SCS-C02 Security Logging and Monitoring Practice Question
Which TWO AWS services can be used to monitor network traffic for malicious activity? (Select TWO.)
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse AWS Shield (DDoS protection) or AWS WAF (web application firewall) with network traffic monitoring, but neither performs deep packet inspection or threat detection for general malicious network activity beyond their specific scopes.
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
✓
AWS Network Firewall
AWS Network Firewall is a managed service that provides network layer filtering and intrusion prevention. It can inspect traffic at layers 3–7 using stateful rules, domain lists, and Suricata-compatible IPS signatures to detect and block malicious activity such as exploits or malware command-and-control traffic. Amazon GuardDuty is a threat detection service that uses machine learning, anomaly detection, and integrated threat intelligence (e.g., known malicious IPs, domain reputation) to monitor VPC Flow Logs, DNS logs, and CloudTrail events for suspicious network behavior like port scanning or crypto-mining traffic.
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 Network Firewall
Why this is correct
Network Firewall provides stateful inspection and threat detection.
- ✓
Amazon GuardDuty
Why this is correct
GuardDuty uses threat intelligence to detect malicious activity.
- ✗
AWS Shield
Why it's wrong here
Shield is for DDoS protection.
- ✗
AWS WAF
Why it's wrong here
WAF protects web applications from common exploits.
- ✗
Amazon Inspector
Why it's wrong here
Inspector assesses vulnerabilities in EC2 instances.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.