AWS DevOps Engineer Professional Practice Test

Which AWS service is primarily used for testing vulnerabilities on EC2 instances?

1. Amazon GuardDuty

2. Amazon Inspector

3. Amazon Systems Manager

4. AWS Shield

The correct answer is: Amazon Inspector

Amazon Inspector is specifically designed to conduct security assessments on Amazon EC2 instances. This service identifies potential vulnerabilities in the applications running on these instances, helping users to improve their security stance. Amazon Inspector performs automated security assessments, which include checking for network and host vulnerabilities, exposed ports, and insecure configurations, among other things. This service operates by analyzing the software hosted on EC2 instances and then generating detailed findings that outline the discovered vulnerabilities and provide recommendations for remediation. Its focus is on identifying security issues that could be exploited by attackers, making it an essential tool for maintaining the security and compliance of applications deployed on AWS. The other options serve different functions. While Amazon GuardDuty is a threat detection service that monitors malicious activity and unauthorized behavior, it does not specifically test for vulnerabilities on EC2 instances. Amazon Systems Manager offers operational management capabilities, such as automation and configuration management, but does not focus on vulnerability assessments. AWS Shield provides DDoS protection for applications but is not involved in vulnerability testing on EC2 instances. Hence, Amazon Inspector stands out as the appropriate choice for this particular need.