CLO-002 Governance Risk Compliance And Security Practice Question
A developer is writing code that accesses an API key. Instead of hardcoding the key, which service should they use to retrieve it securely at runtime?
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
✓
AWS Secrets Manager
Secrets Manager is specifically designed to store and retrieve API keys, database credentials, and secrets securely.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
AWS Secrets Manager
Why this is correct
Secrets Manager provides secure storage and dynamic retrieval for credentials.
- ✗
Environment Variables
Why it's wrong here
Environment variables are insecure as they can be exposed through system logs or process dumps.
- ✗
Parameter Store
Why it's wrong here
While it can store secrets, Secrets Manager is the primary tool for managing rotation and lifecycle of sensitive keys.
- ✗
IAM Roles
Why it's wrong here
Roles manage permissions for services, not for storing application secrets.
About these practice questions
This CLO-002 question is part of Courseiva's 211-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
This CLO-002 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA 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 CLO-002 exam.