Specialty

AWS Certified Security - Specialty (SCS-C02) Practice Exam

The SCS-C02 exam validates deep expertise in securing AWS workloads — covering IAM, encryption, threat detection, network security, and compliance governance.

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SCS-C02 Exam Overview

Exam CodeSCS-C02
Full NameAWS Certified Security - Specialty
LevelSpecialty
Questions on Exam65
Duration170 minutes
Passing Score750 / 1000
Exam Cost$300 USD
Recommended Study Time60–100 hours
AWSReady Practice Questions300+

Exam Domains

Sample SCS-C02 Practice Questions

Try these free practice questions. Full answers and explanations are included.

Question 1

A company has an AWS Lambda function that creates image thumbnails from larger images. The Lambda function needs read and write access to an Amazon S3 bucket in the same AWS account. Which solutions will provide the Lambda function this access? (Select TWO)

A. Create an IAM user that has only programmatic access. Create a new access key pair. Add environmental variables to the Lambda function with the access key ID and secret access key. Modify the Lambda function to use the environmental variables at run time during communication with Amazon S3.
B. Generate an Amazon EC2 key pair. Store the private key in AWS Secrets Man-ager. Modify the Lambda function to retrieve the private key from Secrets Manager and to use the private key during communication with Amazon S3.
C. Create an IAM role for the Lambda function. Attach an IAM policy that al-lows access to the S3 bucket.
D. Create an IAM role for the Lambda function. Attach a bucket policy to the S3 bucket to allow access. Specify the function's IAM role as the principal.
E. Create a security group. Attach the security group to the Lambda function. Attach a bucket policy that allows access to the S3 bucket through the security group ID.
Show Answer & Explanation

Correct Answers: C. Create an IAM role for the Lambda function. Attach an IAM policy that al-lows access to the S3 bucket.; D. Create an IAM role for the Lambda function. Attach a bucket policy to the S3 bucket to allow access. Specify the function's IAM role as the principal.

Why C is correct: Creating an IAM role for the Lambda function and attaching an IAM policy that allows S3 access is the AWS best practice. Lambda functions should use IAM roles (execution roles) rather than embedding credentials. The role is automatically assumed by Lambda at runtime, providing temporary credentials through AWS STS.Why D is correct: This is another valid approach using resource-based policies. You can create an IAM role for Lambda and then use an S3 bucket policy that explicitly allows that role (as the principal) to access the bucket. This demonstrates cross-service authorization using resource-based policies combined with identity-based roles.Why A is wrong: Storing access keys in environment variables is a security anti-pattern. It exposes long-term credentials that could be compromised. AWS explicitly recommends against embedding credentials in code or configuration.Why B is wrong: EC2 key pairs are used for SSH access to EC2 instances, not for AWS API authentication. This answer confuses instance access with service-to-service authentication. Lambda doesn't use SSH keys to communicate with S3.Why E is wrong: Security groups control network traffic (layer 3/4), not API access to S3. S3 access requires IAM permissions, not network security groups. Additionally, Lambda functions in VPC can have security groups, but this doesn't grant S3 API permissions.

Question 2

A security engineer is configuring a new website that is named example.com. The security engineer wants to secure communications with the website by requiring users to connect to example.com through HTTPS. Which of the following is a valid option for storing SSL/TLS certificates?

A. Custom SSL certificate that is stored in AWS Key Management Service (AWS KMS).
B. Default SSL certificate that is stored in Amazon CloudFront.
C. Custom SSL certificate that is stored in AWS Certificate Manager (ACM).
D. Default SSL certificate that is stored in Amazon S3.
Show Answer & Explanation

Correct Answer: C. Custom SSL certificate that is stored in AWS Certificate Manager (ACM).

Why C is correct: AWS Certificate Manager (ACM) is specifically designed to store and manage SSL/TLS certificates for AWS services. ACM provides free public certificates, handles automatic renewal, and integrates seamlessly with services like CloudFront, Application Load Balancers, and API Gateway. This is the standard AWS solution for SSL/TLS certificate management.Why A is wrong: AWS KMS is designed for encryption key management, not SSL/TLS certificate storage. KMS manages cryptographic keys used for data encryption, but it's not the appropriate service for storing SSL/TLS certificates used for HTTPS connections.Why B is wrong: CloudFront doesn't provide a "default SSL certificate" for custom domains like example.com. CloudFront has a default certificate only for CloudFront distribution domains (*.cloudfront.net), not for custom domains. Custom domains require either ACM certificates or third-party certificates.Why D is wrong: S3 is not designed to store SSL/TLS certificates for use with web services. While you could technically store certificate files in S3, there's no native integration with HTTPS endpoints, and this would not be a secure or functional solution for serving HTTPS traffic.

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Frequently Asked Questions — SCS-C02 Exam

How many questions are on the AWS SCS-C02 exam?
The SCS-C02 exam contains 65 questions to be completed in 170 minutes.
What is the passing score for SCS-C02?
The AWS Certified Security Specialty (SCS-C02) passing score is 750 out of 1000.
Is SCS-C02 hard?
SCS-C02 is one of the harder AWS Specialty exams. It requires in-depth knowledge of AWS security services and the ability to design comprehensive security solutions.
How long should I study for SCS-C02?
Plan on 6–12 weeks studying 1–2 hours per day. Focus on IAM, KMS, CloudTrail, GuardDuty, Security Hub, Inspector, Macie, VPC security, and AWS compliance frameworks.
What topics does SCS-C02 cover?
SCS-C02 covers IAM, KMS, Secrets Manager, CloudTrail, GuardDuty, Security Hub, Macie, Inspector, WAF, Shield, VPC security groups, NACLs, and AWS Organizations security policies.
Do I need SAA-C03 before SCS-C02?
AWS recommends 5 years of IT security experience and 2 years of hands-on AWS security experience. SAA-C03 is not required but its content is foundational.
Are AWSReady SCS-C02 questions representative of the real exam?
Yes. AWSReady SCS-C02 questions cover all six exam domains with scenario-based questions on security architecture, threat detection, and compliance.

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