This CCSP practice question tests your understanding of cloud platform and infrastructure security. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company uses a cloud provider's key management service. They want to rotate keys automatically every 90 days. What is the correct way to achieve this?
Enable automatic key rotation in the KMS settings.
Automatic rotation meets the requirement with minimal effort.
Manually update the key alias each quarter.
Why wrong: Manual process is error-prone and not automated.
Create a new key and update all applications to use it.
Why wrong: This is manual and disruptive.
Use a third-party HSM.
Why wrong: HSM does not provide automatic rotation.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Enable automatic key rotation in the KMS settings.
Option A is correct because cloud KMS services (e.g., AWS KMS, Azure Key Vault, GCP Cloud KMS) offer a built-in automatic key rotation feature that can be configured to rotate the key material every 90 days without any manual intervention. Enabling this setting ensures that new cryptographic material is generated for the key, while the old key material remains available for decrypting data encrypted with it, maintaining seamless security compliance.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Enable automatic key rotation in the KMS settings.
Why this is correct
Automatic rotation meets the requirement with minimal effort.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Manually update the key alias each quarter.
Why it's wrong here
Manual process is error-prone and not automated.
Create a new key and update all applications to use it.
Why it's wrong here
This is manual and disruptive.
Use a third-party HSM.
Why it's wrong here
HSM does not provide automatic rotation.
Common exam traps
ISC2 often tests the misconception that updating a key alias or creating a new key manually is equivalent to automatic rotation, when in fact automatic rotation is a specific KMS feature that preserves key continuity and requires no application changes.
Detailed technical explanation
Automatic key rotation in cloud KMS typically works by creating new key versions while retaining previous versions for decryption of older data. For example, AWS KMS uses a backing key that is rotated on the scheduled date, and the key ID remains the same, so applications do not need to be updated. In real-world scenarios, this is critical for meeting compliance frameworks like PCI DSS or SOC 2, which require periodic key rotation to limit the impact of key compromise.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A developer is choosing between AES-256 (symmetric) and RSA-2048 (asymmetric) for encrypting a large file that will be sent to a partner. Symmetric encryption is fast but requires key exchange; asymmetric is slower but solves the key distribution problem. A hybrid approach — encrypt the file with AES, encrypt the AES key with RSA — is standard. Questions like this test whether you understand when each approach applies.
What to study next
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FAQ
Cloud Platform and Infrastructure Security — This question tests Cloud Platform and Infrastructure Security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Enable automatic key rotation in the KMS settings. — Option A is correct because cloud KMS services (e.g., AWS KMS, Azure Key Vault, GCP Cloud KMS) offer a built-in automatic key rotation feature that can be configured to rotate the key material every 90 days without any manual intervention. Enabling this setting ensures that new cryptographic material is generated for the key, while the old key material remains available for decrypting data encrypted with it, maintaining seamless security compliance.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026
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.
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