AWS Certified Security – Specialty (SCS-C02) — Question 30

A company has thousands of AWS Lambda functions. While reviewing the Lambda functions, a security engineer discovers that sensitive information is being stored in environment variables and is viewable as plaintext in the Lambda console. The values of the sensitive information are only a few characters long.
What is the MOST cost-effective way to address this security issue?

Answer options

• A. Set up IAM policies from the Lambda console to hide access to the environment variables.
• B. Use AWS Step Functions to store the environment variables. Access the environment variables at runtime. Use IAM permissions to restrict access to the environment variables to only the Lambda functions that require access.
• C. Store the environment variables in AWS Secrets Manager, and access them at runtime. Use IAM permissions to restrict access to the secrets to only the Lambda functions that require access.
• D. Store the environment variables in AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store as secure string parameters, and access them at runtime. Use IAM permissions to restrict access to the parameters to only the Lambda functions that require access.

Correct answer: D

Explanation

The correct answer, D, utilizes AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store to securely store sensitive information as secure string parameters, which ensures encryption and controlled access. Options A and B do not provide a secure storage solution for sensitive information, while option C, although a valid approach, may incur higher costs compared to using Parameter Store, making D the most cost-effective solution.