Quick Answer
The correct answer is AWS CloudTrail and Amazon CloudWatch Logs. CloudTrail is the service that records every API call made to your AWS environment, capturing the caller identity, source IP, and request parameters for security analysis, while CloudWatch Logs provides the centralized ingestion, monitoring, and alerting on those logs. On the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate SOA-C02 exam, this pairing tests your understanding that CloudTrail handles the logging of API activity itself, but you need CloudWatch Logs to enable real-time analysis, metric filters, and retention policies—a common trap is choosing only CloudTrail and forgetting the delivery destination. Remember the memory tip: “CloudTrail captures the call, CloudWatch Logs catches the fall,” meaning CloudTrail records the action, and CloudWatch Logs stores and monitors it for security analysis.
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 is designing a monitoring solution for a critical application running on EC2 instances. The application requires that all API calls to the environment are logged for security analysis. Which TWO services should the administrator use to meet this requirement?
Amazon GuardDuty
Why wrong: GuardDuty is a threat detection service, not a logging service.
Amazon CloudWatch Logs
CloudWatch Logs can store and monitor CloudTrail log files.
AWS CloudTrail
CloudTrail records API activity across AWS services.
AWS Config
Why wrong: Config tracks resource configuration changes, not API calls.
VPC Flow Logs
Why wrong: Flow Logs capture IP traffic, not API calls.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Amazon CloudWatch Logs
AWS CloudTrail is the correct service because it records all API calls made to the AWS environment, including calls made via the AWS Management Console, AWS CLI, SDKs, and other services. CloudTrail logs provide the identity of the caller, the time of the call, the source IP address, and the request parameters, which are essential for security analysis. Option B (Amazon CloudWatch Logs) is also correct because CloudTrail logs can be delivered to CloudWatch Logs for centralized monitoring, alerting, and retention, enabling real-time analysis and integration with other AWS services.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Amazon GuardDuty
Why it's wrong here
GuardDuty is a threat detection service, not a logging service.
Amazon CloudWatch Logs
Why this is correct
CloudWatch Logs can store and monitor CloudTrail log files.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS CloudTrail
Why this is correct
CloudTrail records API activity across AWS services.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS Config
Why it's wrong here
Config tracks resource configuration changes, not API calls.
VPC Flow Logs
Why it's wrong here
Flow Logs capture IP traffic, not API calls.
Common exam traps
The trap here is confusing AWS CloudTrail (which logs API calls) with VPC Flow Logs (which log network traffic) or GuardDuty (which detects threats but does not generate logs), leading candidates to select services that analyze logs rather than capture them.
Detailed technical explanation
CloudTrail delivers log files in JSON format to an S3 bucket, with each event containing fields like 'eventSource', 'eventName', 'userIdentity', and 'requestParameters'. When integrated with CloudWatch Logs, you can create metric filters to trigger alarms on specific API calls (e.g., 'DeleteTrail' or 'StopLogging'), enabling proactive security responses. A real-world scenario is detecting unauthorized IAM role changes by filtering CloudTrail events in CloudWatch Logs and triggering an SNS notification.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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
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FAQ
Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation — This question tests Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Amazon CloudWatch Logs — AWS CloudTrail is the correct service because it records all API calls made to the AWS environment, including calls made via the AWS Management Console, AWS CLI, SDKs, and other services. CloudTrail logs provide the identity of the caller, the time of the call, the source IP address, and the request parameters, which are essential for security analysis. Option B (Amazon CloudWatch Logs) is also correct because CloudTrail logs can be delivered to CloudWatch Logs for centralized monitoring, alerting, and retention, enabling real-time analysis and integration with other AWS services.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 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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