The answer is to use a service control policy (SCP) that denies the specific CloudTrail and S3 actions. This is correct because SCPs operate as a centralized permission guardrail at the AWS Organizations root level, effectively overriding any permissive IAM policies or resource-based policies in member accounts, including those of root users. By denying `cloudtrail:StopLogging`, `cloudtrail:DeleteTrail`, `cloudtrail:UpdateTrail`, and `s3:DeleteBucket`, the security team enforces CloudTrail with SCP across hundreds of accounts without relying on individual account compliance. On the SCS-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding that SCPs are the only mechanism that can restrict root user actions and prevent resource deletion from any account, whereas IAM policies alone cannot block root. A common trap is to choose IAM permission boundaries or bucket policies, but those cannot stop a root user in a member account. Memory tip: SCPs are the "supreme court" of AWS Organizations—they deny actions at the organizational level, no matter what lower policies allow.
SCS-C02 Management and Security Governance Practice Question
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 large enterprise uses AWS Organizations with hundreds of accounts. The security team needs to enforce that all accounts have AWS CloudTrail enabled and logs are delivered to a centralized S3 bucket in the management account. The team also wants to ensure that no account can disable CloudTrail or delete the bucket. Which combination of controls meets these requirements?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Use a service control policy (SCP) to deny actions that disable CloudTrail or delete the bucket.
Service control policies (SCPs) are the correct mechanism because they allow the management account to centrally restrict permissions across all accounts in the organization. By creating an SCP that denies the `cloudtrail:StopLogging`, `cloudtrail:DeleteTrail`, `cloudtrail:UpdateTrail`, and `s3:DeleteBucket` actions, the security team can prevent any account (including root users) from disabling CloudTrail or deleting the centralized S3 bucket, regardless of IAM policies or direct resource-based policies.
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.
✗
Enable AWS CloudTrail in the management account and use S3 bucket policies.
Why it's wrong here
This does not enforce logging in member accounts.
✓
Use a service control policy (SCP) to deny actions that disable CloudTrail or delete the bucket.
Why this is correct
SCPs can prevent these actions across all accounts.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use an IAM policy in each account to prevent trail modifications.
Why it's wrong here
IAM policies are per-account and may be overridden by administrators.
✗
Use AWS Config rules to detect and alert on disabled trails.
Why it's wrong here
Alerting is reactive, not preventive.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse detective controls (like AWS Config rules) with preventive controls (like SCPs), or assume that IAM policies in each account are sufficient, not realizing that account administrators can modify or remove those policies.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
SCPs operate at the organization level and are inherited by all accounts, including the management account if applied to the root OU. They effectively create a deny list that overrides any allow in IAM or resource-based policies, making them the only way to enforce a hard block on actions like `cloudtrail:StopLogging` or `s3:DeleteBucket` across hundreds of accounts. Under the hood, SCPs are evaluated before IAM policies and cannot be bypassed by account administrators, ensuring compliance even against privileged users.
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.
Management and Security Governance — This question tests Management and Security Governance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use a service control policy (SCP) to deny actions that disable CloudTrail or delete the bucket. — Service control policies (SCPs) are the correct mechanism because they allow the management account to centrally restrict permissions across all accounts in the organization. By creating an SCP that denies the `cloudtrail:StopLogging`, `cloudtrail:DeleteTrail`, `cloudtrail:UpdateTrail`, and `s3:DeleteBucket` actions, the security team can prevent any account (including root users) from disabling CloudTrail or deleting the centralized S3 bucket, regardless of IAM policies or direct resource-based policies.
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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Question Discussion
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