SOA-C02 Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation Practice Question
A SysOps administrator is designing a monitoring solution for a critical application running on EC2 instances. The application requires that all API calls to the environment are logged for security analysis. Which TWO services should the administrator use to meet this requirement?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse AWS CloudTrail (which logs API calls) with VPC Flow Logs (which log network traffic) or GuardDuty (which detects threats but does not generate logs), leading candidates to select services that analyze logs rather than capture them.
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
✓
Amazon CloudWatch Logs
AWS CloudTrail is the correct service because it records all API calls made to the AWS environment, including calls made via the AWS Management Console, AWS CLI, SDKs, and other services. CloudTrail logs provide the identity of the caller, the time of the call, the source IP address, and the request parameters, which are essential for security analysis. Option B (Amazon CloudWatch Logs) is also correct because CloudTrail logs can be delivered to CloudWatch Logs for centralized monitoring, alerting, and retention, enabling real-time analysis and integration with other AWS services.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
GuardDuty is a threat detection service, not a logging service.
- ✓
Amazon CloudWatch Logs
Why this is correct
CloudWatch Logs can store and monitor CloudTrail log files.
- ✓
AWS CloudTrail
Why this is correct
CloudTrail records API activity across AWS services.
- ✗
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
Config tracks resource configuration changes, not API calls.
- ✗
VPC Flow Logs
Why it's wrong here
Flow Logs capture IP traffic, not API calls.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SOA-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 SOA-C02 exam.