SOA-C02 Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation Practice Question

A SysOps administrator needs to audit all API calls made in an AWS account for compliance and security analysis. The logs must be stored securely for at least one year. Which AWS service should the administrator enable?

⚠ Common exam trap

Watch out — candidates often confuse CloudTrail with CloudWatch Logs, thinking CloudWatch Logs can capture API calls, but CloudWatch Logs only stores logs from services that explicitly send them, not the full audit trail of API activity.

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

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AWS CloudTrail

AWS CloudTrail is the correct service because it records all API calls made in an AWS account, including the identity of the caller, the time of the call, the source IP address, and the request parameters. This audit log is essential for compliance and security analysis, and CloudTrail can be configured to store logs in an S3 bucket with lifecycle policies to retain them for at least one year.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

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AWS CloudTrail
Why this is correct
AWS CloudTrail is the correct service because it is a governance, compliance, and audit service that records every AWS API call made in the account, including the identity of the caller, the time of the call, the source IP address, and the request parameters. It delivers event history to an S3 bucket and can also send events to CloudWatch Logs for further monitoring, making it the definitive source for an audit trail of API activity.
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Amazon CloudWatch Logs
Why it's wrong here
Amazon CloudWatch Logs is a monitoring service designed to collect, store, and analyze log files from applications, EC2 instances, and other AWS resources. While CloudTrail can optionally deliver API activity logs to CloudWatch Logs, CloudWatch Logs itself does not natively capture AWS API calls; it only handles logs that are explicitly sent to it. Therefore, relying on CloudWatch Logs alone would not provide a complete audit record of API actions.
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AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config is a service that records and evaluates the configuration state of your AWS resources over time, such as changes to security groups, instance types, or IAM policies. It does not capture who performed an API call or the request details; it only shows the resulting configuration changes. Thus, while it is useful for compliance and change management, it is not designed to serve as an API call audit trail.
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Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
Amazon GuardDuty is a threat detection service that uses machine learning and anomaly detection to identify malicious activity, such as compromised credentials or unusual API behavior. It does not record every API call for audit purposes; it only generates alerts when it detects potential threats. Therefore, it cannot provide the complete, tamper-evident history of all API calls needed for a full audit.

Quick reference

AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison

Storage Class	Min Duration	Retrieval	Use Case
S3 Standard	None	Immediate	Frequently accessed data
S3 Standard-IA	30 days	Immediate	Infrequent access, rapid retrieval
S3 One Zone-IA	30 days	Immediate	Non-critical infrequent data
S3 Intelligent-Tiering	None	Immediate–hours	Unknown or changing access patterns
S3 Glacier Instant	90 days	Milliseconds	Archive with instant retrieval
S3 Glacier Flexible	90 days	Minutes–hours	Archive, flexible retrieval
S3 Glacier Deep Archive	180 days	Hours	Long-term compliance archive

Go deeper

SOA-C02 Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation Practice Question

Why each option matters

Option-by-option breakdown

AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison

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