- A
Amazon CloudWatch
CloudWatch can create a metric filter on a CloudTrail log group to count failed login events, set an alarm on that metric, and publish to SNS for email notification. CloudWatch is the core monitoring and alerting service.
- B
AWS CloudTrail
Why wrong: CloudTrail records API activity, including login failures, but it does not directly send notifications. It must be integrated with CloudWatch Logs and alarms to trigger alerts.
- C
Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS)
Why wrong: SNS is the messaging service that delivers email, but it does not monitor or evaluate conditions. It relies on CloudWatch alarms or other services to publish to it.
- D
AWS Config
Why wrong: AWS Config evaluates resource configurations against rules. It does not monitor login events. It is used for compliance auditing, not operational alerting.
Quick Answer
The answer is Amazon CloudWatch, as it is the AWS service designed to monitor operational metrics and log patterns, making it the correct choice for alerting on IAM console login failures. This works by creating a CloudWatch metric filter on a CloudTrail log group that parses for the `ConsoleLogin` event with a `failure` status; when the filter matches, it increments a metric that triggers a CloudWatch alarm, which then publishes a notification to an Amazon SNS topic to send the email. On the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate SOA-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how CloudWatch integrates with CloudTrail for security monitoring, often appearing as a distractor where candidates mistakenly choose AWS Config or IAM itself—remember that CloudWatch handles real-time metric-based alerts, not configuration compliance. A useful memory tip: think "Watch the Trail for failures" to link CloudWatch, CloudTrail, and the alarm action.
SOA-C02 Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of monitoring, logging, and remediation. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 SysOps administrator needs to receive an email notification when an IAM user's console login fails. Which AWS service should be used to set up this notification?
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
Amazon CloudWatch can monitor AWS CloudTrail log events for IAM console login failures by creating a metric filter on the CloudTrail log group for the `ConsoleLogin` event with a `failure` status. When the filter matches, CloudWatch can trigger an alarm that sends an email notification via Amazon SNS. This is the correct service because CloudWatch is designed for monitoring and alerting on operational metrics and log patterns.
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.
- ✓
Amazon CloudWatch
Why this is correct
CloudWatch can create a metric filter on a CloudTrail log group to count failed login events, set an alarm on that metric, and publish to SNS for email notification. CloudWatch is the core monitoring and alerting service.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail records API activity, including login failures, but it does not directly send notifications. It must be integrated with CloudWatch Logs and alarms to trigger alerts.
- ✗
Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS)
Why it's wrong here
SNS is the messaging service that delivers email, but it does not monitor or evaluate conditions. It relies on CloudWatch alarms or other services to publish to it.
- ✗
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config evaluates resource configurations against rules. It does not monitor login events. It is used for compliance auditing, not operational alerting.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often pick Amazon SNS directly, forgetting that SNS is a notification channel, not a monitoring service, and requires CloudWatch to detect the failure event first.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, CloudWatch Logs uses metric filters to parse log entries from CloudTrail; a filter pattern like `{ ($.eventName = "ConsoleLogin") && ($.responseElements.ConsoleLogin = "Failure") }` matches failed logins. The alarm then transitions to ALARM state and publishes to an SNS topic, which delivers the email. A real-world scenario is detecting brute-force attacks: you can set a threshold (e.g., 5 failures in 5 minutes) to trigger immediate notification.
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.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SOA-C02 question test?
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: Amazon CloudWatch — Amazon CloudWatch can monitor AWS CloudTrail log events for IAM console login failures by creating a metric filter on the CloudTrail log group for the `ConsoleLogin` event with a `failure` status. When the filter matches, CloudWatch can trigger an alarm that sends an email notification via Amazon SNS. This is the correct service because CloudWatch is designed for monitoring and alerting on operational metrics and log patterns.
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.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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