Quick Answer
The answer is AWS Config, as it is the only service designed to track security group configuration changes and history over time. AWS Config continuously records detailed configuration snapshots of your security groups, including every rule addition, deletion, or update, and maintains a chronological timeline of those modifications. On the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate SOA-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of governance and compliance services; a common trap is confusing AWS Config with AWS CloudTrail, which logs API calls but does not track the state or history of resource configurations. Remember that CloudTrail tells you who made a change and when, but AWS Config tells you what the resource looked like before and after the change. A helpful memory tip is to think of Config as a “configuration historian” for your security groups, while CloudTrail is the “activity log.”
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 SysOps administrator needs to track changes to security groups in the AWS account. Which AWS service should be used to record configuration changes and provide a history of security group modifications?
AWS Trusted Advisor
Why wrong: Trusted Advisor provides recommendations, not change tracking.
Amazon CloudWatch
Why wrong: CloudWatch monitors performance metrics, not configuration changes.
AWS Config
Config records configuration changes and provides a historical view.
AWS CloudTrail
Why wrong: CloudTrail logs API calls but does not provide configuration history.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
AWS Config
AWS Config is the correct service because it provides a detailed inventory of AWS resources, records configuration changes, and maintains a historical timeline of those changes. For security groups, AWS Config can track modifications such as rule additions, deletions, or updates, and it can trigger evaluations against desired configurations. This makes it the ideal service for auditing and compliance use cases involving security group changes.
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.
AWS Trusted Advisor
Why it's wrong here
Trusted Advisor provides recommendations, not change tracking.
Amazon CloudWatch
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch monitors performance metrics, not configuration changes.
AWS Config
Why this is correct
Config records configuration changes and provides a historical view.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
AWS CloudTrail
Why it's wrong here
CloudTrail logs API calls but does not provide configuration history.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse AWS CloudTrail (which logs API calls) with AWS Config (which records resource configuration state and history), leading them to choose CloudTrail for change tracking when Config is the service designed for configuration history and compliance auditing.
Detailed technical explanation
AWS Config works by establishing a configuration recorder that continuously tracks resource configurations and delivers configuration history files to an Amazon S3 bucket. It uses AWS Config rules to evaluate resources against desired configurations, and for security groups, it can detect changes like added ingress rules or modified CIDR blocks, storing each change as a configuration item with a timestamp. In a real-world scenario, if a security group rule is accidentally left open to 0.0.0.0/0, AWS Config can alert on this noncompliant change and provide the exact time and previous state for rollback.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A healthcare organisation deploys an application with a public-facing web tier and a private database tier. The database subnet has no public IP and only accepts connections from the web tier's security group. Questions like this test whether you can design cloud network isolation using VNets/VPCs, subnets, and security group rules.
What to study next
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Monitoring, Logging, and Remediation — study guide chapter
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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: AWS Config — AWS Config is the correct service because it provides a detailed inventory of AWS resources, records configuration changes, and maintains a historical timeline of those changes. For security groups, AWS Config can track modifications such as rule additions, deletions, or updates, and it can trigger evaluations against desired configurations. This makes it the ideal service for auditing and compliance use cases involving security group changes.
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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