The answer is to use AWS Site-to-Site VPN for on-premises connectivity, along with enforcing TLS for Elastic Load Balancers and HTTPS on CloudFront. These three options are correct because they each apply a recognized encryption protocol—TLS or IPsec—to protect data as it traverses networks, ensuring confidentiality and integrity against interception or tampering. On the AWS Certified Security Specialty SCS-C02 exam, this question tests your ability to distinguish between services that enforce encryption in transit versus those that merely accelerate or connect without encryption. A common trap is confusing S3 Transfer Acceleration or VPC Peering with encrypted solutions; remember that Transfer Acceleration uses optimized routing but no encryption, and VPC Peering traffic stays within AWS’s private network but is not automatically encrypted. For a quick memory tip, think “VPN, TLS, HTTPS” as the three pillars of transit encryption, and note that any option lacking a specific encryption protocol (like IPsec or TLS) is likely a distractor.
SCS-C02 Data Protection Practice Question
This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of data protection. 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.
Which THREE of the following are best practices for protecting data in transit within AWS? (Choose 3.)
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use TLS listeners on Elastic Load Balancers
Options A, C, and E are correct. Using TLS for ELB, enforcing HTTPS on CloudFront, and using VPN for on-premises connectivity are all best practices. Option B is wrong because S3 Transfer Acceleration does not enforce encryption. Option D is wrong because VPC Peering does not encrypt traffic.
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.
✗
Use VPC Peering with encryption
Why it's wrong here
Wrong: VPC Peering does not encrypt traffic by default.
✓
Use TLS listeners on Elastic Load Balancers
Why this is correct
Correct: TLS encrypts traffic between clients and load balancers.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Enable S3 Transfer Acceleration
Why it's wrong here
Wrong: Transfer Acceleration does not encrypt data.
✓
Configure Amazon CloudFront to require HTTPS
Why this is correct
Correct: Enforces encryption between viewers and CloudFront.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Use AWS Site-to-Site VPN for on-premises connectivity
Why this is correct
Correct: VPN encrypts traffic between on-premises and AWS.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→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.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which SCS-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Data Protection — This question tests Data Protection — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use TLS listeners on Elastic Load Balancers — Options A, C, and E are correct. Using TLS for ELB, enforcing HTTPS on CloudFront, and using VPN for on-premises connectivity are all best practices. Option B is wrong because S3 Transfer Acceleration does not enforce encryption. Option D is wrong because VPC Peering does not encrypt traffic.
What should I do if I get this SCS-C02 question wrong?
Identify which SCS-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
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 →
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 wants to protect data in transit between an EC2 instance and an S3 bucket. Which method should be used?
easy
A.Use a VPN connection with IPsec
B.Install an SSL certificate on the EC2 instance
C.Use SSH to transfer files
✓ D.Use HTTPS endpoints for S3 API calls
Why D: Using HTTPS (TLS) encrypts data in transit. Option C is correct. Option A is incorrect because SSL certificates are for web servers. Option B is incorrect because IPsec is for site-to-site VPN. Option D is incorrect because SSH is for remote administration.
Variation 2. A company needs to encrypt data in transit between an on-premises data center and Amazon S3. Which solution should they use?
easy
A.Use AWS KMS to encrypt the data before transmission.
B.Use an S3 VPC endpoint.
✓ C.Use HTTPS endpoints for S3 API calls.
D.Use S3 Transfer Acceleration.
Why C: Option C is correct because HTTPS (HTTP over TLS) encrypts data in transit between the on-premises data center and Amazon S3 by using TLS 1.2/1.3 to secure the API calls. This ensures that all data transmitted over the network is encrypted end-to-end, protecting it from eavesdropping and man-in-the-middle attacks. AWS S3 enforces HTTPS for all API requests when using the default endpoint, and customers can also configure bucket policies to deny HTTP requests.
Variation 3. A company wants to encrypt data in transit between an on-premises data center and AWS over a VPN connection. Which AWS service or feature should be used?
easy
A.AWS Route 53 Resolver
B.AWS Certificate Manager (ACM)
✓ C.AWS Site-to-Site VPN
D.Amazon API Gateway
Why C: Option A is correct because AWS Site-to-Site VPN provides encrypted tunnels. Option B is for domain registration. Option C is for managing SSL certificates. Option D is for API gateway.
Variation 4. A company needs to protect data in transit between an on-premises data center and AWS. Which THREE services can be used to encrypt data in transit?
easy
A.AWS Key Management Service (KMS)
B.AWS Shield
✓ C.HTTPS
✓ D.AWS Site-to-Site VPN
✓ E.AWS Certificate Manager (ACM)
Why C: The correct answers are A, C, and E. Option A: TLS certificates encrypt data in transit. Option C: IPsec VPN encrypts network traffic. Option E: HTTPS encrypts web traffic. Option B: AWS KMS manages encryption keys, not transit. Option D: AWS Shield protects against DDoS attacks, not data encryption.
Variation 5. A company wants to protect data in transit between an on-premises data center and Amazon S3. Which AWS service should be used to establish a dedicated, encrypted connection?
easy
A.AWS Direct Connect without VPN
B.AWS Transit Gateway
✓ C.AWS Direct Connect with an IPsec VPN
D.AWS Site-to-Site VPN over the internet
Why C: AWS Direct Connect with VPN provides a dedicated private connection with encryption. Option A is correct. Option B is for site-to-site VPN over internet, C is for transit, D is private connection without encryption by default.
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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.
Question Discussion
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