Google PCA Design for security and compliance Practice Question
A company is designing a data processing pipeline in Google Cloud that must be HIPAA compliant. Which three security features should they implement? (Choose three.)
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse data classification tools like DLP with mandatory security controls, or mistake performance features like Cloud CDN for compliance requirements, when HIPAA specifically requires encryption, access controls, and audit trails.
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
✓
Encrypt data in transit using TLS
Encrypting data in transit using TLS is a mandatory security control for HIPAA compliance because it protects electronic protected health information (ePHI) from interception during transmission over networks. TLS 1.2 or higher ensures that data moving between clients, services, and Google Cloud endpoints is encrypted, meeting the HIPAA Security Rule requirement for integrity and confidentiality of ePHI in transit.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Encrypt data in transit using TLS
Why this is correct
Required by HIPAA for data in transit.
- ✗
Enable Data Loss Prevention (DLP) for data classification
Why it's wrong here
DLP is helpful but not a required HIPAA security control.
- ✗
Use Cloud CDN for faster delivery
Why it's wrong here
CDN is for performance, not security.
- ✓
Implement VPC Service Controls to prevent data exfiltration
Why this is correct
VPC Service Controls help enforce access controls and prevent data exfiltration, important for HIPAA.
- ✓
Use Cloud HSM for encryption keys
Why this is correct
Provides customer-managed HSM-backed keys for encryption at rest, a common compliance requirement.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Security Best Practices and Compliance
Key term
TLS
Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a cryptographic protocol that encrypts data sent over the internet to keep it private and ensure it hasn’t been tampered with.
Key term
Data
Data is raw, unprocessed information, like numbers, words, or measurements, that can be stored, processed, and analyzed by computers.
About these practice questions
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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.