Databricks-DE-Assoc Governance and Security Practice Question
Exhibit
{
"Version": "2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": ["s3:GetObject", "s3:ListBucket"],
"Resource": ["arn:aws:s3:::my-bucket/*"]
}
]
}Refer to the exhibit. A data engineer is configuring an IAM policy for a Databricks storage credential. Which of the following is the most significant security risk in this configuration?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often ignore the scope of the IAM policy, failing to realize that granting access to an entire bucket rather than a specific prefix violates the principle of least privilege.
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 allows access to all objects in the bucket rather than using specific prefixes.
The policy uses overly permissive resource definitions and potentially excessive actions if not scoped correctly. In production environments, adhering to the principle of least privilege is critical. Granting broad 's3:ListBucket' or 's3:GetObject' access to an entire bucket without specific prefix scoping can lead to data exfiltration risks or unauthorized access to non-production data stored in the same bucket.
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 policy restricts access to only a single file.
Why it's wrong here
The policy uses a wildcard ('/*'), which provides broad access to the entire bucket contents. This is the opposite of restricting access to a single file. An overly permissive policy is a security vulnerability, as it allows access to potentially sensitive data that should be protected from the cluster.
- ✗
The policy lacks an explicit 'Deny' statement for all other resources.
Why it's wrong here
In AWS IAM, an implicit deny is standard if no explicit allow is present. The primary issue here is the breadth of the 'Allow' action. Simply adding a 'Deny' is not the fix; the 'Allow' needs to be scoped to specific resource prefixes to follow the principle of least privilege.
- ✓
The policy allows access to all objects in the bucket rather than using specific prefixes.
Why this is correct
Granting access to the entire bucket via 'arn:aws:s3:::my-bucket/*' is a significant risk. If multiple datasets or environments share a bucket, any cluster using this policy could potentially read or list data it is not authorized to access. Scoping policies to specific prefixes is a mandatory security best practice.
- ✗
The policy is missing a condition to require multi-factor authentication (MFA).
Why it's wrong here
MFA is typically applied to user accounts in IAM, not to service-to-service communication between Databricks and AWS. Requiring MFA for machine-to-machine storage access is not a standard practice and would prevent automated jobs from functioning, as they cannot provide interactive authentication tokens during runtime for storage requests.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every Databricks-DE-Assoc question from scratch — 276 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or 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 September 2026 · checked against the official Databricks exam blueprint
This Databricks-DE-Assoc practice question is part of Courseiva's free Databricks 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 Databricks-DE-Assoc exam.