Quick Answer
The answer is AWS IAM Access Analyzer. This service is the correct choice because it continuously monitors resource policies, including S3 bucket policies, and generates findings specifically for external access granted to principals from other AWS accounts. When a security engineer needs to check if external access to an S3 bucket is intended, IAM Access Analyzer provides a centralized dashboard of these findings, allowing you to review each one and archive it as intended if the access is legitimate. On the AWS Certified Security Specialty SCS-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of automated policy analysis tools versus manual review; a common trap is confusing IAM Access Analyzer with S3 Access Logs or CloudTrail, which only show past activity, not policy-based external access risks. Remember the memory tip: “Analyzer for the policy, not the logs”—IAM Access Analyzer evaluates the bucket policy itself for unintended external access, while other tools track who actually accessed the data.
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 engineer notices that an S3 bucket policy allows access to a principal from another AWS account. Which AWS feature can be used to check if this external access is intended?
AWS Trusted Advisor bucket permissions check
Why wrong: Checks public and cross-account access but does not show if intended.
AWS Config rule s3-bucket-public-read-prohibited
Why wrong: Only checks for public, not cross-account.
AWS CloudTrail event history
Why wrong: Shows who accessed but not if intended.
AWS IAM Access Analyzer
Identifies external access and allows you to review and validate.
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 IAM Access Analyzer
IAM Access Analyzer generates findings for external access to S3 buckets. You can review and archive findings if intended.
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 Trusted Advisor bucket permissions check
Why it's wrong here
Checks public and cross-account access but does not show if intended.
AWS Config rule s3-bucket-public-read-prohibited
Why it's wrong here
Only checks for public, not cross-account.
AWS CloudTrail event history
Why it's wrong here
Shows who accessed but not if intended.
AWS IAM Access Analyzer
Why this is correct
Identifies external access and allows you to review and validate.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
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.
Trap categories for this question
Command / output trap
Checks public and cross-account access but does not show if intended.
Detailed technical explanation
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.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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
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.
Management and Security Governance — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
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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 IAM Access Analyzer — IAM Access Analyzer generates findings for external access to S3 buckets. You can review and archive findings if intended.
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.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 20, 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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