SCS-C02 Threat Detection and Incident Response Practice Question
Which TWO steps should a security engineer take when responding to a confirmed security incident involving a compromised EC2 instance? (Choose 2.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse 'immediate termination' (Option E) with containment, but AWS incident response frameworks emphasize preserving evidence and isolating rather than destroying the instance, as termination eliminates the ability to perform memory forensics and root cause analysis.
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
✓
Isolate the instance by changing its security group to deny all traffic
Isolating the compromised EC2 instance by changing its security group to deny all traffic immediately stops the attack in progress and prevents lateral movement to other resources, while preserving the instance for forensic analysis. This aligns with the AWS incident response best practice of containment before eradication, as the instance remains intact for investigation.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Reimage the instance from a clean AMI immediately
Why it's wrong here
Reimaging destroys evidence before investigation.
- ✗
Delete all CloudTrail logs related to the instance
Why it's wrong here
Deleting logs is destructive and against best practices.
- ✓
Isolate the instance by changing its security group to deny all traffic
Why this is correct
Isolation prevents further damage while preserving the instance.
- ✓
Take a snapshot of the instance's EBS volumes for forensic analysis
Why this is correct
Snapshots preserve the state for investigation.
- ✗
Immediately terminate the instance to stop the attack
Why it's wrong here
Termination destroys evidence.
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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.