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.
During a security incident, a forensic investigator needs to capture the memory of a running EC2 instance without shutting it down. Which AWS feature should be used?
Amazon CloudWatch agent
Why wrong: CloudWatch agent collects metrics, not memory dumps.
EC2 Rescue for Linux or Systems Manager Run Command with a memory dump script
These tools can capture memory without stopping the instance.
AWS CloudTrail
Why wrong: CloudTrail logs API calls, not memory.
Amazon EBS snapshot
Why wrong: EBS snapshots capture disk state, not memory.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
EC2 Rescue for Linux or Systems Manager Run Command with a memory dump script
Option B is correct because EC2 Rescue for Linux (via Systems Manager Run Command) includes a built-in script that can capture a full memory dump from a running EC2 instance without requiring a shutdown. This is essential for forensic analysis to preserve volatile data like running processes, network connections, and kernel structures. The script leverages the Linux 'vmcore' or 'LiME' (Linux Memory Extractor) tool to safely extract memory contents while the instance remains operational.
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.
Amazon CloudWatch agent
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch agent collects metrics, not memory dumps.
EC2 Rescue for Linux or Systems Manager Run Command with a memory dump script
Why this is correct
These tools can capture memory without stopping the instance.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail logs API calls, not memory.
Amazon EBS snapshot
Why it's wrong here
EBS snapshots capture disk state, not memory.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse capturing volatile memory with taking a disk snapshot (Option D), not realizing that memory is stored in RAM and is not preserved by EBS snapshots, which only capture persistent storage.
Detailed technical explanation
Memory acquisition on EC2 instances typically requires kernel-level access; EC2 Rescue for Linux uses the 'LiME' kernel module to dump memory to a file, which is then uploaded to S3 for analysis. The script must be run with root privileges and may require the instance to have the 'kernel-devel' package installed to compile the LiME module against the running kernel. In a real-world incident, the investigator must ensure the instance has sufficient free disk space (at least the size of RAM) to store the dump file before executing the command.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
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: EC2 Rescue for Linux or Systems Manager Run Command with a memory dump script — Option B is correct because EC2 Rescue for Linux (via Systems Manager Run Command) includes a built-in script that can capture a full memory dump from a running EC2 instance without requiring a shutdown. This is essential for forensic analysis to preserve volatile data like running processes, network connections, and kernel structures. The script leverages the Linux 'vmcore' or 'LiME' (Linux Memory Extractor) tool to safely extract memory contents while the instance remains operational.
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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