- A
VPC Flow Logs and Amazon CloudWatch Logs
Why wrong: VPC Flow Logs capture network traffic, not instance lifecycle events.
- B
AWS CloudTrail and Amazon EventBridge
CloudTrail logs the TerminateInstances event, and EventBridge can trigger an SNS notification.
- C
AWS Config and Amazon SNS
Why wrong: AWS Config can detect termination but may have a delay; CloudTrail is more real-time.
- D
Amazon CloudWatch Alarms and Amazon SNS
Why wrong: CloudWatch Alarms monitor metrics like CPU, not API calls.
Question 1,257 of 1,748
How to Detect When an EC2 Instance is Terminated Instantly
This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of security logging and monitoring. 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 needs to detect when an EC2 instance is terminated in an AWS account. The solution must provide near-real-time notification. Which combination of services should be used?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
AWS CloudTrail and Amazon EventBridge
AWS CloudTrail captures API calls, including TerminateInstances, as management events. Amazon EventBridge can filter these events in near real-time and trigger a notification action (e.g., via SNS or Lambda). This combination provides immediate detection of EC2 termination without polling or delays.
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.
- ✗
VPC Flow Logs and Amazon CloudWatch Logs
Why it's wrong here
VPC Flow Logs capture network traffic, not instance lifecycle events.
- ✓
AWS CloudTrail and Amazon EventBridge
Why this is correct
CloudTrail logs the TerminateInstances event, and EventBridge can trigger an SNS notification.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
AWS Config and Amazon SNS
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config can detect termination but may have a delay; CloudTrail is more real-time.
- ✗
Amazon CloudWatch Alarms and Amazon SNS
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch Alarms monitor metrics like CPU, not API calls.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse CloudWatch Alarms (which monitor metrics) with event-driven services like EventBridge, failing to recognize that EC2 termination is an API event, not a metric change, and thus requires CloudTrail as the event source.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
CloudTrail delivers management events to EventBridge within approximately 15 minutes of the API call, but for near-real-time needs, you can enable CloudTrail Insights or use EventBridge's built-in filtering on the 'detail.eventName' field with a value of 'TerminateInstances'. EventBridge supports rule-based routing to targets like SNS, Lambda, or SQS, enabling immediate downstream actions such as sending an email or invoking a remediation workflow. Under the hood, EventBridge uses an event bus that processes events as they arrive, ensuring sub-second latency from event ingestion to target invocation.
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.
TExam Day Tips
- 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 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.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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Security Logging and Monitoring — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SCS-C02 question test?
Security Logging and Monitoring — This question tests Security Logging and Monitoring — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: AWS CloudTrail and Amazon EventBridge — AWS CloudTrail captures API calls, including TerminateInstances, as management events. Amazon EventBridge can filter these events in near real-time and trigger a notification action (e.g., via SNS or Lambda). This combination provides immediate detection of EC2 termination without polling or delays.
What should I do if I get this SCS-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 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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