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Question 61
Which feature ensures that Cloud Run services can only be invoked by authenticated callers within your organization?
A) Allow unauthenticated invocations
B) IAM permission run.invoker
C) VPC firewall rules
D) Cloud NAT routing
Answer: B
Explanation:
Allowing unauthenticated invocations means that a Cloud Run service or similar serverless resource can be accessed by anyone on the internet without requiring authentication. While this may be useful for public-facing APIs or websites, it creates significant security risks when the service is meant to be restricted to authorized users or internal workloads. Allowing unauthenticated access essentially removes all identity checks and opens the service to unwanted traffic, potential abuse, and unauthorized interactions. This option is generally avoided in secure architectures where access must be strictly controlleD)
Granting the IAM permission run.invoker is the recommended and secure method for controlling access to Cloud Run services. This permission allows administrators to explicitly specify which users, service accounts, or groups are allowed to invoke the service. By assigning run.invoker to trusted identities, teams can ensure that only authorized entities can send requests to the Cloud Run endpoint. This aligns with least-privilege principles and provides a clear, identity-based access control mechanism. IAM-based access control is scalable, centrally managed, and fully auditable through Cloud Audit Logs. It also integrates smoothly with existing Google Cloud IAM workflows, making it easy to manage access as teams grow or system responsibilities change. Because Cloud Run relies on IAM for authentication, run.invoker is the key permission that determines who can execute the service, and therefore it is the most appropriate option for restricting and securing service access.
VPC firewall rules operate at the network layer and are useful for controlling traffic between network segments, virtual machines, and internal workloads. However, Cloud Run typically uses a fully managed serverless environment that is not directly controlled through traditional VPC firewalling. Firewall rules cannot enforce identity-based access to Cloud Run services, and therefore they are not suitable for controlling invocation permissions.
Cloud NAT routing provides outbound internet connectivity for private instances that lack public IP addresses. While useful in many architectures, Cloud NAT has no role in controlling access to Cloud Run and cannot be used to authorize or block invocation requests.
Given these considerations, assigning IAM permission run.invoker is the correct answer because it provides the necessary identity-based access control for securely invoking Cloud Run services.
Question 62
Which method ensures secure cross-project service-to-service authentication in a microservices architecture?
A) Using API keys
B) Using IAM service account impersonation
C) Using VPC peering only
D) Using Cloud NAT IP allowlists
Answer: B
Explanation:
Using API keys is one of the simplest ways to authenticate to certain Google Cloud services, but API keys do not provide strong identity guarantees and lack fine-grained access control. They cannot express detailed permissions, are difficult to rotate and manage securely at scale, and can be easily exposed if included in client-side code or improperly storeD) API keys are generally discouraged for sensitive workloads because they cannot enforce least-privilege access and do not integrate with IAM policies. They offer minimal security features and fail to provide robust auditability, making them unsuitable for environments that require strong identity verification and controlled access to cloud resources.
Using IAM service account impersonation is the recommended approach because it allows applications and users to temporarily assume the identity of a service account without needing to store long-lived keys. This model enables secure, short-lived credential generation, which significantly reduces the risk associated with compromised credentials. Impersonation also supports the principle of least privilege because administrators can define exactly which identities are allowed to impersonate specific service accounts and under what conditions. This provides a strong separation of duties, improved governance, and centralized permission management. It also seamlessly integrates with Google Cloud’s auditing systems, allowing organizations to track who assumed which identity and when. Because no static keys are shared or stored, the risk of unauthorized use is greatly minimizeD) This model supports modern zero trust architectures by ensuring that access decisions are based on identity, context, and short-lived tokens rather than static secrets.
Using VPC peering only is insufficient because, although it provides private network connectivity between VPCs, it does not handle authentication or authorization. VPC peering solves routing and connectivity problems, but it cannot control who can act as a particular service identity or access sensitive APIs.
Using Cloud NAT IP allowlists simply routes outbound traffic and allows administrators to restrict access based on IP address. While useful for network-level filtering, it does not provide strong identity validation and cannot enforce role-based permissions tied to service accounts.
Given these considerations, IAM service account impersonation is the correct answer because it provides secure, temporary, identity-based authentication without relying on long-lived credentials.
Question 63
Which technology detects suspicious BigQuery query patterns that may indicate data exfiltration?
A) Cloud NAT logs
B) Firewall logs
C) BigQuery Data Exfiltration Protection in SCC
D) Cloud Build logs
Answer: C
Explanation:
Cloud NAT logs provide visibility into outbound traffic originating from private instances that use Network Address Translation to reach external services. These logs help administrators understand which instances are making outbound connections, the translated IP addresses, port usage, and connectivity patterns. While useful for diagnosing routing or connectivity issues, Cloud NAT logs do not provide insights into data security risks, nor do they detect sensitive data movement or identify unauthorized access attempts to high-value datasets. Their purpose is operational networking observability rather than protecting against data exfiltration.
Firewall logs record traffic allowed or denied by VPC firewall rules, showing which IPs, ports, and protocols are being useD) These logs are valuable for diagnosing security rule misconfigurations, identifying unusual inbound or outbound traffic patterns, and monitoring potential malicious scans or attempts to access restricted services. However, firewall logs operate at the network layer and do not understand the nature of the data being transferreD) They cannot interpret BigQuery operations, evaluate dataset sensitivity, or detect whether a query represents an attempt to extract large volumes of protected information.
BigQuery Data Exfiltration Protection in Security Command Center provides a powerful, dedicated mechanism to detect and block unauthorized or risky movement of data from BigQuery. This feature monitors query execution behavior, access patterns, and data transfer destinations to determine whether an operation may constitute data theft, misuse, or policy violation. It integrates with context-aware access and VPC Service Controls, enabling organizations to enforce strong boundaries around their analytics workloads. By analyzing access logs and query results, it helps identify suspicious extraction attempts, such as large unapproved exports, downloads to external systems, or unexpected use of service accounts. This protection is particularly important for organizations managing sensitive datasets, regulated data, or intellectual property. It provides visibility that network logs alone cannot offer and enables automated enforcement to prevent data from leaving a protected environment.
Cloud Build logs track build processes, steps, configurations, and image creation pipelines. Although important for supply chain security and diagnosing build issues, these logs do not monitor or protect against BigQuery data exfiltration.
Given these considerations, BigQuery Data Exfiltration Protection in Security Command Center is the correct answer because it directly detects and mitigates risks related to unauthorized removal of sensitive analytical datA)
Question 64
Which option ensures VM disks remain encrypted with keys exclusively controlled by your on-premises HSM device?
A) GMEK
B) CMEK
C) Cloud EKM
D) Local file-system encryption
Answer: C
Explanation:
GMEK, or Google-Managed Encryption Keys, represents the default encryption mechanism across most Google Cloud services. With this approach, Google automatically handles key creation, rotation, storage, and protection. While this model offers strong security and simplifies operations for customers who do not need granular control, it does not satisfy scenarios where organizations require complete authority over their encryption keys or must store keys in environments outside of Google’s infrastructure. GMEK is ideal for general workloads but does not provide the level of independence or regulatory assurance needed in highly controlled environments.
CMEK, or Customer-Managed Encryption Keys, gives organizations more control by allowing them to generate, rotate, disable, and destroy keys through Cloud KMS. This method is suitable for businesses that need to enforce their own key lifecycle policies or meet specific compliance standards. While CMEK increases control over encryption compared to GMEK, it still stores keys within Google Cloud’s infrastructure and does not fulfill certain strict requirements involving external key custody or separation of trust domains. Customers who must maintain sovereignty over their keys or ensure that encryption keys never reside inside Google’s infrastructure often find CMEK insufficient for their regulatory or security mandates.
Cloud EKM, or External Key Manager, provides the highest level of control by allowing organizations to store and manage encryption keys outside of Google Cloud using an external key management solution. With Cloud EKM, data stored in Google Cloud services is encrypted with keys that remain in an external system, allowing organizations to maintain full sovereignty over encryption. This design is critical for regulated industries such as finance, government, and healthcare, where external custody of keys is required to meet stringent compliance standards. Cloud EKM also enables customers to revoke Google’s access to encrypted data at any time by disabling or deleting keys from the external system, providing a strong security guarantee. It supports scenarios where separation of duty, zero trust security, and independent control over cryptographic operations are essential.
Local file-system encryption typically applies only to data stored on individual machines or disks. While useful in traditional on-premises environments, it does not integrate with cloud-native services, does not provide centralized key management, and cannot ensure encryption for managed cloud services such as BigQuery, Cloud Storage, or Cloud SQL.
Given these considerations, Cloud EKM is the correct answer because it provides external key control, regulatory compliance support, and strong separation of trust unavailable in other options.
Question 65
Which configuration prevents Cloud Storage objects from being accessed publicly even if IAM and ACL permissions are mistakenly set to allow public access?
A) Object versioning
B) Bucket Lock
C) Public Access Prevention
D) VPC Peering
Answer: C
Explanation:
Object versioning is a feature of Cloud Storage that allows a bucket to retain older versions of objects when they are overwritten or deleteD) This is useful for data recovery, auditing changes, and protecting against accidental deletion or modification. When versioning is enabled, previous versions can be restored at any time, which makes it valuable for operational reliability. However, object versioning does not control access to the data stored in the bucket. It does not prevent objects from being made public nor does it stop accidental exposure resulting from misconfigured IAM policies or ACLs. Its purpose is durability and recoverability, not access restriction or preventing public exposure.
Bucket Lock, also known as retention policy lock, ensures that objects stored in a bucket cannot be deleted or modified before a predefined retention period has passeD) This is often used to meet compliance requirements such as legal holds or regulatory data retention rules. While Bucket Lock prevents premature deletion, it does not address whether the data can be accessed publicly. A bucket with a locked retention policy may still be exposed if its permissions allow anonymous users or external entities to access it. Therefore, Bucket Lock is not a solution for preventing public access and should not be confused with access control mechanisms.
Public Access Prevention is a strong and explicit control that ensures a Cloud Storage bucket and its objects can never be made public under any circumstances. It overrides permissions that could otherwise allow public exposure, including IAM roles and legacy ACLs. When this feature is enabled, even accidental configuration changes cannot expose data publicly. This is critical for organizations that handle sensitive datasets, confidential information, or regulated content where public exposure must be strictly preventeD) Public Access Prevention helps eliminate common risks caused by misconfigured permissions, human error, or overly broad access grants. It enforces a strict security boundary and ensures that objects remain private by design, regardless of how permissions evolve over time within the environment.
VPC Peering enables private network connectivity between two VPCs, allowing resources to communicate internally. While useful for networking, it has no relationship to Cloud Storage access control or the prevention of public exposure.
Given these considerations, Public Access Prevention is the correct answer because it provides guaranteed protection against accidental or intentional public data exposure.
Question 66
Which feature prevents service accounts from being used outside approved networks or device conditions?
A) IAM Conditions
B) Audit Logs
C) VPC Routes
D) Cloud Scheduler
Answer: A
Explanation:
IAM Conditions provide a flexible and powerful way to refine access control in Google Cloud by allowing administrators to enforce context-aware rules when granting permissions. Instead of relying solely on static IAM role bindings, IAM Conditions make it possible to specify constraints based on attributes such as time of day, IP address ranges, device security levels, resource tags, or request context. This enables organizations to implement least privilege access in a more dynamic and precise manner. For example, administrators can allow access only during business hours, restrict administrative actions to trusted networks, or limit permission usage to resources carrying specific labels. IAM Conditions support zero trust principles by ensuring that access is continuously evaluated against contextual factors rather than granted indefinitely. This reduces the likelihood of misuse, credential abuse, or accidental exposure because permissions become more tightly aligned with actual operational needs. IAM Conditions are especially valuable in large and distributed environments where granular and adaptive access decisions are essential for maintaining security without impeding productivity.
Audit Logs provide a comprehensive record of actions taken on Google Cloud resources. They support security investigations, compliance auditing, and forensic analysis. While essential for tracking behavior and identifying unauthorized activities after they occur, Audit Logs do not prevent access. They operate in a passive observational capacity and do not enforce policy at the time of access. Therefore, they cannot dynamically control who can use a permission under specific conditions.
VPC Routes determine how traffic is directed within a virtual private cloud network or between networks. They are crucial for enabling communication paths but have no role in identity or access control. VPC routing cannot restrict IAM permissions or enforce conditional access policies.
Cloud Scheduler is a managed cron service used to trigger jobs and automate recurring tasks. It is useful for operational automation but completely unrelated to access control or IAM policy enforcement. It does not influence who can access resources or under what circumstances.
Given these considerations, IAM Conditions is the correct answer because it enables context-aware and highly granular access control that strengthens security by enforcing rules based on environmental and request-specific attributes.
Question 67
Which feature ensures API calls from VMs can be restricted to only approved Google Cloud APIs?
A) Firewall rules only
B) VPC-SC + IAM + OAuth scopes
C) Cloud VPN
D) Cloud Router
Answer: B
Explanation:
Firewall rules only provide network-level filtering based on IP addresses, ports, and protocols. They are helpful for restricting which sources can reach specific destinations within a VPC or across connected networks. While firewall rules are essential for baseline network segmentation, they do not offer any protection against identity-based risks or unauthorized access to Google Cloud services through APIs. They also cannot prevent data exfiltration that happens through authenticated API calls, because the requests may originate from legitimate identities or internal networks that firewalls cannot distinguish as malicious. Firewall rules alone cannot enforce cloud-service boundaries or ensure that sensitive resources are accessed only under approved conditions. Their scope is limited to packet-level filtering and does not integrate with IAM or token-based authentication mechanisms that govern access to Google-managed services.
VPC Service Controls combined with IAM and OAuth scopes provide a comprehensive multi-layered security approach for protecting sensitive data and APIs. VPC Service Controls create service perimeters that restrict access to Google Cloud services such as Cloud Storage, BigQuery, and Secret Manager, ensuring that requests must originate from trusted networks or approved service accounts. This prevents data from leaving the protected environment, even if a valid credential is compromiseD) IAM adds identity-based access control, ensuring that only authorized identities can perform actions based on their assigned roles and permissions. OAuth scopes further restrict what authenticated tokens are permitted to do when interacting with APIs, providing an additional guardrail for workloads and service accounts. When combined, these three mechanisms create a strong, layered defense that addresses network restrictions, identity security, and API-level authorization simultaneously. This defense-in-depth approach is ideal for organizations that handle sensitive or regulated data, as it mitigates risks associated with unauthorized access, credential misuse, and unintended data exposure across cloud services.
Cloud VPN provides encrypted connectivity between on-premises data centers and Google Cloud VPCs. While important for hybrid architectures, it does not prevent unauthorized API access or enforce service-level boundaries. It only secures transport paths and does not control access to cloud services.
Cloud Router dynamically exchanges routes with on-premises networks, enabling scalable hybrid networking. However, it does not enforce access control, identity validation, or service restrictions.
Given these considerations, the correct answer is VPC-SC combined with IAM and OAuth scopes because this combination delivers robust, multi-layer protection against unauthorized access and data exfiltration.
Question 68
Which tool automatically identifies VMs running outdated OS versions or unpatched vulnerabilities?
A) Cloud Scheduler
B) VM Manager (OS Patch + Inventory)
C) Pub/Sub
D) Cloud Build
Answer: B
Explanation:
Cloud Scheduler is a fully managed scheduling service that allows tasks or jobs to run at specific intervals. It is valuable for triggering workflows, automating periodic processes, and orchestrating time-based tasks across cloud services. While Cloud Scheduler is very useful for automation, it does not provide capabilities for inspecting virtual machines, managing operating system updates, or evaluating host-level security posture. It is focused on task execution rather than system maintenance, configuration oversight, or vulnerability reduction.
VM Manager, which includes OS Patch Management and OS Inventory Management, provides a comprehensive set of tools for maintaining the health, compliance, and security of virtual machines. OS Patch Management enables administrators to view, control, and automate the patching of operating systems running on Compute Engine instances. This helps reduce vulnerabilities by ensuring that machines receive critical updates on time, minimizing exposure to exploit attempts or unpatched security flaws. OS Inventory Management collects information about installed software, operating system versions, and package details, providing visibility into the state of all VMs across the environment. This centralized insight allows organizations to detect outdated systems, unauthorized software, or inconsistencies that may pose operational or security risks. VM Manager is especially important for large-scale deployments where manually maintaining individual VMs becomes impractical. It ensures that systems remain aligned with compliance policies, internal standards, and industry best practices. By integrating with automation and reporting features, VM Manager helps teams maintain consistent configurations while reducing administrative burden and security gaps.
Pub/Sub is an asynchronous messaging service designed for event-driven applications. It helps decouple components and ensures reliable message delivery, but it does not provide system insights or patch management capabilities. It is focused on communication rather than maintaining VM health or inventory details.
Cloud Build automates build and CI/CD pipelines, helping teams create and deploy software efficiently. While important for application delivery, it does not manage or monitor VM operating systems, nor does it track installed packages or apply patches.
Given these considerations, VM Manager is the correct answer because it provides essential tools for maintaining VM compliance, monitoring OS configurations, and ensuring timely patching across compute environments.
Question 69
Which mechanism securely manages secrets for serverless workloads without embedding credentials in code?
A) Hard-coded environment variables
B) Secret Manager with IAM access
C) Plaintext configuration files
D) Cloud Storage public buckets
Answer: B
Explanation:
Hard-coded environment variables are commonly used in simple development setups, but they introduce significant security risks when they contain sensitive information such as API keys, database passwords, or service credentials. When secrets are embedded directly in code or environment files, they can accidentally be pushed to version control systems, shared among team members without restrictions, or exposed through logs and debugging tools. Hard-coded secrets also make rotation difficult, because changes require code updates and redeployment of applications. This approach does not meet best practices for secure secret storage and exposes organizations to unnecessary risk when credentials are leaked or copied to unsafe locations.
Secret Manager with IAM access provides a secure, centralized, and fully managed solution for storing and controlling access to sensitive datA) It ensures that secrets are encrypted at rest and in transit while allowing fine-grained access control through IAM policies. Developers and workloads can access secrets programmatically using short-lived credentials instead of embedding them in code. Secret Manager also supports versioning, enabling safe rotation and rollback of secrets without disrupting applications. Access is fully audited, providing traceability for compliance and security investigations. Because Secret Manager integrates with other Google Cloud services, it allows seamless and secure retrieval of secrets during runtime, reducing the risk of exposure and making credential management much safer and more maintainable. This approach aligns with modern security principles such as least privilege, centralized governance, and automated rotation. Organizations that adopt Secret Manager improve both operational efficiency and security posture.
Plaintext configuration files are not secure for storing sensitive information because they can be accessed by anyone with file-level permissions, inadvertently included in backups, or exposed in shared file systems. They provide no encryption or controlled access policies, and any compromise of the file system results in full exposure of the stored credentials. This method is discouraged in production environments.
Cloud Storage public buckets are designed for publicly accessible content such as website assets or openly shared files. Storing secrets in publicly accessible buckets is extremely insecure because anyone on the internet can retrieve the datA) Even private buckets are not designed for secret management and lack fine-grained access patterns built for sensitive information.
Given these considerations, Secret Manager with IAM access is the correct answer because it provides secure, controlled, and auditable secret management.
Question 70
Which networking solution restricts egress from private workloads while still allowing access to Google APIs?
A) Public IP assignment
B) Cloud NAT
C) Private Google Access
D) External load balancer
Answer: C
Explanation:
Public IP assignment allows virtual machines or other cloud resources to communicate directly with the internet using externally reachable IP addresses. While this approach enables broad connectivity, it also increases the attack surface by exposing instances to scanning, probing, and potential exploitation attempts from the public internet. Public IPs require additional layers of security such as firewall rules, intrusion detection systems, and strict IAM controls to prevent unauthorized access. Even with these safeguards in place, many organizations avoid assigning public IPs to internal workloads due to compliance requirements, security policies, and best practices encouraging minimized external exposure. Therefore, this option is not suitable for environments where instances must remain private while still accessing Google APIs.
Cloud NAT provides outbound internet access for private virtual machines without requiring each instance to have a public IP. This reduces exposure while allowing resources to initiate connections to external services. However, Cloud NAT does not enable access to Google APIs and services using private networking alone. It still routes traffic over the public internet, even though the instances themselves do not have public addresses. Cloud NAT is helpful for general outbound communication but does not specifically address secure and private access to Google-managed services such as Cloud Storage, BigQuery, Artifact Registry, or Cloud KMS.
Private Google Access is the correct option because it allows virtual machines and other resources that do not have public IP addresses to access Google APIs and services over Google’s internal network. When enabled, instances in private subnets can securely communicate with Google Cloud services without exposing themselves to the public internet. This improves security by ensuring that traffic stays within Google’s private backbone rather than traversing external networks. Private Google Access is essential for organizations that follow strict security guidelines, operate in regulated industries, or want to design architectures that keep all workloads private by default. It also complements services like VPC Service Controls by ensuring that data access happens only through trusted private channels.
An external load balancer is intended for distributing traffic from the public internet to backend services. It does not provide private connectivity to Google APIs and is unrelated to enabling internal resources to securely access Google Cloud services.
Given these considerations, Private Google Access is the correct answer because it ensures secure, private, and compliant access to Google APIs without requiring public IP addresses.
Question 71
Which IAM tool identifies who has access to a specific resource and explains why?
A) IAM Recommender
B) Policy Troubleshooter
C) Security Health Analytics
D) Cloud Logging filters
Answer: B
Explanation:
IAM Recommender is a tool designed to help organizations optimize their IAM policies by analyzing how permissions are used over time. It identifies overly permissive roles or unused privileges and suggests reductions to align access with the principle of least privilege. While this helps improve overall security posture, IAM Recommender focuses on long-term permission optimization rather than explaining real-time access failures or diagnosing specific authorization issues. It offers guidance for strengthening access governance but does not directly answer the question of why a user or service account is being denied access to a specific resource at a specific moment.
Policy Troubleshooter serves a different and highly targeted purpose. It analyzes IAM policies in real time to determine why an identity has access or is being denied access to a particular resource. This tool evaluates relevant IAM bindings, inherited permissions, conditional role bindings, and organization-level policies to provide a clear explanation of the access decision. For example, if a user attempts to access a storage bucket but receives a permission error, Policy Troubleshooter can reveal whether the issue stems from a missing role, an overridden deny policy, misconfigured conditional IAM binding, or lack of inherited permissions. This makes it especially valuable for debugging access problems during system operations, audits, or user support workflows. It provides immediate, actionable insight into IAM evaluation logic and helps administrators resolve access issues quickly without having to manually inspect complex policy hierarchies. Because IAM configurations can become intricate in large organizations, Policy Troubleshooter plays a critical role in ensuring clarity and operational efficiency by revealing exactly how IAM rules are being applieD)
Security Health Analytics is a tool within Security Command Center that scans for misconfigurations and vulnerabilities across the environment. It improves overall cloud security but does not evaluate IAM access decisions or explain permission errors.
Cloud Logging filters help users analyze logs and isolate events of interest, but they do not interpret IAM policies or explain why an identity has or lacks access.
Given these considerations, Policy Troubleshooter is the correct answer because it directly identifies and explains the cause of permission failures in IAM.
Question 72
Which technology offers automated attack detection for VMs, such as identifying crypto-mining malware?
A) Cloud Functions
B) VM Threat Detection
C) Cloud Router
D) Private Service Connect
Answer: B
Explanation:
Cloud Functions is a serverless compute platform designed to run lightweight, event-driven code in response to triggers from various Google Cloud services. It is ideal for automating workflows, integrating systems, and building event-based architectures. However, Cloud Functions is not intended to monitor virtual machines, detect malware, analyze runtime behavior, or identify signs of compromise within VM workloads. Its purpose is execution of small code segments, not security analytics or threat detection inside operating systems or virtualized infrastructure.
VM Threat Detection, on the other hand, is a specialized security service built to analyze and protect virtual machine environments running on Google ClouD) It uses runtime insights, behavioral signals, and machine learning to detect malicious activities such as cryptomining, anomalous kernel behavior, suspicious process patterns, privilege escalation attempts, or rootkit-like modifications. Unlike traditional security tools that require installing agents inside the VM, this service offers agentless protection by leveraging hypervisor-level telemetry. This reduces operational overhead and ensures that detection cannot be easily disabled from within the machine. VM Threat Detection is especially valuable in environments where virtual machines host sensitive workloads, run critical applications, or are part of hybrid cloud deployments that require continuous monitoring for potential intrusions. By providing timely alerts and actionable intelligence, it helps security teams quickly identify and respond to threats that might otherwise go unnoticed, especially those attempting to operate below the application layer.
Cloud Router is a networking component used to exchange BGP routes dynamically between Google Cloud VPCs and on-premises environments. While essential for hybrid connectivity, it does not perform any type of threat detection or security monitoring.
Private Service Connect enables private connectivity to Google services and third-party SaaS offerings. It supports secure network access but does not analyze VM activity or detect malicious behavior.
Given these considerations, VM Threat Detection is the correct answer because it is the only option specifically designed to identify and respond to security threats targeting virtual machines in real time.
Question 73
Which BigQuery feature protects against unauthorized access during support cases or emergencies?
A) IAM roles
B) VPC Service Controls
C) Signed URLs
D) Cloud Build
Answer: B
Explanation:
IAM roles define which identities can perform specific actions on Google Cloud resources. They are essential for implementing permission models and ensuring that only authorized users or service accounts can interact with services. While IAM roles are fundamental to identity-based access control, they do not create network boundaries or prevent data from being accessed through authorized credentials from untrusted locations. If a user with valid permissions connects from outside a trusted environment, IAM cannot prevent unintended data exfiltration on its own. IAM roles ensure proper authorization, but they do not provide isolation or perimeter-level protection.
VPC Service Controls offer a stronger and more comprehensive security mechanism by creating service perimeters around sensitive Google Cloud services such as Cloud Storage, BigQuery, Secret Manager, and others. These perimeters restrict data access to specific networks, VPCs, or contexts, greatly reducing the risk of data exfiltration. Even if an attacker obtains valid credentials, they cannot access protected services unless the request originates from within the approved boundary. VPC Service Controls work alongside IAM, creating a layered security model that addresses both identity and network context. This approach is particularly important for organizations handling regulated data, sensitive workloads, or environments where strict governance is requireD) By enforcing data boundaries, VPC Service Controls help ensure that sensitive information remains inside authorized environments and cannot be accessed from external or unmanaged networks. They provide protection against misconfigurations, compromised accounts, and unauthorized API requests, making them a critical component for securing high-value data in the clouD)
Signed URLs allow temporary access to individual objects using a time-limited token. While useful for controlled distribution of specific files, they do not provide perimeter protection or prevent broader data exposure. They operate only at an object level and cannot address large-scale data movement concerns.
Cloud Build is a service for automating builds and CI/CD pipelines. It ensures efficient software delivery but does not protect data from leaving a service or enforce security perimeters around cloud APIs.
Given these considerations, VPC Service Controls is the correct answer because it provides strong service-level isolation and significantly reduces the risk of data exfiltration beyond what IAM alone can enforce.
Question 74
Which service provides unified risk analysis of IAM, network exposure, and misconfigurations?
A) Cloud Logging
B) Security Command Center Premium
C) Pub/Sub
D) Cloud Scheduler
Answer: B
Explanation:
Cloud Logging is an essential service for collecting logs from applications, services, and infrastructure within Google ClouD) It provides a centralized platform for viewing, querying, and analyzing log datA) While Cloud Logging helps teams troubleshoot issues, investigate behavior, and maintain operational visibility, it does not proactively detect threats or provide automated security intelligence. Logs must still be interpreted by humans or additional security tools. Cloud Logging itself does not classify risks, correlate security events, or identify misconfigurations across the environment. It serves as a foundational observability tool but lacks the advanced threat detection and security management needed for comprehensive protection.
Security Command Center Premium is a complete, cloud-native security and risk management platform designed to provide continuous monitoring, deep visibility, and proactive protection across Google Cloud environments. It includes advanced capabilities such as threat detection, vulnerability scanning, misconfiguration analysis, data exfiltration risk detection, and compliance reporting. Security Command Center Premium integrates with services like Event Threat Detection, Security Health Analytics, VM Threat Detection, Web Security Scanner, and BigQuery Data Exfiltration Protection to build a unified security posture across the organization. This enables administrators to identify and prioritize high-risk issues before they lead to breaches. The platform also correlates findings, provides remediation guidance, and supports automated workflows. Because it monitors resources, network activity, identity behavior, and API interactions, Security Command Center Premium delivers far more than simple event logging. It acts as a centralized security intelligence system that detects threats in real time and helps ensure compliance with organizational and regulatory requirements. Its comprehensive feature set makes it essential for organizations that need continuous, proactive cloud security rather than reactive log analysis.
Pub/Sub is a messaging service that enables asynchronous communication between distributed systems. It is valuable for event-driven architectures but has no capability to detect security threats or assess cloud configuration risks.
Cloud Scheduler is a managed cron service used for triggering jobs on a schedule. It automates tasks but does not provide monitoring, threat detection, or security analytics.
Given these considerations, Security Command Center Premium is the correct answer because it provides the full suite of advanced security features required to detect, analyze, and mitigate threats across Google Cloud environments.
Question 75
Which solution protects internal APIs from public access while providing zero-trust identity authentication?
A) API keys
B) Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP)
C) Public load balancers
D) Firewall rules
Answer: B
Explanation:
API keys provide a simple method of authenticating to certain Google Cloud services, but they offer very limited security and are not designed for controlling user access to applications or internal resources. API keys do not identify the user, cannot enforce fine-grained permissions, and can be easily leaked if stored in client-side code, configuration files, or logs. They lack strong access governance, do not integrate with IAM for role-based authorization, and cannot enforce login requirements such as multi-factor authentication. Because of these weaknesses, API keys are unsuitable for securing applications that require controlled and authenticated user access.
Identity-Aware Proxy provides a much stronger and more comprehensive approach by enforcing user authentication and authorization before allowing access to applications running on Google ClouD) IAP sits in front of applications or virtual machines and requires users to authenticate through Google accounts or configured identity providers. It evaluates IAM policies to determine whether a user or group has permission to access the protected resource. This model eliminates the need to expose internal services to the public internet or to manage authentication logic within the application itself. IAP integrates with identity federation, multi-factor authentication, context-aware access, and organizational policies, offering a zero trust security model where every request must be verifieD) By centralizing access control and inspecting every request, IAP greatly reduces the risk of unauthorized entry, credential misuse, or uncontrolled public exposure. It is particularly valuable for securing web applications, administrative interfaces, dashboards, and internal tools without deploying complex network configurations or custom authentication layers.
Public load balancers distribute traffic globally but do not provide authentication or user verification. If an application behind a public load balancer lacks its own authentication, it may be accessible to anyone on the internet. Public load balancers alone do not enforce user identity or protect internal applications from unauthorized access.
Firewall rules control network-level access but cannot authenticate users or verify identity. They allow or deny traffic based on IP addresses and ports, which is insufficient for securing applications because IP-based controls cannot distinguish legitimate users from unauthorized individuals.
Given these considerations, Identity-Aware Proxy is the correct answer because it provides centralized, identity-based access control that ensures only authenticated and authorized users can reach protected applications.
Question 76
Which mechanism ensures that service account keys cannot be created at the project level?
A) Firewall deny rules
B) Organization Policy: restrictServiceAccountKeyCreation
C) Audit Logs
D) Cloud NAT configuration
Answer: B
Explanation:
Firewall deny rules allow administrators to block unwanted network traffic by specifying which IP ranges, ports, or protocols should be blockeD) While this is important for securing network boundaries and limiting exposure to untrusted sources, firewall rules do not manage service accounts or control how their keys are created or useD) Service account security is not determined at the network layer, so firewall deny rules cannot prevent users from generating long-lived service account keys or misusing them. Their role is purely focused on traffic filtering rather than identity governance or credential lifecycle control.
The organization policy that restricts service account key creation directly addresses one of the most significant security risks in cloud environments: long-lived service account keys. These keys, when generated and stored outside Google Cloud, can be leaked, stolen, embedded in code repositories, or left unrotated for long periods. By enabling the restrictServiceAccountKeyCreation organization policy, administrators can prevent users from creating these external private keys entirely. Instead, identities must rely on more secure alternatives such as service account impersonation or workload identity federation, both of which avoid persistent static keys and use short-lived credentials. This policy helps enforce strong security practices across the entire organization, eliminates accidental or unauthorized key creation, and reduces the attack surface. It also ensures consistency by applying the rule across all projects, preventing exceptions or misconfigurations that may otherwise leave gaps in the security model. As organizations scale, centralized governance through organization policies becomes essential for maintaining compliance and avoiding risky credential practices.
Audit Logs provide critical visibility by recording actions taken within the environment, including service account operations. They help security teams investigate incidents or understand how access was useD) However, logging is reactive and does not prevent service account keys from being created in the first place. It is a monitoring tool, not a control mechanism.
Cloud NAT configuration enables private instances to access the internet without public IPs. While useful for secure networking, it has no relationship to service account keys or identity lifecycle management.
Given these considerations, the organization policy restrictServiceAccountKeyCreation is the correct answer because it directly prevents the creation of long-lived service account keys and strengthens identity protection across the organization.
Question 77
Which Identity method is recommended for hybrid workloads that need temporary credentials for accessing Google Cloud?
A) Long-lived service account keys
B) Workload Identity Federation
C) Hard-coded JSON keys
D) Public API keys
Answer: B
Explanation:
Long-lived service account keys pose significant security risks because they are static credentials that can be copied, leaked, stolen, or embedded in places where they do not belong, such as configuration files or code repositories. Once exposed, these keys allow unauthorized access to Google Cloud resources until they are manually rotated or revokeD) Their persistence makes them an appealing target for attackers, and organizations with many teams or automated systems often struggle to manage these keys securely. Although still supported for legacy use cases, long-lived keys are strongly discouraged for modern cloud architectures.
Workload Identity Federation provides a more secure and robust alternative by allowing external workloads running outside Google Cloud, such as on-premises systems or other clouds, to obtain short-lived tokens to access Google Cloud resources. Instead of storing private keys, workloads use an external identity provider such as AWS IAM, Azure AD, or an OpenID Connect compatible service. Google Cloud then exchanges these identities for temporary credentials via federation. This approach removes the need to store, manage, or rotate persistent JSON keys. It also supports zero trust principles by requiring continuous, identity-based validation rather than relying on static secrets. Since tokens are short-lived, the risk of credential compromise is significantly reduceD) Workload Identity Federation also integrates seamlessly with IAM, enabling precise permission control for each workload and improving overall security posture.
Hard-coded JSON keys present similar risks to long-lived service account keys because they are stored in plaintext and are prone to accidental exposure in logs, source code, or shared environments. They are difficult to rotate and often forgotten once deployed, making them a recurring vulnerability.
Public API keys offer minimal security, lack user identity context, and cannot enforce granular IAM permissions. They are not intended for securing sensitive workloads or providing access to protected Google Cloud resources.
Given these considerations, Workload Identity Federation is the correct answer because it eliminates the need for long-lived credentials and provides short-lived, identity-based access that significantly enhances security.
Question 78
Which Google Cloud feature prevents users from creating resources in unapproved regions?
A) IAM role restrictions
B) Organization Policy: resourceLocationRestriction
C) Cloud Router policies
D) Google Groups
Answer: B
Explanation:
IAM role restrictions help administrators control which permissions users and service accounts can have, ensuring that access rights align with the principle of least privilege. These controls focus on what actions identities are allowed to perform on Google Cloud resources. While IAM is essential for defining and enforcing authorization boundaries, it does not control where resources may physically reside. It cannot ensure that data is created or stored only within certain geographic regions or jurisdictions. Therefore, IAM alone is insufficient for enforcing data residency or regulatory compliance requirements tied to resource location.
The organization policy resourceLocationRestriction is designed specifically to control where Google Cloud resources can be deployeD) This policy enables organizations to restrict resource creation to approved regions, ensuring that workloads and data remain within specific geographic boundaries. For industries that operate under strict regulatory frameworks such as finance, healthcare, or government, controlling data residency is a critical requirement. This policy prevents teams from accidentally or intentionally creating resources in unapproved regions, helping mitigate legal risks and ensuring compliance with jurisdictional standards. It enforces governance at the organizational level, ensuring consistent behavior across all projects, folders, and environments. By applying this restriction centrally, organizations gain stronger control over their cloud footprint, preventing resource sprawl and maintaining predictable data governance. It also helps avoid accidental deployments in regions with higher costs, latency, or regulatory exposure.
Cloud Router policies relate to dynamic route exchange between networks and play a role in hybrid connectivity. They do not influence resource placement or enforce geographic limitations. Their purpose is networking, not compliance or data residency governance.
Google Groups provides a way to manage identity collections and streamline IAM administration. While useful for organizing users and assigning permissions, Google Groups has no capability to enforce regional deployment constraints or control where resources may be storeD)
Given these considerations, the organization policy resourceLocationRestriction is the correct answer because it directly enforces geographic controls necessary for compliance and data residency requirements.
Question 79
Which BigQuery feature helps audit access to sensitive tables?
A) Reservations
B) Data Access Logs
C) Slot commitments
D) BI Engine
Answer: B
Explanation:
Reservations allow organizations to purchase dedicated BigQuery processing capacity, helping manage performance and cost predictability. They are useful for ensuring specific workloads have guaranteed compute resources, especially in environments with heavy or unpredictable query demands. However, reservations do not provide insight into who is accessing data, what data is being queried, or whether sensitive datasets are being handled appropriately. Their purpose is strictly related to performance management and cost optimization, not monitoring or auditing access behavior.
Data Access Logs, on the other hand, provide detailed visibility into which identities are accessing BigQuery datasets, tables, and columns. These logs capture read, write, and metadata access events, making them an essential tool for security auditing, compliance reporting, and detecting unauthorized or suspicious behavior. In environments that handle sensitive or regulated data, Data Access Logs help ensure that only authorized users are querying specific datasets. They also allow administrators to trace user actions over time, identify unusual query patterns, and investigate potential data exfiltration attempts. Their role is fundamental for governance because they provide a reliable record of all data-level interactions. These logs support forensic investigations and can integrate with security monitoring tools to trigger alerts when high-risk events occur. Without Data Access Logs, organizations would lack the visibility necessary to meet auditing requirements and to ensure that their data is accessed appropriately according to internal policies and external regulations.
Slot commitments allow organizations to purchase BigQuery processing capacity at reduced pricing over long-term commitments. While beneficial economically, they do not monitor or record data access actions.
BI Engine improves query performance for dashboards and interactive workloads by offering in-memory analysis. Although important for speed and user experience, it does not track who accessed specific data or when it was accesseD)
Given these considerations, Data Access Logs are the correct answer because they provide the detailed visibility and auditing capabilities required to monitor and secure BigQuery datA)
Question 80
Which solution ensures that only trusted identities can SSH into Compute Engine VMs?
A) Public passwords
B) OS Login with IAM
C) Hard-coded SSH keys
D) Publicly shared key files
Answer: B
Explanation:
Public passwords represent one of the weakest possible authentication mechanisms for managing virtual machines or servers. Using passwords that can be easily shared, guessed, or exposed significantly increases the risk of unauthorized access. Publicly known or reused passwords make it trivial for attackers to compromise systems, especially when brute-force attacks or credential stuffing are possible. Even if passwords are complex, the simple fact that they can be intercepted, leaked, or stored insecurely makes them unsuitable for securing cloud-based compute resources. They provide no auditability, no centralized control, and no enforcement of modern security standards.
OS Login with IAM provides a significantly more secure and manageable approach to controlling SSH access to virtual machines. Instead of managing SSH keys manually or relying on passwords, OS Login centralizes access control through Google Cloud IAM. Each user’s SSH key is tied to their IAM identity, and access to a VM is granted based on IAM roles rather than manually placed keys. This ensures that when a user joins or leaves the organization, or when their role changes, access is automatically updated without requiring direct changes on the VM. OS Login also supports enforcing multi-factor authentication for SSH access, increasing protection against credential compromise. Additionally, OS Login maintains detailed audit logs of who accessed a VM and when, improving traceability and accountability. This method eliminates the need for managing static SSH keys and provides a modern, scalable, and secure identity-based authentication model aligned with zero trust principles.
Hard-coded SSH keys create major security risks because they are often stored in repositories, scripts, or local files without proper protection. Once compromised, they can grant persistent access to VMs, and rotating them requires manual intervention across machines. This approach does not scale and exposes organizations to silent breaches if a key is leaked.
Publicly shared key files are even more dangerous because they intentionally expose private credentials to anyone who has access to the shared location. This defeats the purpose of secure authentication entirely and creates immediate vulnerabilities.
Given these considerations, OS Login with IAM is the correct answer because it provides centralized, secure, auditable, and role-based SSH access management that eliminates the risks associated with passwords and static keys.
