Quick Answer
The answer is VPC Flow Logs and AWS CloudTrail. VPC Flow Logs capture metadata about all IP traffic to and from network interfaces, including source and destination IPs, ports, protocols, and packet counts, providing direct evidence of data being transferred to an external IP from a compromised EC2 instance. CloudTrail records API calls made within the AWS environment, such as those executed by the instance’s IAM role or via the AWS CLI, revealing actions like initiating data transfers or modifying security groups to facilitate exfiltration. On the AWS Certified Security Specialty SCS-C02 exam, this pairing tests your ability to distinguish between network-level evidence (Flow Logs) and control-plane evidence (CloudTrail) for incident investigation. A common trap is confusing CloudTrail with CloudWatch Logs, which capture application logs, not API calls. Memory tip: think “Flow for flows, Trail for trails”—Flow Logs track network traffic flows, CloudTrail tracks the API trail of actions taken.
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 data exfiltration incident where an attacker used a compromised EC2 instance to transfer data to an external IP. Which TWO AWS services can provide evidence of the network traffic and the API calls made from the instance?
VPC Flow Logs
Captures IP traffic information.
AWS Config
Why wrong: Tracks configuration changes, not network or API logs.
Amazon GuardDuty
Why wrong: Provides findings, not raw logs.
Amazon Inspector
Why wrong: Scans for vulnerabilities, not evidence of exfiltration.
AWS CloudTrail
Logs API calls made by the instance or from it.
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 Flow Logs
VPC Flow Logs capture metadata about IP traffic going to and from network interfaces, including the source/destination IP, ports, protocol, and packet/byte counts. This provides direct evidence of data being transferred to an external IP address from the compromised EC2 instance. AWS CloudTrail records API calls made within the AWS environment, such as those executed by the EC2 instance's IAM role or the instance itself (e.g., via the AWS CLI or SDK), which can reveal actions like starting data transfers or modifying security groups to allow exfiltration.
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.
VPC Flow Logs
Why this is correct
Captures IP traffic information.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
Tracks configuration changes, not network or API logs.
Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
Provides findings, not raw logs.
Amazon Inspector
Why it's wrong here
Scans for vulnerabilities, not evidence of exfiltration.
AWS CloudTrail
Why this is correct
Logs API calls made by the instance or from it.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Amazon GuardDuty as a source of raw evidence (like logs) when it is actually a detection service that consumes logs from other services (VPC Flow Logs, CloudTrail, DNS logs) to generate alerts, not a storage or retrieval service for the underlying traffic or API data.
Detailed technical explanation
VPC Flow Logs capture traffic metadata at the network interface level, including accepted and rejected packets, but do not capture packet payloads—so they show the 'five-tuple' (source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port, protocol) and traffic volume, which is sufficient to prove data exfiltration to an external IP. CloudTrail records management and data events; for EC2, it can log API calls like 'RunInstances', 'AssociateIamInstanceProfile', or 'SendCommand' (via Systems Manager), but note that API calls originating from within the instance (e.g., using the instance's IAM role) are logged only if the instance makes calls to AWS APIs—not arbitrary outbound network connections. In a real-world scenario, an attacker might use the instance's IAM role to call 'S3:PutObject' to exfiltrate data to an S3 bucket, and CloudTrail would capture that API call, while VPC Flow Logs would show the network traffic to the S3 endpoint IP.
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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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 Flow Logs — VPC Flow Logs capture metadata about IP traffic going to and from network interfaces, including the source/destination IP, ports, protocol, and packet/byte counts. This provides direct evidence of data being transferred to an external IP address from the compromised EC2 instance. AWS CloudTrail records API calls made within the AWS environment, such as those executed by the EC2 instance's IAM role or the instance itself (e.g., via the AWS CLI or SDK), which can reveal actions like starting data transfers or modifying security groups to allow exfiltration.
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
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