Quick Answer
The answer is AWS Shield Advanced, the correct choice for network-layer DDoS protection on EC2 because it specifically defends against Layer 3 and Layer 4 attacks like SYN floods and UDP reflection attacks that target the network infrastructure. Unlike the free AWS Shield Standard, which only mitigates common attacks, Shield Advanced provides always-on traffic monitoring, automated mitigation, and access to the DDoS Response Team for custom mitigations, making it essential for protecting EC2 instances from volumetric threats. On the AWS Certified Security Specialty SCS-C02 exam, this question tests your ability to distinguish between Shield Standard and Shield Advanced, often presenting AWS WAF as a trap since WAF operates at the application layer (Layer 7), not the network layer. A common memory tip is to remember that network-layer attacks flood the pipe, so you need the advanced pipe protection—think “Advanced for the network, WAF for the web.”
This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of infrastructure security. 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 wants to protect its Amazon EC2 instances from distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks at the network layer. Which AWS service should be used?
Amazon CloudFront
Why wrong: CloudFront provides some DDoS protection but Shield is the dedicated service.
Amazon GuardDuty
Why wrong: GuardDuty detects threats but does not mitigate DDoS.
AWS Shield Advanced
Provides advanced DDoS protection.
AWS WAF
Why wrong: WAF protects against application-layer attacks, not network DDoS.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
AWS Shield Advanced
AWS Shield Advanced provides enhanced protections for Amazon EC2 instances against network-layer (Layer 3/4) DDoS attacks, such as SYN floods, UDP reflection attacks, and other volumetric attacks. It includes always-on traffic monitoring, automated mitigation, and access to the DDoS Response Team (DRT) for custom mitigations, making it the correct choice for network-layer DDoS protection.
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 CloudFront
Why it's wrong here
CloudFront provides some DDoS protection but Shield is the dedicated service.
Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
GuardDuty detects threats but does not mitigate DDoS.
AWS Shield Advanced
Why this is correct
Provides advanced DDoS protection.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS WAF
Why it's wrong here
WAF protects against application-layer attacks, not network DDoS.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse AWS WAF (Layer 7) with network-layer DDoS protection, or assume Amazon CloudFront's edge caching alone is sufficient for all DDoS types, but Shield Advanced is the specific service designed for comprehensive network-layer (Layer 3/4) DDoS mitigation.
Detailed technical explanation
AWS Shield Advanced uses a combination of always-on flow-based monitoring and inline mitigation appliances to detect and scrub volumetric DDoS attacks at the AWS edge. It integrates with AWS WAF for Layer 7 protections and provides cost protection against scaling charges incurred during an attack. A subtle behavior is that Shield Advanced automatically creates and applies mitigations for common attack vectors like SYN floods by rate-limiting TCP SYN packets, but it requires you to associate your EC2 instances with an Elastic IP or a Network Load Balancer to receive full protection.
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
Infrastructure Security — This question tests Infrastructure Security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: AWS Shield Advanced — AWS Shield Advanced provides enhanced protections for Amazon EC2 instances against network-layer (Layer 3/4) DDoS attacks, such as SYN floods, UDP reflection attacks, and other volumetric attacks. It includes always-on traffic monitoring, automated mitigation, and access to the DDoS Response Team (DRT) for custom mitigations, making it the correct choice for network-layer DDoS protection.
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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