This CCSP practice question tests your understanding of legal, risk and compliance. 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.
Refer to the exhibit. A security engineer reviews this CloudTrail log entry. The company has a policy that all deletion operations must be approved by the compliance team. What is the most likely compliance issue?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "most likely"
Why it matters: Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The deletion was performed without evidence of compliance team approval
Option D is correct because the company policy explicitly requires compliance team approval for all deletion operations, and the CloudTrail log entry does not contain any evidence of such approval (e.g., no MFA context, no approval token, no IAM policy condition key indicating approval). CloudTrail logs record API calls but do not inherently capture external approval workflows; the absence of an approval artifact in the log indicates a policy violation.
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.
✗
The deletion was performed from an internal IP address
Why it's wrong here
Internal IP is expected and not a compliance issue.
✗
The deletion was performed by a user who may not have authorization
Why it's wrong here
John.doe appears to be a legitimate IAM user, but authorization is separate from the approval policy.
✗
The log entry does not include the object's encryption status
Why it's wrong here
Encryption status is not relevant to deletion approval.
✓
The deletion was performed without evidence of compliance team approval
Why this is correct
The policy requires approval, but the log shows no approval step.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "most likely" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
ISC2 often tests the distinction between 'authorization' (who can perform an action) and 'approval' (a separate governance step), leading candidates to choose Option B when the real issue is the missing compliance approval artifact.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
CloudTrail logs capture the `userIdentity`, `eventSource`, `eventName`, and `requestParameters` for every AWS API call, but they do not include external approval tokens or workflow status unless custom event data is injected (e.g., via Lambda triggers). In a real-world scenario, organizations enforce deletion approval by using IAM policy conditions (e.g., `aws:MultiFactorAuthPresent` or a custom `approval:token` condition key) or by requiring the deletion to be performed through a privileged role that assumes approval has been granted. Without such evidence in the log, the deletion violates the compliance policy.
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 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
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.
Legal, Risk and Compliance — This question tests Legal, Risk and Compliance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: The deletion was performed without evidence of compliance team approval — Option D is correct because the company policy explicitly requires compliance team approval for all deletion operations, and the CloudTrail log entry does not contain any evidence of such approval (e.g., no MFA context, no approval token, no IAM policy condition key indicating approval). CloudTrail logs record API calls but do not inherently capture external approval workflows; the absence of an approval artifact in the log indicates a policy violation.
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: "most likely". Probability qualifier — the question wants the most probable cause or outcome, not a guaranteed one. Eliminate low-probability options.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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