CCSP Cloud Security Operations Practice Question
A cloud security architect is designing a log aggregation strategy for a multi-account AWS environment. The security team needs to ensure logs from all accounts are stored centrally and cannot be altered. Which combination of services meets these requirements?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse centralized logging (e.g., CloudWatch Logs cross-account) with immutability, overlooking that only CloudTrail's log file validation provides cryptographic proof of non-repudiation and tamper detection.
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
✓
CloudTrail with cross-account log delivery to a central S3 bucket and enable log file validation
AWS CloudTrail supports cross-account log delivery to a central S3 bucket, and enabling log file validation uses a digest file signed with the CloudTrail private key to cryptographically verify that log files have not been modified, deleted, or tampered with since delivery. This combination ensures centralized storage and immutability, meeting the security team's requirements.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
CloudTrail with cross-account log delivery to a central S3 bucket and enable log file validation
Why this is correct
This provides centralized storage and integrity verification.
- ✗
CloudWatch Logs to a centralized log group with IAM policies
Why it's wrong here
CloudWatch Logs does not provide built-in integrity validation like CloudTrail.
- ✗
S3 server access logs delivered to each account's own bucket
Why it's wrong here
This is not centralized and lacks integrity features.
- ✗
VPC Flow Logs to CloudWatch Logs in each account
Why it's wrong here
Flow Logs are not for API activity and do not provide integrity validation.
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
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CCSP practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 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 CCSP exam.