CCSP Cloud Platform and Infrastructure Security Practice Question
This CCSP practice question tests your understanding of cloud platform and infrastructure security. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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.
An organization has a cloud environment with many accounts. They want to prevent any account from using certain services that are not approved (e.g., outside of a defined list). What is the BEST way to enforce this at the organizational level?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Apply a service control policy (SCP) that denies the services.
Service Control Policies (SCPs) are the correct mechanism because they operate at the organizational level in AWS Organizations, allowing you to centrally define a whitelist or blacklist of services for all member accounts. Unlike IAM policies, SCPs set a permissions boundary that cannot be overridden by account administrators, ensuring that non-approved services are denied across the entire organization. This provides a preventive control that blocks the use of prohibited services before any action can occur.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Configure each account's IAM policy to deny the services.
Why it's wrong here
This is not centralized and can be overridden by account admins.
✗
Enable AWS Config rules to detect and disable non-approved services.
Why it's wrong here
Config rules are detective and corrective, not preventive.
✓
Apply a service control policy (SCP) that denies the services.
Why this is correct
SCPs are applied at the OU or account level and cannot be overridden by account admins.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use resource-based policies on each resource to restrict usage.
Why it's wrong here
Resource policies are too granular and cannot deny service usage globally.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse detective controls (like AWS Config) with preventive controls (like SCPs), or assume that IAM policies applied per account can achieve the same centralized enforcement, missing the fact that SCPs are the only mechanism that cannot be bypassed by account-level administrators.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
SCPs are JSON-based policies that attach to an AWS Organizations root, OU, or account, and they work by filtering the permissions available to IAM users and roles within those accounts. They do not grant permissions themselves but act as a guardrail, using an implicit deny for any action not explicitly allowed when used in a whitelist strategy. A common subtlety is that SCPs do not affect service-linked roles or the management account, so organizations must ensure their approved service list accounts for these exceptions.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A security analyst at a medium-sized enterprise encounters this scenario during an investigation or architecture review. The correct answer reflects best practice for the specific threat or control described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Security exam questions test whether you can match controls to threats in context — not just recall definitions.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Cloud Platform and Infrastructure Security — This question tests Cloud Platform and Infrastructure Security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Apply a service control policy (SCP) that denies the services. — Service Control Policies (SCPs) are the correct mechanism because they operate at the organizational level in AWS Organizations, allowing you to centrally define a whitelist or blacklist of services for all member accounts. Unlike IAM policies, SCPs set a permissions boundary that cannot be overridden by account administrators, ensuring that non-approved services are denied across the entire organization. This provides a preventive control that blocks the use of prohibited services before any action can occur.
What should I do if I get this CCSP question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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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.
Question Discussion
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