SCS-C02 Threat Detection and Incident Response Practice Question
This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of threat detection and incident response. 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.
Refer to the exhibit. A security engineer is analyzing a CloudTrail log entry for an EC2 RunInstances call. The engineer needs to determine if the instance launch was authorized by an IAM policy. Which field should the engineer check to identify the IAM policy that was used to authorize the action?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The 'userIdentity' field to identify the IAM user or role that made the call.
The 'userIdentity' field in a CloudTrail log entry contains details about the IAM user or role that made the API call, including the ARN and the access key ID. To identify the specific IAM policy that authorized the action, the security engineer must first know the identity (user/role) from the 'userIdentity' field, then cross-reference that identity with the IAM policies attached to it. The policy itself is not directly listed in the log entry, but the identity is the key to tracing authorization.
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.
✗
The 'vpcEndpointId' field to see if the call came through a VPC endpoint.
Why it's wrong here
VPC endpoint ID indicates the network path, not the authorization policy.
✗
The 'sourceIP' field to identify the IP address.
Why it's wrong here
Source IP is about network source, not authorization.
✗
The 'eventType' field to determine the type of event.
Why it's wrong here
eventType indicates AwsApiCall or AwsServiceEvent, not policy.
✓
The 'userIdentity' field to identify the IAM user or role that made the call.
Why this is correct
The userIdentity shows who made the call; then you can review the attached policies.
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 may think the 'eventType' or 'sourceIP' fields directly reveal authorization details, but CloudTrail does not log the specific policy that was evaluated; instead, the 'userIdentity' field is the critical link to identify the IAM entity whose policies were applied.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, CloudTrail logs capture the 'userIdentity' object which includes fields like 'type' (Root, IAMUser, AssumedRole, FederatedUser, etc.), 'arn', and 'accountId'. When an EC2 RunInstances call is made, AWS evaluates all applicable IAM policies (identity-based and resource-based) to determine if the action is allowed; the 'userIdentity' field is the starting point to trace which policies were evaluated. In a real-world incident response scenario, a security engineer would use the 'userIdentity' to look up the IAM role or user in AWS IAM, then review the attached policies (e.g., an inline policy with 'ec2:RunInstances' permission) to confirm authorization.
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 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.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Threat Detection and Incident Response — This question tests Threat Detection and Incident Response — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The 'userIdentity' field to identify the IAM user or role that made the call. — The 'userIdentity' field in a CloudTrail log entry contains details about the IAM user or role that made the API call, including the ARN and the access key ID. To identify the specific IAM policy that authorized the action, the security engineer must first know the identity (user/role) from the 'userIdentity' field, then cross-reference that identity with the IAM policies attached to it. The policy itself is not directly listed in the log entry, but the identity is the key to tracing authorization.
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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Question Discussion
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