SOA-C02 Question #242: Real Exam Question with Answer & Explanation

Question

A company is implementing security and compliance by using AWS Trusted Advisor. The company's SysOps team is validating the list of Trusted Advisor checks that it can access. Which factor will affect the quantity of available Trusted Advisor checks?

Options

• AWhether at least one Amazon EC2 instance is in the running state
• BThe AWS Support plan
• CAn AWS Organizations service control policy (SCP)
• DWhether the AWS account root user has multi-factor authentication (MFA) enabled

Explanation

AWS Support plan (B) directly determines how many Trusted Advisor checks you can access - the Basic/Developer plans give access to only ~7 core checks (focused on security and service limits), while Business, Enterprise On-Ramp, and Enterprise plans unlock the full catalog of 400+ checks across cost optimization, performance, security, fault tolerance, and service limits.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• A (EC2 running state): Trusted Advisor check availability is account/plan-level, not tied to whether specific resources are running.
• C (SCPs): SCPs restrict actions IAM principals can perform, but they don't change which Trusted Advisor checks are available to the account - that's a billing/support relationship, not a permissions boundary.
• D (Root MFA): MFA on the root user is actually one of the checks Trusted Advisor performs, not a prerequisite for accessing checks.

Memory tip: Think of Trusted Advisor checks like a gym membership - the Basic plan is a free trial with limited equipment, and you only get full access to all the machines when you pay for the premium Support plan (Business or higher).

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