Quick Answer
The answer is AWS Organizations with service control policies (SCPs). This is the correct choice because SCPs allow you to centrally manage permissions across multiple AWS accounts by defining a permission guardrail at the organization or organizational unit level, effectively setting the maximum allowable actions for all IAM principals within those accounts. Unlike IAM policies that grant permissions within a single account, SCPs restrict what even an account’s own admin can do, making them essential for enforcing a consistent security baseline. On the AWS Certified Security Specialty SCS-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of the difference between identity-based policies and account-level guardrails—a common trap is confusing SCPs with IAM permission boundaries or cross-account roles. Remember the memory tip: SCPs are the “ceiling” for permissions, not the floor; they can only deny, never grant, so think of them as a maximum limit sign above every account in your organization.
This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of management and security governance. 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 needs to centrally manage permissions for multiple AWS accounts. Which AWS service should they use?
AWS IAM
Why wrong: IAM is per-account, not multi-account.
AWS Config
Why wrong: Config is for resource compliance.
AWS Organizations with service control policies (SCPs)
Organizations centrally manage accounts and permissions.
AWS CloudTrail
Why wrong: CloudTrail is for logging API calls.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
AWS Organizations with service control policies (SCPs)
AWS Organizations with service control policies (SCPs) is the correct choice because SCPs allow you to centrally manage permissions across multiple AWS accounts by defining maximum permissions for member accounts. Unlike IAM policies that are attached to users or roles within a single account, SCPs act as a guardrail at the organization or organizational unit (OU) level, restricting what actions accounts and their IAM principals can perform, even if the account's own IAM policies allow more.
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 IAM
Why it's wrong here
IAM is per-account, not multi-account.
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
Config is for resource compliance.
AWS Organizations with service control policies (SCPs)
Why this is correct
Organizations centrally manage accounts and permissions.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail is for logging API calls.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse AWS IAM (which manages permissions within a single account) with the need for cross-account permission management, leading them to select IAM instead of recognizing that AWS Organizations with SCPs is the correct service for central governance across multiple accounts.
Detailed technical explanation
SCPs are JSON-based policies that use the same policy language as IAM but are applied at the root, OU, or account level within AWS Organizations. They do not grant permissions; they define an upper boundary that IAM policies cannot exceed, effectively creating a deny-by-default or allow-list structure. In a real-world multi-account environment, SCPs can be used to enforce restrictions like blocking the deletion of CloudTrail logs or preventing the use of specific AWS services across all accounts, while still allowing account administrators to manage their own IAM policies within those boundaries.
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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Management and Security Governance — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Management and Security Governance — This question tests Management and Security Governance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: AWS Organizations with service control policies (SCPs) — AWS Organizations with service control policies (SCPs) is the correct choice because SCPs allow you to centrally manage permissions across multiple AWS accounts by defining maximum permissions for member accounts. Unlike IAM policies that are attached to users or roles within a single account, SCPs act as a guardrail at the organization or organizational unit (OU) level, restricting what actions accounts and their IAM principals can perform, even if the account's own IAM policies allow more.
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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