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Security and Compliance →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

SOA-C02 Security and Compliance Practice Question

This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of security and compliance. 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 allow an IAM user to launch EC2 instances only in the us-east-1 region. The administrator creates a policy with a condition that uses the aws:RequestedRegion condition key. However, the user can still launch instances in other regions. What is the MOST likely reason?

Clue words in this question

Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.

Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.

A
The aws:RequestedRegion condition key is not supported for EC2
Why wrong: It is supported for EC2.
B
The condition key must be aws:Region instead of aws:RequestedRegion
Why wrong: aws:Region is used for the region of the resource, not the request.
C
The user has administrator access that overrides the policy
Why wrong: The scenario assumes a user with only this policy.
D
The policy does not include the ec2:RunInstances action with the condition
The policy may be missing the condition on the RunInstances action, or the condition key is not applied correctly.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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

✓

The policy does not include the ec2:RunInstances action with the condition

Option D is correct because the policy must explicitly deny or allow the ec2:RunInstances action with the aws:RequestedRegion condition. Without specifying the action, the condition key has no effect on the user's ability to launch instances. The policy likely only applies the condition to other actions or is missing the action entirely, allowing the user to bypass the region restriction.

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.

✗
The aws:RequestedRegion condition key is not supported for EC2
Why it's wrong here
It is supported for EC2.
✗
The condition key must be aws:Region instead of aws:RequestedRegion
Why it's wrong here
aws:Region is used for the region of the resource, not the request.
✗
The user has administrator access that overrides the policy
Why it's wrong here
The scenario assumes a user with only this policy.
✓
The policy does not include the ec2:RunInstances action with the condition
Why this is correct
The policy may be missing the condition on the RunInstances action, or the condition key is not applied correctly.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates often assume adding a condition key to a policy automatically restricts all actions, but AWS IAM requires the condition to be explicitly associated with the specific action in the policy statement.

Trap categories for this question

Scenario analysis trap
The scenario assumes a user with only this policy.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

The aws:RequestedRegion condition key evaluates the region specified in the API request before the action is performed, making it ideal for restricting resource creation to a specific region. However, it must be paired with the specific action (e.g., ec2:RunInstances) in the policy's Statement block; otherwise, the condition is ignored for that action. A common mistake is applying the condition globally without listing the action, which results in no restriction on EC2 instance launches.

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.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this SOA-C02 question test?

Security and Compliance — This question tests Security and Compliance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: The policy does not include the ec2:RunInstances action with the condition — Option D is correct because the policy must explicitly deny or allow the ec2:RunInstances action with the aws:RequestedRegion condition. Without specifying the action, the condition key has no effect on the user's ability to launch instances. The policy likely only applies the condition to other actions or is missing the action entirely, allowing the user to bypass the region restriction.

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: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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