- A
Amazon GuardDuty
Why wrong: GuardDuty is for real-time threat detection, not historical analysis.
- B
VPC Flow Logs
VPC Flow Logs capture network traffic metadata.
- C
Amazon CloudWatch Logs
Why wrong: CloudWatch Logs can store logs but is not optimized for analysis.
- D
AWS CloudTrail
Why wrong: CloudTrail records API calls, not network traffic.
- E
Amazon Athena
Athena can query VPC Flow Logs stored in S3.
Question 785 of 1,748
SCS-C02 Security Logging and Monitoring Practice Question
This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of security logging and monitoring. 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 engineer is investigating a potential security incident. Which TWO AWS services can be used to analyze historical network traffic patterns? (Choose TWO.)
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
✓
VPC Flow Logs
VPC Flow Logs capture IP traffic metadata (source/destination IP, ports, protocol, packet/byte counts) for network interfaces in a VPC. They are stored in Amazon CloudWatch Logs or Amazon S3, enabling historical analysis of network traffic patterns. Athena can query VPC Flow Logs stored in S3 using SQL, making it a powerful tool for analyzing historical traffic patterns at scale.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
GuardDuty is for real-time threat detection, not historical analysis.
- ✓
VPC Flow Logs
Why this is correct
VPC Flow Logs capture network traffic metadata.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Amazon CloudWatch Logs
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch Logs can store logs but is not optimized for analysis.
- ✗
AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail records API calls, not network traffic.
- ✓
Amazon Athena
Why this is correct
Athena can query VPC Flow Logs stored in S3.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse CloudWatch Logs (a storage/monitoring service) with Athena (a query service), or mistakenly think CloudTrail captures network traffic data instead of API activity, leading them to select CloudWatch Logs or CloudTrail instead of Athena.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
VPC Flow Logs capture network flows using the 5-tuple (source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port, protocol) and are aggregated over a capture window (default 10 minutes, but can be set to 1 minute for higher granularity). When stored in S3, Athena uses the SerDe (Serializer/Deserializer) for CSV or Parquet formats to parse the logs, allowing complex queries like identifying top talkers, unusual port scans, or traffic to known malicious IPs. A subtle behavior: VPC Flow Logs do not capture traffic to Amazon DNS servers (169.254.169.253) or instance metadata (169.254.169.254), which can mislead investigations if not accounted for.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
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 |
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SCS-C02 question test?
Security Logging and Monitoring — This question tests Security Logging and Monitoring — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: VPC Flow Logs — VPC Flow Logs capture IP traffic metadata (source/destination IP, ports, protocol, packet/byte counts) for network interfaces in a VPC. They are stored in Amazon CloudWatch Logs or Amazon S3, enabling historical analysis of network traffic patterns. Athena can query VPC Flow Logs stored in S3 using SQL, making it a powerful tool for analyzing historical traffic patterns at scale.
What should I do if I get this SCS-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 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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