- A
Create an AWS CloudTrail trail in each account and aggregate logs to a central S3 bucket.
Why wrong: Requires manual setup in each account and doesn't provide built-in alerting.
- B
Use IAM Access Analyzer to find resources shared with external entities.
Why wrong: Does not detect root user activity.
- C
Use AWS Config rules to detect root user usage in each account.
Why wrong: Config rules are per account and require custom Lambda logic.
- D
Enable Amazon GuardDuty in the management account and use the delegated administrator feature.
GuardDuty centrally detects root user activity across accounts.
Question 1,258 of 1,748
SCS-C02 Security Logging and Monitoring Practice Question
This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of security logging and monitoring. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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.
An organization wants to detect and alert on the use of root user credentials in their AWS accounts. They have multiple accounts managed via AWS Organizations. What is the most efficient way to centralize this monitoring?
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
✓
Enable Amazon GuardDuty in the management account and use the delegated administrator feature.
Option D is correct because Amazon GuardDuty, when enabled in the management account with a delegated administrator, can centrally monitor and detect suspicious activity—including root user credential usage—across all member accounts in AWS Organizations. This approach eliminates the need to configure per-account monitoring and provides a single pane of glass for security alerts, making it the most efficient centralized solution.
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.
- ✗
Create an AWS CloudTrail trail in each account and aggregate logs to a central S3 bucket.
Why it's wrong here
Requires manual setup in each account and doesn't provide built-in alerting.
- ✗
Use IAM Access Analyzer to find resources shared with external entities.
Why it's wrong here
Does not detect root user activity.
- ✗
Use AWS Config rules to detect root user usage in each account.
Why it's wrong here
Config rules are per account and require custom Lambda logic.
- ✓
Enable Amazon GuardDuty in the management account and use the delegated administrator feature.
Why this is correct
GuardDuty centrally detects root user activity across accounts.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume CloudTrail or AWS Config are sufficient for monitoring root user usage, but they overlook GuardDuty's purpose-built, centralized detection capability for security events like root credential usage across multi-account environments.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
GuardDuty uses integrated threat intelligence and machine learning to analyze CloudTrail management events, VPC Flow Logs, and DNS logs; it specifically includes a finding type called 'RootCredentialUsage' that triggers when root user credentials are used. As a delegated administrator, the management account can enable GuardDuty across all member accounts with a single action, and findings are automatically aggregated in the administrator account, reducing operational overhead. In a real-world scenario with hundreds of accounts, this centralized approach avoids the complexity of setting up per-account CloudTrail alerts or custom Lambda functions.
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 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
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: Enable Amazon GuardDuty in the management account and use the delegated administrator feature. — Option D is correct because Amazon GuardDuty, when enabled in the management account with a delegated administrator, can centrally monitor and detect suspicious activity—including root user credential usage—across all member accounts in AWS Organizations. This approach eliminates the need to configure per-account monitoring and provides a single pane of glass for security alerts, making it the most efficient centralized solution.
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.
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Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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