Quick Answer
The answer is VPC Traffic Mirroring, which is the correct choice because it captures and inspects network traffic at the Elastic Network Interface (ENI) level by copying packets from a source ENI to a target, such as a Network Load Balancer or another ENI, enabling deep packet inspection for forensic analysis without disrupting production traffic. On the AWS Certified Security Specialty SCS-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of incident response tools that operate at Layer 2–4, and a common trap is confusing Traffic Mirroring with VPC Flow Logs—remember that Flow Logs provide metadata (IPs, ports, protocols) but not packet contents, while Traffic Mirroring gives you the actual packets for full forensic reconstruction. For memory, think "Mirror = full packet copy for forensics, Flow = metadata logs for visibility."
This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of threat detection and incident response. 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 compromise of an EC2 instance. The engineer needs to capture network traffic to and from the instance for forensic analysis. Which AWS service should be used to capture this traffic?
AWS Config
Why wrong: Config records resource configuration changes, not network traffic.
AWS Network Firewall
Why wrong: Network Firewall provides firewall rules, not packet capture.
VPC Traffic Mirroring
VPC Traffic Mirroring replicates network traffic for analysis.
Amazon Inspector
Why wrong: Inspector assesses vulnerabilities; it does not capture traffic.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
VPC Traffic Mirroring
VPC Traffic Mirroring captures and inspects network traffic at the Elastic Network Interface (ENI) level by copying packets from a source ENI to a target, such as a Network Load Balancer or another ENI. This allows the security engineer to perform deep packet inspection and forensic analysis without impacting the production traffic flow. It supports both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic and can filter by protocol, port, or packet direction, making it ideal for incident response scenarios.
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.
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
Config records resource configuration changes, not network traffic.
AWS Network Firewall
Why it's wrong here
Network Firewall provides firewall rules, not packet capture.
VPC Traffic Mirroring
Why this is correct
VPC Traffic Mirroring replicates network traffic for analysis.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Amazon Inspector
Why it's wrong here
Inspector assesses vulnerabilities; it does not capture traffic.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates confuse VPC Traffic Mirroring with AWS Network Firewall, assuming that a firewall inherently captures traffic, but Network Firewall only inspects and filters traffic in-line without providing a separate packet capture stream for forensic analysis.
Detailed technical explanation
VPC Traffic Mirroring uses a mirror filter to define which packets to capture (e.g., TCP port 443 or all traffic) and a mirror session that binds the source ENI, target, and filter. The captured traffic is encapsulated using VXLAN (UDP port 4789) to preserve the original packet headers, allowing tools like Wireshark or Suricata to analyze the mirrored traffic. In a real-world forensic investigation, this enables the engineer to reconstruct sessions and identify indicators of compromise (IOCs) without disrupting the instance's network stack.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A healthcare organisation deploys an application with a public-facing web tier and a private database tier. The database subnet has no public IP and only accepts connections from the web tier's security group. Questions like this test whether you can design cloud network isolation using VNets/VPCs, subnets, and security group rules.
What to study next
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Threat Detection and Incident Response — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Threat Detection and Incident Response — This question tests Threat Detection and Incident Response — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: VPC Traffic Mirroring — VPC Traffic Mirroring captures and inspects network traffic at the Elastic Network Interface (ENI) level by copying packets from a source ENI to a target, such as a Network Load Balancer or another ENI. This allows the security engineer to perform deep packet inspection and forensic analysis without impacting the production traffic flow. It supports both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic and can filter by protocol, port, or packet direction, making it ideal for incident response scenarios.
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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