Google PCA Design for security and compliance Practice Question
A company has a fleet of Compute Engine instances that need to access a Cloud Storage bucket. The security team requires that only instances in specific VPC networks can access the bucket, and that the data is encrypted in transit. How can this be achieved?
⚠ Common exam trap
In the Google PCA exam, a common trap is confusing encryption at rest (CSEK/CMEK) with encryption in transit (HTTPS/TLS), and the fact that VPC Service Controls is the only option that combines network-level access restrictions with transport encryption enforcement.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a VPC Service Controls perimeter with access levels, and require HTTPS for the bucket.
VPC Service Controls allows you to define a security perimeter around Cloud Storage, restricting access to only requests originating from specific VPC networks. By configuring an access level that requires HTTPS, you enforce encryption in transit, meeting both the network restriction and data-in-transit encryption requirements.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use a Cloud Storage bucket with encryption at rest using CSEK.
Why it's wrong here
Similar to A, does not restrict network access.
- ✗
Use Cloud Armor with IP allowlists and enable TLS for the bucket.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Armor is for HTTP(S) load balancing, not direct storage access.
- ✓
Create a VPC Service Controls perimeter with access levels, and require HTTPS for the bucket.
Why this is correct
VPC Service Controls restrict access by network, and HTTPS ensures encryption in transit.
- ✗
Use a Cloud Storage bucket with encryption at rest using CMEK.
Why it's wrong here
Encryption at rest does not restrict network access or enforce in-transit encryption.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Key term
CAN
A CAN (Controller Area Network) is a robust vehicle bus standard designed to allow microcontrollers and devices to communicate with each other without a host computer.
Key term
Compute Engine
Compute Engine is Google Cloud's Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) offering that lets you create and run virtual machines on Google's infrastructure.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PCA practice question is part of Courseiva's free Google Cloud certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PCA exam.