- A
AWS Config and AWS Lambda
Why wrong: Config tracks resource changes, not API calls.
- B
Amazon GuardDuty and AWS Lambda
Why wrong: GuardDuty does not specifically monitor root usage.
- C
S3 server access logs and Amazon Inspector
Why wrong: S3 logs are for object access, Inspector for vulnerabilities.
- D
AWS CloudTrail, Amazon CloudWatch Logs, and Amazon SNS
CloudTrail logs root activity, CloudWatch monitors, SNS alerts.
Question 241 of 1,748
How to Monitor Root Account Usage and Get Immediate Notifications
This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of security logging and monitoring. 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 company needs to monitor for root account usage and receive immediate notifications. Which combination of AWS services should be used?
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
✓
AWS CloudTrail, Amazon CloudWatch Logs, and Amazon SNS
Option D is correct because AWS CloudTrail captures all root account API calls, CloudWatch Logs can monitor those events for root activity using a metric filter, and Amazon SNS delivers immediate notifications when the filter triggers. This combination provides the logging, monitoring, and alerting pipeline required for real-time root account usage detection.
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.
- ✗
AWS Config and AWS Lambda
Why it's wrong here
Config tracks resource changes, not API calls.
- ✗
Amazon GuardDuty and AWS Lambda
Why it's wrong here
GuardDuty does not specifically monitor root usage.
- ✗
S3 server access logs and Amazon Inspector
Why it's wrong here
S3 logs are for object access, Inspector for vulnerabilities.
- ✓
AWS CloudTrail, Amazon CloudWatch Logs, and Amazon SNS
Why this is correct
CloudTrail logs root activity, CloudWatch monitors, SNS alerts.
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 GuardDuty or Config can directly alert on root activity, but they lack the native log-to-notification pipeline that CloudTrail, CloudWatch Logs, and SNS provide together.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Root account usage is logged as a CloudTrail management event with the userIdentity type set to 'Root'. A CloudWatch Logs metric filter can be configured to match the pattern '{ $.userIdentity.type = "Root" && $.eventType = "AwsApiCall" }' to trigger a CloudWatch alarm, which then publishes to an SNS topic. This setup ensures that any root login or API call, including those from the AWS Management Console or CLI, generates an immediate notification, which is critical because root credentials bypass IAM policies and are a high-risk security event.
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.
- →
Security Logging and Monitoring — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
- →
Security Logging and Monitoring practice questions
Targeted practice on this topic area only
- →
All SCS-C02 questions
1,748 questions across all exam domains
- →
AWS Certified Security Specialty SCS-C02 study guide
Full concept coverage aligned to exam objectives
- →
SCS-C02 practice test guide
How to use practice tests most effectively before exam day
Related practice questions
Related SCS-C02 practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
Threat Detection and Incident Response practice questions
Practise SCS-C02 questions linked to Threat Detection and Incident Response.
Security Logging and Monitoring practice questions
Practise SCS-C02 questions linked to Security Logging and Monitoring.
Identity and Access Management practice questions
Practise SCS-C02 questions linked to Identity and Access Management.
Management and Security Governance practice questions
Practise SCS-C02 questions linked to Management and Security Governance.
Infrastructure Security practice questions
Practise SCS-C02 questions linked to Infrastructure Security.
Data Protection practice questions
Practise SCS-C02 questions linked to Data Protection.
SCS-C02 fundamentals practice questions
Practise SCS-C02 questions linked to SCS-C02 fundamentals.
SCS-C02 scenario practice questions
Practise SCS-C02 questions linked to SCS-C02 scenario.
SCS-C02 troubleshooting practice questions
Practise SCS-C02 questions linked to SCS-C02 troubleshooting.
Practice this exam
Start a free SCS-C02 practice session
Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.
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: AWS CloudTrail, Amazon CloudWatch Logs, and Amazon SNS — Option D is correct because AWS CloudTrail captures all root account API calls, CloudWatch Logs can monitor those events for root activity using a metric filter, and Amazon SNS delivers immediate notifications when the filter triggers. This combination provides the logging, monitoring, and alerting pipeline required for real-time root account usage detection.
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.
About these practice questions
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 →
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 security engineer needs to monitor for AWS account root user login events and automatically send a notification to the security team. The engineer has enabled CloudTrail and is sending logs to CloudWatch Logs. What is the least effort way to achieve this?
medium- A.Enable Amazon GuardDuty and use its finding for root user activity.
- B.Create a metric filter on the CloudWatch Logs group and a CloudWatch alarm.
- ✓ C.Create a CloudWatch Events rule that matches the event and triggers an SNS topic.
- D.Use AWS Config managed rule to detect root user activity.
Why C: Option C is correct because CloudWatch Events (now Amazon EventBridge) can directly filter CloudTrail events for root user login (userIdentity.type = 'Root') and trigger an SNS topic for notification with minimal configuration. Option A is wrong because Amazon GuardDuty requires enabling a separate service and its findings for root activity are not as direct or immediate as a custom rule. Option B is wrong because a metric filter and alarm require additional steps to create a metric and set up an alarm. Option D is wrong because AWS Config managed rules are designed for resource configuration compliance, not for monitoring API call events like root user logins.
Keep practising
More SCS-C02 practice questions
- A company uses AWS Organizations with multiple accounts. The security team wants to enforce that all Amazon S3 buckets a…
- A company is designing a multi-tier web application on AWS. The web tier must be accessible from the internet, but the a…
- A company is migrating a legacy application to AWS. The application requires two-way communication between the web serve…
- A security engineer is troubleshooting connectivity issues between an Amazon EC2 instance in a VPC and an on-premises se…
- A security engineer is reviewing the SQS queue policy shown in the exhibit. The queue is subscribed to an SNS topic in t…
- A company uses AWS Organizations with multiple accounts. The security team wants to ensure that all IAM users in the pro…
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.