easyMultiple Choice

CISA Practice Question: Refer to the exhibit

Exhibit

Refer to the exhibit.

Exhibit:
Configuration file for an Amazon S3 bucket policy:
{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": "*",
      "Action": "s3:GetObject",
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::example-bucket/*"
    }
  ]
}

Refer to the exhibit. A CISA is reviewing this S3 bucket policy. What is the PRIMARY security concern?

⚠ Common exam trap

ISACA often tests the distinction between 'public read' and 'public write' — candidates may incorrectly assume the policy allows write access because it uses `"*"`, but the action is specifically `s3:GetObject`, so only read is permitted.

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 bucket is configured for public read access

The bucket policy explicitly grants `s3:GetObject` to `Principal: "*"` with `Effect: "Allow"`, which means any unauthenticated user on the internet can read objects in the bucket. This is a classic misconfiguration that leads to public read access, exposing sensitive data. While encryption and versioning are important security controls, the immediate and most severe risk is unauthorized data disclosure via public read.

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 bucket is configured for public read access
Why this is correct
The bucket policy grants read permission to a wildcard principal, meaning any unauthenticated internet user can list and download objects. Public read access exposes the data regardless of other settings, making it the primary concern.
✗
Encryption is not enforced on the bucket
Why it's wrong here
Encryption enforcement is a data-at-rest control configured separately from the bucket policy; the policy governs who may perform which S3 actions. Enforcing encryption would be the correct finding when the concern is unprotected stored objects, not the access permissions the policy itself defines.
✗
The policy allows unauthorized write access
Why it's wrong here
Write access is a concern only if the policy's Action list includes write operations such as s3:PutObject; the exhibit's stated concern centres on exposure of data through read permissions. Write access would be the primary issue if the policy granted s3:PutObject or s3:DeleteObject to a broad Principal.
✗
Versioning is not enabled on the bucket
Why it's wrong here
Versioning affects recoverability from overwrites or deletions, not who can reach the bucket; the policy's Principal and Action statements determine access. Enabling versioning would be the right control when the concern is accidental data loss or ransomware, not unauthorised access granted by policy.

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

Go deeper

CISA Practice Question: Refer to the exhibit

Exhibit

Why each option matters

Option-by-option breakdown

AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison

Related to this question