request parameters of each management event. Config suits tracking configuration drift instead.
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Amazon CloudWatch Logs
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch Logs stores application, system, and custom log streams; IAM change events are not delivered there by default. It is tempting as a central log repository, but it would be correct for querying metrics, alarms, or logs explicitly routed from CloudTrail.
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 and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Amazon Web Services exam blueprint
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.