- A
Use Workload Identity and grant the Kubernetes service account's associated Google service account the roles/storage.objectViewer role on the registry bucket.
Workload Identity binds pod identity to a GSA, and bucket-level IAM restricts access.
- B
Grant the Compute Engine default service account the roles/storage.objectViewer role on the registry bucket.
Why wrong: The default service account is used by all compute instances, too broad.
- C
Set an IAM policy on the pod directly using the 'gke-default' service account.
Why wrong: Pods do not have direct IAM policies; they inherit from the node or use Workload Identity.
- D
Create an IAM condition on the node pool's service account that limits access to the registry bucket.
Why wrong: Node pool service account is used by all pods on the nodes, not specific to the application.
Google PCA Design for security and compliance Practice Question
This PCA practice question tests your understanding of design for security and compliance. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company is deploying a web application on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) and needs to ensure that the application's service account can only pull images from a specific Container Registry repository. What is the best practice to enforce this?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"best"Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
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
Use Workload Identity and grant the Kubernetes service account's associated Google service account the roles/storage.objectViewer role on the registry bucket.
Option A is correct because Workload Identity allows you to map a Kubernetes service account to a Google service account and grant that Google service account the roles/storage.objectViewer role on the specific Container Registry bucket. This ensures that only pods using that Kubernetes service account can pull images from the designated repository, following the principle of least privilege.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
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 Workload Identity and grant the Kubernetes service account's associated Google service account the roles/storage.objectViewer role on the registry bucket.
Why this is correct
Workload Identity binds pod identity to a GSA, and bucket-level IAM restricts access.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Grant the Compute Engine default service account the roles/storage.objectViewer role on the registry bucket.
Why it's wrong here
The default service account is used by all compute instances, too broad.
- ✗
Set an IAM policy on the pod directly using the 'gke-default' service account.
Why it's wrong here
Pods do not have direct IAM policies; they inherit from the node or use Workload Identity.
- ✗
Create an IAM condition on the node pool's service account that limits access to the registry bucket.
Why it's wrong here
Node pool service account is used by all pods on the nodes, not specific to the application.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse node-level service accounts (like the Compute Engine default service account) with application-level service accounts, assuming that granting permissions to the node's service account is sufficient, when in fact it grants overly broad access to all pods on the node.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Workload Identity works by creating a relationship between a Kubernetes service account and a Google service account, using a token exchange mechanism where the Kubernetes service account obtains a short-lived OAuth2 token that is bound to the Google service account. Under the hood, GKE configures the node's metadata server to trust tokens from the Kubernetes service account, enabling the kubelet to authenticate to Container Registry using the Google service account's permissions. This approach avoids the need to store long-lived credentials in secrets and allows fine-grained access control at the pod level.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
- →
Design for security and compliance — study guide chapter
Learn the concepts, then practise the questions
- →
Design for security and compliance practice questions
Targeted practice on this topic area only
- →
All PCA questions
1,000 questions across all exam domains
- →
Google Professional Cloud Architect study guide
Full concept coverage aligned to exam objectives
- →
PCA practice test guide
How to use practice tests most effectively before exam day
Related practice questions
Related PCA practice-question pages
Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.
Managing Implementation and Ensuring Solution and Operations Reliability practice questions
Practise PCA questions linked to Managing Implementation and Ensuring Solution and Operations Reliability.
Designing and Planning a Cloud Solution Architecture practice questions
Practise PCA questions linked to Designing and Planning a Cloud Solution Architecture.
Managing and Provisioning a Solution Infrastructure practice questions
Practise PCA questions linked to Managing and Provisioning a Solution Infrastructure.
Designing for Security and Compliance practice questions
Practise PCA questions linked to Designing for Security and Compliance.
Analysing and Optimising Technical and Business Processes practice questions
Practise PCA questions linked to Analysing and Optimising Technical and Business Processes.
Design and plan a cloud solution architecture practice questions
Practise PCA questions linked to Design and plan a cloud solution architecture.
Manage and provision cloud infrastructure practice questions
Practise PCA questions linked to Manage and provision cloud infrastructure.
Design for security and compliance practice questions
Practise PCA questions linked to Design for security and compliance.
Analyze and optimize technical and business processes practice questions
Practise PCA questions linked to Analyze and optimize technical and business processes.
Manage implementation of cloud architecture practice questions
Practise PCA questions linked to Manage implementation of cloud architecture.
Ensure solution and operations reliability practice questions
Practise PCA questions linked to Ensure solution and operations reliability.
PCA fundamentals practice questions
Practise PCA questions linked to PCA fundamentals.
Practice this exam
Start a free PCA practice session
Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this PCA question test?
Design for security and compliance — This question tests Design for security and compliance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use Workload Identity and grant the Kubernetes service account's associated Google service account the roles/storage.objectViewer role on the registry bucket. — Option A is correct because Workload Identity allows you to map a Kubernetes service account to a Google service account and grant that Google service account the roles/storage.objectViewer role on the specific Container Registry bucket. This ensures that only pods using that Kubernetes service account can pull images from the designated repository, following the principle of least privilege.
What should I do if I get this PCA question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Keep practising
More PCA practice questions
- A company has a requirement to store application logs for 7 years for compliance. They are using Cloud Logging. What is…
- A company is migrating a legacy monolithic application to Google Cloud. The application runs on a single VM and uses a l…
- A financial services company is designing a multi-tier application on Google Cloud. The application must meet PCI DSS co…
- A company is migrating its on-premises workloads to Google Cloud. They have strict compliance requirements that all data…
- A company wants to optimize their cloud spending on Google Cloud. They have a mix of workloads including batch processin…
- An organization wants to enforce that all Compute Engine VMs are created with specific disk encryption keys. Which polic…
Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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.
Question Discussion
Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.
Sign in to join the discussion.