- A
AWS CloudTrail.
CloudTrail records API calls such as AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress.
- B
Amazon EventBridge.
EventBridge can match CloudTrail events and invoke targets such as SNS or Lambda.
- C
Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration.
Why wrong: This improves S3 transfer performance, not change detection.
- D
AWS Snowball Edge.
Why wrong: Snowball Edge is for edge/data transfer workloads, not security group monitoring.
Question 670 of 1,546
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.
A SysOps administrator needs to detect unauthorized changes to security groups and automatically notify the operations team. Which two AWS services should be part of the solution? (Choose 2.)
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 CloudTrail.
AWS CloudTrail is correct because it records API calls made to create, modify, or delete security groups, providing the audit trail needed to detect unauthorized changes. By enabling CloudTrail on the account and configuring a trail to deliver logs to Amazon S3, the administrator can monitor security group events such as AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress or RevokeSecurityGroupEgress. This log data is essential for identifying when a change occurred, who made it, and from which source IP.
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 CloudTrail.
Why this is correct
CloudTrail records API calls such as AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✓
Amazon EventBridge.
Why this is correct
EventBridge can match CloudTrail events and invoke targets such as SNS or Lambda.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration.
Why it's wrong here
This improves S3 transfer performance, not change detection.
- ✗
AWS Snowball Edge.
Why it's wrong here
Snowball Edge is for edge/data transfer workloads, not security group monitoring.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Amazon S3 Transfer Acceleration with S3 event notifications or S3 server access logging, mistakenly thinking it can trigger alerts, when in fact it is solely a performance optimization for uploads.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, CloudTrail captures management events (including security group API calls) as JSON records with fields like eventSource, eventName, userIdentity, and requestParameters. EventBridge can then consume these events via a custom rule that matches specific patterns (e.g., eventSource: ec2.amazonaws.com and eventName: AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress) and route them to an SNS topic or Lambda function for real-time notification. A subtle behavior is that CloudTrail delivers events within about 15 minutes of the API call, so near-real-time detection requires EventBridge’s event-driven architecture rather than polling S3 logs.
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.
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 |
What to study next
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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: AWS CloudTrail. — AWS CloudTrail is correct because it records API calls made to create, modify, or delete security groups, providing the audit trail needed to detect unauthorized changes. By enabling CloudTrail on the account and configuring a trail to deliver logs to Amazon S3, the administrator can monitor security group events such as AuthorizeSecurityGroupIngress or RevokeSecurityGroupEgress. This log data is essential for identifying when a change occurred, who made it, and from which source IP.
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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