Quick Answer
The answer is Service control policies (SCPs). SCPs are the correct choice because they act as a centralized permission guardrail within AWS Organizations, allowing you to restrict specific AWS services and actions across all member accounts without modifying individual IAM policies or account configurations. On the AWS Certified Security Specialty SCS-C02 exam, this concept tests your understanding of how SCPs differ from IAM policies—SCPs set a maximum permission boundary that applies to every principal, including the root user, making them ideal for enforcing organization-wide service restrictions. A common trap is confusing SCPs with IAM permission boundaries or resource-based policies, but remember: SCPs cannot grant permissions, only deny or allow them at the organizational level. Memory tip: think of SCPs as the “security guardrail” that blocks services before IAM policies even get a chance to allow them.
This SCS-C02 practice question tests your understanding of infrastructure security. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 is designing a new AWS account structure using AWS Organizations. The security team wants to restrict the use of specific AWS services across all member accounts. Which feature should they use?
AWS Single Sign-On (SSO)
Why wrong: SSO manages user access, not service restrictions.
AWS CloudTrail
Why wrong: CloudTrail logs API calls but does not restrict them.
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) cross-account roles
Why wrong: IAM roles grant access to resources across accounts, not restrict services.
Service control policies (SCPs)
SCPs can restrict which AWS services can be used in member accounts.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Service control policies (SCPs)
Service control policies (SCPs) are the correct feature because they allow you to centrally restrict which AWS services and actions are permitted across all member accounts in an AWS Organization. SCPs act as a permission guardrail that applies to all IAM users, roles, and root users within the affected accounts, enabling the security team to enforce service restrictions without modifying individual account configurations.
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.
AWS Single Sign-On (SSO)
Why it's wrong here
SSO manages user access, not service restrictions.
AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail logs API calls but does not restrict them.
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) cross-account roles
Why it's wrong here
IAM roles grant access to resources across accounts, not restrict services.
Service control policies (SCPs)
Why this is correct
SCPs can restrict which AWS services can be used in member accounts.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse SCPs with IAM policies, thinking IAM cross-account roles can enforce service restrictions, but SCPs are the only mechanism that applies globally across all users and roles in an AWS Organization.
Detailed technical explanation
SCPs are evaluated as an explicit deny by default, meaning any action not explicitly allowed is denied, and they can be attached to the root organizational unit (OU) to affect all member accounts. Under the hood, SCPs use a policy language similar to IAM policies but operate at the account level, creating a boundary that IAM policies cannot override. In a real-world scenario, a company might use an SCP to block the use of Amazon EC2 in non-production accounts to prevent accidental resource provisioning, while still allowing it in production accounts via separate SCP attachments.
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: Service control policies (SCPs) — Service control policies (SCPs) are the correct feature because they allow you to centrally restrict which AWS services and actions are permitted across all member accounts in an AWS Organization. SCPs act as a permission guardrail that applies to all IAM users, roles, and root users within the affected accounts, enabling the security team to enforce service restrictions without modifying individual account configurations.
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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