This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of identity and access management. 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 notices that an IAM user has permissions to launch EC2 instances but should not have access to certain instance types. Which IAM policy condition key should be used to restrict this?
ec2:ResourceTag
Why wrong: Used to control access based on tags.
ec2:Tenancy
Why wrong: Used to restrict tenancy (shared or dedicated).
ec2:InstanceProfile
Why wrong: Used to control which instance profile can be attached.
ec2:InstanceType
Allows restriction based on instance type.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
ec2:InstanceType
The ec2:InstanceType condition key allows you to restrict IAM users to launching only specific EC2 instance types (e.g., t2.micro, m5.large) by evaluating the instance type value in the RunInstances API call. This is the correct key to enforce a policy that denies access to certain instance types while permitting others.
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.
ec2:ResourceTag
Why it's wrong here
Used to control access based on tags.
ec2:Tenancy
Why it's wrong here
Used to restrict tenancy (shared or dedicated).
ec2:InstanceProfile
Why it's wrong here
Used to control which instance profile can be attached.
ec2:InstanceType
Why this is correct
Allows restriction based on instance type.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse ec2:InstanceType with ec2:ResourceTag, thinking they can use tags to restrict instance types, but tags are applied after launch and cannot be used to block the initial API call based on instance type.
Detailed technical explanation
The ec2:InstanceType condition key is evaluated against the instance type parameter in the EC2 RunInstances API request, allowing you to create a deny policy for specific types (e.g., 'g4dn.xlarge') while allowing others. Under the hood, AWS IAM policy evaluation uses the condition key to match the exact string value of the instance type, and wildcards can be used for pattern matching (e.g., 't2.*'). In a real-world scenario, this is often combined with a Deny effect to block expensive GPU or compute-optimized instances for cost control.
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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FAQ
Identity and Access Management — This question tests Identity and Access Management — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: ec2:InstanceType — The ec2:InstanceType condition key allows you to restrict IAM users to launching only specific EC2 instance types (e.g., t2.micro, m5.large) by evaluating the instance type value in the RunInstances API call. This is the correct key to enforce a policy that denies access to certain instance types while permitting others.
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.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 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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