The answer is to create a service control policy (SCP) that denies cloudtrail:StopLogging and cloudtrail:DeleteTrail, and to enable CloudTrail as a trusted service with an organization trail. These two approaches work together to prevent disabling CloudTrail across accounts because an SCP acts as a central permission guardrail applied at the AWS Organizations root, overriding any account-level IAM policies, while an organization trail is created and managed by the management account, making it immutable by member accounts. On the AWS Certified Security Specialty SCS-C02 exam, this tests your understanding of how SCPs enforce preventative controls at scale versus detective controls like AWS Config, and a common trap is assuming IAM policies can enforce cross-account restrictions—they cannot. Remember the mnemonic: "SCP stops, Org trail owns" to recall that SCPs block the actions and organization trails lock the configuration.
SCS-C02 Management and Security Governance Practice Question
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. 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 has an AWS Organization with hundreds of accounts. The security team wants to enforce that no account can disable AWS CloudTrail logging. Which TWO approaches can achieve this?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Enable CloudTrail as a trusted service and create an organization trail.
Options A and D are correct. An SCP can deny the cloudtrail:StopLogging and cloudtrail:DeleteTrail actions (A), and enabling CloudTrail as a trusted service with organization trail (D) prevents accounts from stopping logging. Option B is wrong because IAM policies are account-specific and cannot be enforced across all accounts. Option C is wrong because CloudWatch Logs does not prevent disabling CloudTrail. Option E is wrong because Config cannot prevent the disabling of CloudTrail.
Key principle: ACLs process entries top to bottom and stop at the first match. Entry order and interface direction matter as much as the permit or deny statement.
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 CloudTrail as a trusted service and create an organization trail.
Why this is correct
Organization trails cannot be stopped or deleted by member accounts.
Related concept
Standard ACLs match source addresses.
✗
Apply an IAM policy to each account's root user to prevent disabling CloudTrail.
Why it's wrong here
IAM policies cannot be applied to the root user in a way that prevents all users in the account.
✓
Create an SCP that denies cloudtrail:StopLogging and cloudtrail:DeleteTrail.
Why this is correct
SCPs can deny these actions to all accounts.
Related concept
Standard ACLs match source addresses.
✗
Use AWS Config to automatically re-enable CloudTrail if it is disabled.
Why it's wrong here
Config can remediate but not prevent the disable action.
✗
Configure CloudWatch Logs to monitor CloudTrail logs and alert if logging stops.
Why it's wrong here
Alerts do not prevent disabling.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: ACLs stop at the first match
ACLs are processed top to bottom. The first matching entry wins, and an implicit deny usually exists at the end.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
ACL questions test precision: source, destination, protocol, port and direction. A generally correct ACL can still fail if it is applied on the wrong interface or in the wrong direction.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Standard ACLs match source addresses.
Extended ACLs can match source, destination, protocol and ports.
The first matching ACL entry is used.
There is usually an implicit deny at the end.
TExam Day Tips
→Check inbound versus outbound direction.
→Read the ACL from top to bottom.
→Look for a broader permit or deny above the intended line.
Key takeaway
ACLs process entries top to bottom and stop at the first match. Entry order and interface direction matter as much as the permit or deny statement.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
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
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Review ACL processing order, placement rules (standard near destination, extended near source), and inbound vs outbound direction. Study wildcard masks and implicit deny. Then practise related SCS-C02 ACL questions on filtering logic and placement.
Management and Security Governance — This question tests Management and Security Governance — Standard ACLs match source addresses..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Enable CloudTrail as a trusted service and create an organization trail. — Options A and D are correct. An SCP can deny the cloudtrail:StopLogging and cloudtrail:DeleteTrail actions (A), and enabling CloudTrail as a trusted service with organization trail (D) prevents accounts from stopping logging. Option B is wrong because IAM policies are account-specific and cannot be enforced across all accounts. Option C is wrong because CloudWatch Logs does not prevent disabling CloudTrail. Option E is wrong because Config cannot prevent the disabling of CloudTrail.
What should I do if I get this SCS-C02 question wrong?
Review ACL processing order, placement rules (standard near destination, extended near source), and inbound vs outbound direction. Study wildcard masks and implicit deny. Then practise related SCS-C02 ACL questions on filtering logic and placement.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Standard ACLs match source addresses.
About these practice questions
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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 uses AWS Organizations to manage multiple accounts. The security team wants to ensure that all accounts have AWS CloudTrail enabled and that logs are delivered to a central S3 bucket in the management account. What is the most efficient way to enforce this across all accounts?
medium
✓ A.Create a service control policy (SCP) that denies modifications to CloudTrail settings.
B.Use AWS Trusted Advisor to check CloudTrail status and send alerts.
C.Configure each account individually with a CloudTrail trail pointing to the central bucket.
D.Use AWS Config rules in each account to detect non-compliant trails.
Why A: Using an SCP in AWS Organizations can deny the action of disabling CloudTrail or modifying trail settings, enforcing that CloudTrail remains enabled. Option A is wrong because it requires manual setup in each account. Option B is wrong because AWS Config can detect but not prevent disabling. Option D is wrong because it only monitors, not enforces.
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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.
Question Discussion
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