- A
Create an Amazon EventBridge rule that matches the CreateAccessKey event from CloudTrail and publishes to an Amazon SNS topic.
EventBridge provides near-real-time event matching and can trigger SNS directly.
- B
Enable S3 Event Notifications on the CloudTrail bucket to trigger a Lambda function that scans new objects for access key creation.
Why wrong: S3 event notifications have a delay and scanning each log file is inefficient.
- C
Configure CloudTrail to send logs to Amazon CloudWatch Logs and set up a metric filter that triggers an alarm.
Why wrong: Metric filters are not real-time; they evaluate logs with some delay.
- D
Use Amazon CloudWatch Logs Insights to run a query every minute and send results via SNS.
Why wrong: This is not near-real-time and requires custom scripting.
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.
An organization uses AWS CloudTrail to log API calls across multiple accounts in AWS Organizations. The logs are delivered to a central S3 bucket. The security team wants to receive near-real-time notifications whenever an IAM user creates a new access key. Which solution is the MOST operationally efficient?
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
Create an Amazon EventBridge rule that matches the CreateAccessKey event from CloudTrail and publishes to an Amazon SNS topic.
Amazon EventBridge can directly consume CloudTrail events (including `CreateAccessKey`) in near-real-time without polling or custom code. By creating a rule that matches this specific event and targets an SNS topic, the security team gets immediate notifications with minimal operational overhead. This approach is serverless, event-driven, and requires no intermediate services or custom functions.
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 an Amazon EventBridge rule that matches the CreateAccessKey event from CloudTrail and publishes to an Amazon SNS topic.
Why this is correct
EventBridge provides near-real-time event matching and can trigger SNS directly.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Enable S3 Event Notifications on the CloudTrail bucket to trigger a Lambda function that scans new objects for access key creation.
Why it's wrong here
S3 event notifications have a delay and scanning each log file is inefficient.
- ✗
Configure CloudTrail to send logs to Amazon CloudWatch Logs and set up a metric filter that triggers an alarm.
Why it's wrong here
Metric filters are not real-time; they evaluate logs with some delay.
- ✗
Use Amazon CloudWatch Logs Insights to run a query every minute and send results via SNS.
Why it's wrong here
This is not near-real-time and requires custom scripting.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often default to CloudWatch Logs metric filters or S3 Event Notifications because they are familiar, but they overlook that EventBridge provides the most direct, low-latency, and operationally efficient path for CloudTrail event-driven notifications.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
CloudTrail delivers events to EventBridge in near-real-time (typically within 15 seconds) via the `aws.cloudtrail` event bus. EventBridge rules use event pattern matching on the `eventName` field (e.g., `CreateAccessKey`) and can directly invoke SNS, Lambda, or other targets without intermediate storage. This pattern is ideal for security monitoring because it avoids the batching and polling overhead of CloudWatch Logs or S3 notifications, which can introduce delays of 5–15 minutes depending on log delivery frequency.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
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: Create an Amazon EventBridge rule that matches the CreateAccessKey event from CloudTrail and publishes to an Amazon SNS topic. — Amazon EventBridge can directly consume CloudTrail events (including `CreateAccessKey`) in near-real-time without polling or custom code. By creating a rule that matches this specific event and targets an SNS topic, the security team gets immediate notifications with minimal operational overhead. This approach is serverless, event-driven, and requires no intermediate services or custom functions.
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: Jun 24, 2026
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