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Question 1,569 of 1,748

Management and Security Governance →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

Enforce S3 Bucket Encryption Across AWS Organization with SCP

This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of management and security governance. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. A key principle to apply: aWS Config. 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 company uses AWS Organizations with multiple accounts and wants to ensure that all newly created S3 buckets have encryption enabled. The Security team needs a solution that automatically remediates non-compliant buckets without manual intervention. What should they do?

A
Apply a service control policy (SCP) that denies the s3:PutBucketPublicAccessBlock and s3:PutBucketEncryption actions unless the bucket has encryption enabled.
Why wrong: Incorrect. This SCP is circular and unenforceable; it denies s3:PutBucketEncryption unless the bucket already has encryption enabled, which cannot be satisfied when creating a bucket. SCPs cannot enforce configuration requirements on bucket creation - they only control permissions.
B
Use an S3 bucket policy that denies PutObject unless the request includes the x-amz-server-side-encryption header.
Why wrong: This denies object uploads without encryption but does not enforce encryption at the bucket level during creation.
C
Enable AWS Config with the s3-bucket-server-side-encryption-enabled rule and set up automatic remediation using Systems Manager Automation.
Correct. AWS Config's s3-bucket-server-side-encryption-enabled rule detects buckets without encryption, and automatic remediation using Systems Manager Automation can enable encryption on existing buckets or prevent creation of non-compliant ones through proactive rules.
D
Create an IAM role with permissions to enforce encryption and attach it to all accounts in the organization.
Why wrong: IAM roles do not enforce encryption on bucket creation; they grant permissions but do not set bucket properties.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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 AWS Config with the s3-bucket-server-side-encryption-enabled rule and set up automatic remediation using Systems Manager Automation.

Option C is correct because AWS Config can continuously evaluate S3 buckets against the s3-bucket-server-side-encryption-enabled rule and automatically remediate non-compliant buckets using Systems Manager Automation, requiring no manual intervention. Option A is incorrect because a service control policy (SCP) cannot enforce encryption on bucket creation; the described SCP is circular and unenforceable since it denies s3:PutBucketEncryption unless encryption is already enabled, which is impossible to satisfy at creation time.

Key principle: AWS Config

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

✗
Apply a service control policy (SCP) that denies the s3:PutBucketPublicAccessBlock and s3:PutBucketEncryption actions unless the bucket has encryption enabled.
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. This SCP is circular and unenforceable; it denies s3:PutBucketEncryption unless the bucket already has encryption enabled, which cannot be satisfied when creating a bucket. SCPs cannot enforce configuration requirements on bucket creation - they only control permissions.
✗
Use an S3 bucket policy that denies PutObject unless the request includes the x-amz-server-side-encryption header.
Why it's wrong here
This denies object uploads without encryption but does not enforce encryption at the bucket level during creation.
✓
Enable AWS Config with the s3-bucket-server-side-encryption-enabled rule and set up automatic remediation using Systems Manager Automation.
Why this is correct
Correct. AWS Config's s3-bucket-server-side-encryption-enabled rule detects buckets without encryption, and automatic remediation using Systems Manager Automation can enable encryption on existing buckets or prevent creation of non-compliant ones through proactive rules.
Related concept
AWS Config
✗
Create an IAM role with permissions to enforce encryption and attach it to all accounts in the organization.
Why it's wrong here
IAM roles do not enforce encryption on bucket creation; they grant permissions but do not set bucket properties.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

Candidates often think SCPs can enforce encryption on resource creation, but SCPs only control API permissions, not resource configuration. The correct approach is reactive remediation via AWS Config and automation, not proactive denial through SCPs.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Service control policies (SCPs) are evaluated before any IAM or resource-based policies, meaning they can block actions at the AWS Organizations level even if an IAM policy allows them. The SCP in option A uses a condition key (e.g., s3:x-amz-server-side-encryption or a bucket-level encryption condition) to deny the s3:PutBucketEncryption action unless encryption is already enabled, effectively requiring encryption at bucket creation time. This approach ensures that no unencrypted S3 bucket can be created across the entire organization, which is critical for compliance frameworks like PCI DSS or HIPAA that mandate encryption at rest.

KKey Concepts to Remember

AWS Config
Automatic Remediation

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

AWS Config

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.

Quick reference

AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison

Storage Class	Min Duration	Retrieval	Use Case
S3 Standard	None	Immediate	Frequently accessed data
S3 Standard-IA	30 days	Immediate	Infrequent access, rapid retrieval
S3 One Zone-IA	30 days	Immediate	Non-critical infrequent data
S3 Intelligent-Tiering	None	Immediate–hours	Unknown or changing access patterns
S3 Glacier Instant	90 days	Milliseconds	Archive with instant retrieval
S3 Glacier Flexible	90 days	Minutes–hours	Archive, flexible retrieval
S3 Glacier Deep Archive	180 days	Hours	Long-term compliance archive

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Review aWS Config, then practise related SCS-C02 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this SCS-C02 question test?

Management and Security Governance — This question tests Management and Security Governance — AWS Config.

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Enable AWS Config with the s3-bucket-server-side-encryption-enabled rule and set up automatic remediation using Systems Manager Automation. — Option C is correct because AWS Config can continuously evaluate S3 buckets against the s3-bucket-server-side-encryption-enabled rule and automatically remediate non-compliant buckets using Systems Manager Automation, requiring no manual intervention. Option A is incorrect because a service control policy (SCP) cannot enforce encryption on bucket creation; the described SCP is circular and unenforceable since it denies s3:PutBucketEncryption unless encryption is already enabled, which is impossible to satisfy at creation time.

What should I do if I get this SCS-C02 question wrong?

Review aWS Config, then practise related SCS-C02 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.

What is the key concept behind this question?

AWS Config

About these practice questions

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Same concept, more angles

1 more ways this is tested on SCS-C02

These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.

Variation 1. A company has an AWS environment with multiple accounts managed under AWS Organizations. The security team wants to enforce that all newly created S3 buckets in any account have encryption enabled by default. Which approach should the security team take?

medium

A.Use AWS Config rules to detect unencrypted buckets and send alerts.
B.Enable S3 default encryption in each account's S3 settings.
C.Apply an IAM policy to the root user of each account to enforce bucket encryption.
✓ D.Create a Service Control Policy (SCP) that denies the creation of S3 buckets without encryption.

Why D: Option D is correct because a Service Control Policy (SCP) can be applied at the organizational level to deny the creation of S3 buckets without encryption, enforcing the policy across all accounts proactively. Option A is wrong because AWS Config rules are reactive and only detect violations after buckets are created. Option B is wrong because S3 default encryption is a bucket-level setting that must be configured per bucket, not an organization-wide enforcement. Option C is wrong because IAM policies are account-specific and cannot be centrally enforced across all accounts in the organization.

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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.