- A
AWS WAF attached to the NAT gateway.
Why wrong: WAF is a web application firewall.
- B
An internet gateway attached to the VPC.
The internet gateway provides internet access for the public subnet where the NAT gateway resides.
- C
Route tables in the private subnets with a default route (0.0.0.0/0) pointing to the NAT gateway.
Routes direct traffic to the NAT gateway.
- D
A VPC gateway endpoint for S3.
Why wrong: Gateway endpoints only provide access to S3 and DynamoDB.
- E
A NAT gateway in a public subnet.
NAT gateways enable outbound internet from private subnets.
Question 670 of 1,748
SCS-C02 Infrastructure Security Practice Question
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 security engineer is designing a VPC with public and private subnets. The private subnets will host databases that should not have direct internet access. Which three components are required to provide outbound internet access for these databases? (Choose THREE.)
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
✓
An internet gateway attached to the VPC.
An internet gateway (IGW) is required to enable outbound internet access for resources in a VPC. The NAT gateway, which resides in a public subnet, uses the IGW to translate private IP addresses to the public IP of the NAT gateway, allowing instances in private subnets to initiate outbound traffic to the internet while preventing inbound connections from the internet.
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 WAF attached to the NAT gateway.
Why it's wrong here
WAF is a web application firewall.
- ✓
An internet gateway attached to the VPC.
- ✓
Route tables in the private subnets with a default route (0.0.0.0/0) pointing to the NAT gateway.
- ✗
A VPC gateway endpoint for S3.
Why it's wrong here
Gateway endpoints only provide access to S3 and DynamoDB.
- ✓
A NAT gateway in a public subnet.
Why this is correct
NAT gateways enable outbound internet from private subnets.
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 think a NAT gateway alone provides internet access, forgetting that the NAT gateway must be placed in a public subnet with a route to an internet gateway, and that the private subnet’s default route must point to the NAT gateway, not the IGW.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The NAT gateway uses source network address translation (SNAT) to replace the private source IP of outbound packets with its own elastic IP address, and the IGW performs the actual routing of these packets to the internet. Route tables in private subnets must have a default route (0.0.0.0/0) pointing to the NAT gateway ID, not the IGW ID, because the NAT gateway handles the translation before forwarding traffic to the IGW. Without the IGW, the NAT gateway cannot send traffic out of the VPC, as the IGW is the only device that bridges the VPC to the internet.
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.
Visual reference
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SCS-C02 question test?
Infrastructure Security — This question tests Infrastructure Security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: An internet gateway attached to the VPC. — An internet gateway (IGW) is required to enable outbound internet access for resources in a VPC. The NAT gateway, which resides in a public subnet, uses the IGW to translate private IP addresses to the public IP of the NAT gateway, allowing instances in private subnets to initiate outbound traffic to the internet while preventing inbound connections from the internet.
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.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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