CV0-004 Security Practice Question
A multinational enterprise uses Amazon Route 53 for public DNS. A recent incident showed that an attacker changed a registrar's nameserver delegation and redirected traffic to a malicious site. The security team wants to detect unauthorized changes to DNS records and receive alerts when records are modified outside the change-management process. Which combination should the team implement?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is equating DNS query logging with change monitoring, when only CloudTrail captures the API calls that actually modify records.
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
✓
Enable AWS CloudTrail and create an EventBridge rule that matches Route 53 ChangeResourceRecordSets API calls and routes them to an alerting target.
Detecting unauthorized record modification requires visibility into the Route 53 control plane. CloudTrail records ChangeResourceRecordSets calls with the identity and parameters, and an EventBridge rule matching that event pattern can alert the team in near real time. Query logging, Resolver logs, and DNSSEC address resolution behavior or response integrity rather than change detection and alerting.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Enable Route 53 query logging and create a CloudWatch alarm on the number of NXDOMAIN responses.
Why it's wrong here
Query logging records the DNS queries that Route 53 receives, including client IPs and response codes, which helps with traffic analysis but says nothing about who modified records or when. An NXDOMAIN alarm detects resolution failures, not unauthorized record edits. Neither control observes the Route 53 control-plane API where record changes occur.
- ✗
Create a Route 53 Resolver query log configuration and export logs to Amazon S3 for long-term retention.
Why it's wrong here
Resolver query logs capture DNS queries made by resources in a VPC, which supports investigation of internal name resolution. They do not record changes to public hosted zone records and produce no real-time alert on modification. Exporting to S3 adds retention but still leaves the team blind to unauthorized record edits.
- ✓
Enable AWS CloudTrail and create an EventBridge rule that matches Route 53 ChangeResourceRecordSets API calls and routes them to an alerting target.
Why this is correct
Route 53 record changes are control-plane operations recorded by CloudTrail, including the caller identity, source IP, and request parameters. An EventBridge rule that matches the ChangeResourceRecordSets event pattern can trigger an SNS topic or ticketing system immediately, giving the team detection and alerting for out-of-process modifications.
- ✗
Configure DNSSEC signing on the hosted zone and publish the DS record with the registrar.
Why it's wrong here
DNSSEC provides cryptographic validation of DNS responses so resolvers can detect forged or tampered answers. It protects the integrity of resolution for zones whose parent chain is trusted, but a registrar-level delegation change can still redirect traffic, and DNSSEC does not generate an alert or record who changed a record. It does not deliver the required detection.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
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