This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of security logging and monitoring. Examine the command output carefully: the correct answer depends on what the output actually shows, not on general recall alone. 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 runs the CLI command above to investigate a console login event. The output shows: {"type":"Root","principalId":"123456789012","arn":"arn:aws:iam::123456789012:root"}. What does this indicate?
A federated user performed the console login.
Why wrong: Federated users have type FederatedUser.
An AWS service performed the console login.
Why wrong: Services have type AssumedRole.
An IAM user in the account performed the console login.
Why wrong: The type is Root, not IAMUser.
The AWS account root user performed the console login.
The userIdentity indicates root user.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
The AWS account root user performed the console login.
The output shows `"type":"Root"` and `"arn":"arn:aws:iam::123456789012:root"`, which are the exact identifiers AWS CloudTrail uses to record an action performed by the AWS account root user. The root user is the account owner with full administrative access, and its principal ARN always ends with `:root`. This confirms that the console login was performed by the root user, not by any other identity.
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.
A federated user performed the console login.
Why it's wrong here
Federated users have type FederatedUser.
An AWS service performed the console login.
Why it's wrong here
Services have type AssumedRole.
An IAM user in the account performed the console login.
Why it's wrong here
The type is Root, not IAMUser.
The AWS account root user performed the console login.
Why this is correct
The userIdentity indicates root user.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates may confuse the `:root` suffix in the ARN with an IAM user named 'root', but AWS reserves the `:root` ARN exclusively for the account root user, and any IAM user would have a distinct ARN with a username after `:user/`.
Detailed technical explanation
The CloudTrail `userIdentity` field distinguishes between identity types using the `type` key: `Root` for the account root user, `IAMUser` for IAM users, `AssumedRole` for roles, and `FederatedUser` for federated identities. The root user ARN is unique because it does not include a resource name after the account ID—it simply ends with `:root`. This distinction is critical for security monitoring, as root user activity should be rare and tightly controlled, often triggering alerts in tools like AWS CloudWatch Events or Security Hub.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
What to study next
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FAQ
Security Logging and Monitoring — This question tests Security Logging and Monitoring — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: The AWS account root user performed the console login. — The output shows `"type":"Root"` and `"arn":"arn:aws:iam::123456789012:root"`, which are the exact identifiers AWS CloudTrail uses to record an action performed by the AWS account root user. The root user is the account owner with full administrative access, and its principal ARN always ends with `:root`. This confirms that the console login was performed by the root user, not by any other identity.
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: 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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