SOA-C02 Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of monitoring, logging, and remediation. 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.
A company uses AWS CloudTrail to log API activity. The security team needs to be notified immediately when an IAM user creates a new access key. Which combination of steps should a SysOps administrator take? (Choose TWO.)
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "immediately / without restart"
Why it matters: Time or reboot constraint — the correct answer must take effect right away without requiring a reboot or reload.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a CloudWatch Logs metric filter for the 'CreateAccessKey' event.
Option A is correct because CloudWatch Logs metric filters allow you to extract specific patterns from CloudTrail log data, such as the 'CreateAccessKey' event, and convert them into a metric. This enables you to monitor for this specific API call and trigger an alarm when it occurs, meeting the requirement for immediate notification.
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.
✓
Create a CloudWatch Logs metric filter for the 'CreateAccessKey' event.
The clue word "immediately / without restart" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Create an Amazon EventBridge rule to match the 'CreateAccessKey' API call.
Why it's wrong here
EventBridge can do this, but it's not one of the two steps in the answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often think CloudTrail can directly send notifications to SNS (Option C) or that AWS Config rules are suitable for real-time event-driven alerts (Option B), but neither is correct for immediate notification of a specific API call.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
CloudWatch Logs metric filters work by scanning incoming log events for a specified pattern (e.g., 'CreateAccessKey') and incrementing a metric value each time a match occurs. This metric can then be used in a CloudWatch alarm that transitions to ALARM state when the metric exceeds a threshold (e.g., > 0), which then publishes to an SNS topic to notify the security team via email, SMS, or other endpoints. In a real-world scenario, you might also set the alarm to evaluate every minute to ensure near-instant notification, and you can use multiple metric filters to monitor for other sensitive IAM actions like 'PutUserPolicy' or 'UpdateAssumeRolePolicy'.
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.
Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation — This question tests Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create a CloudWatch Logs metric filter for the 'CreateAccessKey' event. — Option A is correct because CloudWatch Logs metric filters allow you to extract specific patterns from CloudTrail log data, such as the 'CreateAccessKey' event, and convert them into a metric. This enables you to monitor for this specific API call and trigger an alarm when it occurs, meeting the requirement for immediate notification.
What should I do if I get this SOA-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "immediately / without restart". Time or reboot constraint — the correct answer must take effect right away without requiring a reboot or reload.
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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