- A
AWS Shield Advanced
Shield Advanced provides enhanced DDoS protection.
- B
AWS WAF
WAF protects the ALB from web attacks.
- C
Amazon Route 53
Why wrong: Route 53 is DNS, not directly improving security or performance.
- D
Amazon CloudFront
CloudFront provides caching and DDoS protection.
- E
AWS Direct Connect
Why wrong: Direct Connect is for private connectivity, not security/performance for web apps.
Question 169 of 1,546
SOA-C02 Networking and Content Delivery Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of networking and content delivery. 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.
Which THREE AWS services can be used to improve security and performance for a web application that uses an Application Load Balancer? (Select three.)
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
✓
AWS Shield Advanced
AWS Shield Advanced provides enhanced protection against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, including application-layer attacks targeting the Application Load Balancer (ALB). It integrates directly with ALB to offer always-on detection and automatic mitigation, improving security without requiring changes to the application architecture.
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.
- ✓
AWS Shield Advanced
Why this is correct
Shield Advanced provides enhanced DDoS protection.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✓
AWS WAF
Why this is correct
WAF protects the ALB from web attacks.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Amazon Route 53
Why it's wrong here
Route 53 is DNS, not directly improving security or performance.
- ✓
Amazon CloudFront
Why this is correct
CloudFront provides caching and DDoS protection.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
AWS Direct Connect
Why it's wrong here
Direct Connect is for private connectivity, not security/performance for web apps.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Amazon Route 53's DNS routing features (like latency-based routing or geolocation) with performance improvement for the application itself, but Route 53 does not cache content or accelerate traffic; it only resolves DNS queries, which is a separate concern from web application performance.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
AWS Shield Advanced uses flow-based monitoring and heuristic analysis to detect DDoS attacks at layers 3, 4, and 7, and it can automatically deploy AWS WAF rules to mitigate application-layer attacks. When combined with CloudFront, Shield Advanced provides additional protection at the edge, reducing the attack surface on the ALB. For performance, CloudFront caches content at edge locations, reducing latency and offloading requests from the ALB, which can improve throughput and reduce costs.
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 cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
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.
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Networking and Content Delivery — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SOA-C02 question test?
Networking and Content Delivery — This question tests Networking and Content Delivery — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: AWS Shield Advanced — AWS Shield Advanced provides enhanced protection against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, including application-layer attacks targeting the Application Load Balancer (ALB). It integrates directly with ALB to offer always-on detection and automatic mitigation, improving security without requiring changes to the application architecture.
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.
About these practice questions
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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.
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