SCS-C02 Data Protection Practice Question
Which TWO of the following are best practices for protecting data in transit? (Choose TWO.)
⚠ Common exam trap
SCS-C02 often tests the confusion between 'in transit' and 'at rest' controls — candidates pick encryption-at-rest options (KMS, BitLocker) for transit questions, or assume a VPN alone satisfies all transit encryption requirements.
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
✓
Enforce HTTPS for web traffic
Option C is correct because enforcing HTTPS for web traffic ensures that HTTP is wrapped in TLS, providing confidentiality and integrity for browser-to-server communications and preventing eavesdropping or man-in-the-middle tampering on the wire. Option D is correct because using SSL/TLS for all data transfers applies strong, standardized transport encryption (e.g., TLS 1.2/1.3) to any protocol carrying sensitive data, which is the core best practice for protecting data in transit. Option A is not the best answer because a VPN encrypts traffic over an untrusted network but does not by itself secure application-layer transfers end-to-end, and 'all traffic' is overly broad rather than a targeted transit-protection control. Option B is wrong because plain HTTP transmits data unencrypted and is unsuitable even for internal traffic. Option E is wrong because encryption at rest protects stored data, not data moving across a network.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use a VPN for all traffic
Why it's wrong here
A VPN encrypts the tunnel between endpoints but does not guarantee that data is protected end-to-end inside the network; once traffic leaves the VPN gateway, it can still traverse internal links in plaintext. Requiring a VPN for every connection also introduces unnecessary complexity and throughput overhead when workloads already communicate within a controlled VPC. Internal network controls do not eliminate the need for transport-level encryption, but a blanket VPN mandate does not address application-layer confidentiality and is therefore not the primary best practice here.
- ✗
Use HTTP for internal traffic
Why it's wrong here
Using HTTP for internal traffic is unsafe because HTTP transfers data as plaintext, allowing any process or compromised host on the same network segment to sniff credentials, tokens, or payloads. Internal networks are not inherently trusted, and even a single lateral movement or misconfigured packet mirror can expose sensitive data in transit. The best practice is to treat all traffic as potentially observable and require TLS encryption, including between microservices inside the same account or VPC.
- ✓
Enforce HTTPS for web traffic
Why this is correct
Enforcing HTTPS for web traffic is a critical best practice because HTTPS runs HTTP over TLS, providing confidentiality, integrity, and server authentication for every request and response. Redirecting all HTTP requests to HTTPS and applying HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) ensures clients never send or accept plaintext web communication, mitigating man-in-the-middle and session-hijacking attacks. This should be the baseline for every public-facing web workload and ideally applied to internal web consoles and APIs as well.
- ✓
Use SSL/TLS for all data transfers
Why this is correct
Using SSL/TLS for all data transfers is the broader, protocol-independent best practice: TLS must protect not only web traffic but also API calls, database connections, message queues, and administrative interfaces. Modern TLS 1.2 or later supports features such as forward secrecy and mutual authentication, so even if a server's private key is later compromised, past session keys remain protected. Unlike HTTPS, which is limited to HTTP payloads, applying TLS everywhere ensures no service relies on assumed network trust or unencrypted database drivers.
- ✗
Use encryption at rest
Why it's wrong here
Encryption at rest protects stored objects, volumes, and backups by encrypting data on disk, but it does nothing to protect data while it is in motion between a client and a server. A database encrypted at rest still sends query results in plaintext if its network connection is not encrypted, leaving data vulnerable to eavesdropping during transmission. This option is therefore not a substitute for TLS and is a separate, complementary control that does not satisfy in-transit protection requirements.
Quick reference
VPN Protocol Comparison
| Protocol | Port | Encryption | Authentication | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IKEv2 / IPsec | UDP 500 / 4500 | AES-256 | Certificates / PSK | Site-to-site & remote access |
| SSL / TLS VPN | TCP 443 | TLS 1.3 | Certificates / MFA | Clientless remote access |
| L2TP / IPsec | UDP 1701 | AES (IPsec) | PSK / Certificates | Legacy remote access |
| WireGuard | UDP 51820 | ChaCha20 | Public keys | Modern high-performance VPN |
| PPTP | TCP 1723 | MPPE (weak) | MS-CHAPv2 | Legacy — avoid in production |
PPTP is considered insecure. IKEv2/IPsec and SSL VPN are the current recommended options.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 1,205 original SCS-C02 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Amazon Web Services exam blueprint
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.