Google PCA Designing for Security and Compliance Practice Question
A company wants to allow a Kubernetes pod in GKE to access a Cloud Storage bucket using a specific service account without storing long-lived credentials. Which method should be used?
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 to bind the Kubernetes service account to a Google Cloud service account
Workload Identity allows a Kubernetes service account to act as a Google Cloud service account by binding them. This eliminates the need for static keys and uses short-lived tokens.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Assign the service account directly to the GKE node pool
Why it's wrong here
Assigning to node pool gives the same identity to all pods, not fine-grained.
- ✗
Create a JSON key for a service account and mount it as a secret in the pod
Why it's wrong here
Using JSON keys is insecure and long-lived; Workload Identity is the recommended approach.
- ✓
Use Workload Identity to bind the Kubernetes service account to a Google Cloud service account
Why this is correct
Workload Identity provides secure, automated authentication without static keys.
- ✗
Use Application Default Credentials on the pod
Why it's wrong here
ADC on GKE uses the node's service account, which may not be the intended one.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Introduction to Google Cloud Platform
Key term
GKE
GKE is Google's managed Kubernetes service that automates deploying, scaling, and managing containerized applications in the cloud.
Key term
Workload Identity
A workload identity is a digital credential assigned to an application, service, or automated process that proves its identity to other systems without requiring a human user to log in.
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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.