Question 499 of 1,570
SCS-C02 Data Protection Practice Question
A startup is building a web application on AWS and needs to protect sensitive customer data at rest in an Amazon RDS for MySQL database. The compliance team requires that the encryption keys be managed by the company's on-premises hardware security module (HSM) and be rotated every 6 months. Which solution should the startup use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse AWS CloudHSM (a dedicated HSM service where you manage keys directly) with AWS KMS custom key stores (which also use CloudHSM but are managed through KMS), leading them to choose option D, which does not allow the company to manage keys on their own on-premises HSM.
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
✓
Use AWS CloudHSM to store the encryption keys and enable RDS encryption with CloudHSM.
AWS CloudHSM provides a dedicated hardware security module (HSM) that allows you to manage encryption keys on-premises-style, meeting the requirement for key management on the company's own HSM. When you enable Amazon RDS for MySQL encryption with CloudHSM, the database encryption keys are stored and managed in the CloudHSM cluster, and you can rotate them every 6 months as required. This solution directly satisfies the compliance team's mandate for on-premises HSM key management and periodic rotation.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Use AWS CloudHSM to store the encryption keys and enable RDS encryption with CloudHSM.
Why this is correct
CloudHSM provides a dedicated HSM that you control, and RDS can be encrypted using keys from CloudHSM.
- ✗
Use AWS KMS with a customer master key (CMK) and import key material from the on-premises HSM.
Why it's wrong here
KMS does not allow direct use of an external HSM for key management; imported key material is still inside KMS.
- ✗
Store the encryption keys in AWS Secrets Manager and use them to encrypt the database.
Why it's wrong here
Secrets Manager is not designed for database encryption at rest; it's for application secrets.
- ✗
Use AWS KMS with a custom key store backed by AWS CloudHSM.
Why it's wrong here
This uses CloudHSM but the key management is still through KMS, and you don't directly control the HSM.
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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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