The answer is CloudTrail, Amazon EventBridge, and Amazon SNS. This combination works because EventBridge natively ingests CloudTrail API events—like the CreateUser action—and applies event pattern matching to filter for IAM user creation, then routes the matched events directly to an SNS topic for email notification, all without custom code or Lambda functions. On the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate SOA-C02 exam, this pattern tests your understanding of managed event-driven architectures; a common trap is overcomplicating the solution with CloudWatch Logs metric filters or Lambda when EventBridge’s built-in filtering and target routing provide the least operational overhead. Remember that EventBridge acts as the central router for CloudTrail events, SNS handles the push notification, and no glue code is needed. For a quick memory tip: think “CloudTrail logs it, EventBridge filters it, SNS sends it.”
SOA-C02 Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of monitoring, logging, and remediation. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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 company uses AWS CloudTrail to log API activity. The SysOps administrator needs to receive an email notification whenever a new IAM user is created. Which AWS services should be used together to meet this requirement with the least operational overhead?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "least"
Why it matters: You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.
Why wrong: Lambda would require custom code to process the CloudTrail event and send the notification, adding operational overhead.
B
CloudTrail, Amazon CloudWatch Logs, and a metric filter with an alarm
Why wrong: While this works, it requires creating a metric filter and alarm, which is more complex than using EventBridge.
C
CloudTrail, Amazon EventBridge, and Amazon SNS
EventBridge can directly consume CloudTrail events and route them to SNS without custom code, providing the simplest solution.
D
AWS Config and Amazon SNS
Why wrong: AWS Config evaluates resource configurations and can send notifications on changes, but it is not designed for real-time API call event notification.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
CloudTrail, Amazon EventBridge, and Amazon SNS
Option C is correct because Amazon EventBridge can directly capture CloudTrail API events (such as CreateUser) and route them to an SNS topic for email notification without needing any custom code or additional infrastructure. This pattern minimizes operational overhead by using a fully managed event bus with built-in filtering and target routing, eliminating the need for Lambda functions or metric filter configurations.
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.
✗
CloudTrail, Amazon SNS, and AWS Lambda
Why it's wrong here
Lambda would require custom code to process the CloudTrail event and send the notification, adding operational overhead.
✗
CloudTrail, Amazon CloudWatch Logs, and a metric filter with an alarm
Why it's wrong here
While this works, it requires creating a metric filter and alarm, which is more complex than using EventBridge.
✓
CloudTrail, Amazon EventBridge, and Amazon SNS
Why this is correct
EventBridge can directly consume CloudTrail events and route them to SNS without custom code, providing the simplest solution.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "least" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
AWS Config and Amazon SNS
Why it's wrong here
AWS Config evaluates resource configurations and can send notifications on changes, but it is not designed for real-time API call event notification.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often overcomplicate the solution by adding Lambda or CloudWatch Logs, not realizing that EventBridge provides a direct, serverless integration between CloudTrail and SNS for real-time event-driven notifications.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
EventBridge uses default event buses to receive CloudTrail API calls as events; you can create a rule with an event pattern matching the 'CreateUser' API name from the 'iam.amazonaws.com' source. The rule then targets an SNS topic configured with an email subscription, delivering the notification within seconds of the API call. This approach avoids the polling or log ingestion delays inherent in CloudWatch Logs metric filters, which operate on a 5-minute minimum evaluation period.
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.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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: CloudTrail, Amazon EventBridge, and Amazon SNS — Option C is correct because Amazon EventBridge can directly capture CloudTrail API events (such as CreateUser) and route them to an SNS topic for email notification without needing any custom code or additional infrastructure. This pattern minimizes operational overhead by using a fully managed event bus with built-in filtering and target routing, eliminating the need for Lambda functions or metric filter configurations.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "least". You want the option with minimum overhead, fewest steps, or lowest impact — not the most feature-rich or comprehensive answer.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company uses AWS CloudTrail to record all API activity. The SysOps administrator needs to be alerted in real time when an IAM user creates a new access key. Which combination of AWS services should be used to create this alert?
Why D: Option D is correct because Amazon EventBridge can directly consume CloudTrail events in real time and trigger an SNS notification when an IAM user creates a new access key. EventBridge provides a serverless event bus that matches specific API calls (e.g., CreateAccessKey) using event patterns, enabling immediate alerting without additional polling or log processing.
Variation 2. A company is using AWS CloudTrail to log API activity. The security team wants to be notified when an IAM user attempts to modify an S3 bucket policy. Which actions should be taken to meet this requirement? (Select THREE.)
hard
A.Create a CloudWatch alarm on the number of PutBucketPolicy calls.
B.Enable CloudTrail data events for S3 to capture bucket policy changes.
✓ C.Create an Amazon EventBridge rule that matches the PutBucketPolicy API call via CloudTrail.
✓ D.Configure the EventBridge rule to send events to an SNS topic.
✓ E.Ensure CloudTrail is logging management events for the S3 service.
Why C: Option C is correct because Amazon EventBridge can match specific API calls (like PutBucketPolicy) by using CloudTrail as an event source. This allows the security team to trigger a notification when an IAM user attempts to modify an S3 bucket policy, without needing to poll or set up custom monitoring.
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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.
Question Discussion
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