CCSP Cloud Application Security Practice Question
A financial services company deploys a containerized application on Amazon ECS with Fargate. The application needs to access an encrypted RDS database. The security policy mandates that database credentials must never be stored in the application code or configuration files and must be rotated automatically every 90 days. Which solution should the DevOps team implement to satisfy these requirements?
⚠ Common exam trap
ISC2 often tests the distinction between AWS Secrets Manager and Systems Manager Parameter Store, where candidates mistakenly choose Parameter Store because it is cheaper, but they overlook that Secrets Manager provides native automatic rotation for RDS credentials, which is explicitly required by the policy.
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
✓
Store credentials in AWS Secrets Manager, grant ECS task role access, and enable automatic rotation
AWS Secrets Manager is the correct choice because it is designed to securely store, retrieve, and automatically rotate database credentials on a schedule (e.g., every 90 days) without storing them in code or configuration. By granting the ECS task role (via IAM) permission to access the secret, the Fargate task can retrieve the credentials at runtime using the AWS SDK or CLI, ensuring they are never hardcoded. This satisfies both the no-storage-in-code and automatic rotation requirements mandated by the security policy.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Store credentials in AWS Secrets Manager, grant ECS task role access, and enable automatic rotation
Why this is correct
Secrets Manager supports rotation and integrates with ECS, meeting all requirements.
- ✗
Encrypt credentials with AWS KMS and pass them as environment variables during task definition
Why it's wrong here
Environment variables still expose credentials in memory logs; does not meet 'not stored in code' strictly.
- ✗
Store credentials in AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store (SecureString) and retrieve them at container startup
Why it's wrong here
Parameter Store does not automatically rotate credentials.
- ✗
Use a secrets vault like Hashicorp Vault deployed on EC2 and mount secrets via sidecar container
Why it's wrong here
Vault requires additional management and does not natively support ECS task roles.
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.