A company uses Amazon EC2 as its primary compute platform. A DevOps team wants to audit the company's EC2 instances to check whether any prohibited applications have been installed on the EC2 instance

Question

Options

• AConfigure AWS Systems Manager on each instance. Use AWS Systems Manager Inventory. Use
• BConfigure AWS Systems Manager on each instance. Use Systems Manager Inventory Create
• CConfigure AWS Systems Manager on each instance. Use Systems Manager Inventory. Filter a
• DDesignate Amazon CloudWatch Logs as the log destination for all application instances. Run an

• A
  2% (1)
• B
  78% (32)
• C
  15% (6)
• D
  5% (2)

Explanation

Explanation

Option B is correct because AWS Systems Manager Inventory collects metadata about installed applications on EC2 instances, and combining it with an AWS Config rule (implied in option B's continuation) allows automated, continuous compliance checking against a list of prohibited software - this provides the most operationally efficient, scalable auditing solution without manual intervention.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• Option A likely stops at simply using Inventory without creating an automated compliance rule or alert, meaning engineers would have to manually review inventory data - less operationally efficient.
• Option C suggests manually filtering inventory results, which is a reactive, manual process rather than an automated compliance check, reducing operational efficiency.
• Option D uses CloudWatch Logs to audit application installations, but this requires applications to log their installations and adds complexity; Systems Manager Inventory is purpose-built for this use case and requires far less configuration overhead.

Memory Tip: Think "Inventory → Automate" - whenever a question involves auditing what's installed on EC2 instances at scale, Systems Manager Inventory paired with an automated rule or notification (not manual filtering) is almost always the most operationally efficient answer. If you see "audit + EC2 + applications," immediately think Systems Manager Inventory with automation.

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