- A
Cloud Key Management Service (KMS)
Cloud KMS allows automatic key rotation.
- B
Secret Manager
Why wrong: Secret Manager stores secrets, not for key rotation.
- C
Cloud Audit Logs
Why wrong: Cloud Audit Logs record activities but do not rotate keys.
- D
Cloud IAM
Why wrong: Cloud IAM manages permissions, not key rotation.
Question 986 of 1,000
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 wants to automatically rotate cryptographic keys on a schedule without manual intervention. Which service should they use?
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
✓
Cloud Key Management Service (KMS)
Cloud KMS provides built-in key rotation capabilities that allow you to automatically rotate cryptographic keys on a schedule (e.g., every 90 days) without manual intervention. You define a rotation period, and KMS automatically generates a new primary key version while retaining older versions for decryption of existing data. This is the correct service because it is specifically designed for managing encryption keys with automated lifecycle policies.
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.
- ✓
Cloud Key Management Service (KMS)
Why this is correct
Cloud KMS allows automatic key rotation.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Secret Manager
Why it's wrong here
Secret Manager stores secrets, not for key rotation.
- ✗
Cloud Audit Logs
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Audit Logs record activities but do not rotate keys.
- ✗
Cloud IAM
Why it's wrong here
Cloud IAM manages permissions, not key rotation.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google often tests the distinction between key management (KMS) and secret storage (Secret Manager), leading candidates to confuse automated key rotation with simple secret versioning.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Cloud KMS uses a key ring to group related keys, and each key can have multiple versions; rotation creates a new version with a fresh cryptographic material while the old version remains active for decryption. Under the hood, KMS leverages a Hardware Security Module (HSM) to generate and protect key material, and rotation policies are enforced via the `rotationPeriod` field in the key's resource definition. A real-world scenario is compliance with standards like PCI-DSS or SOC 2, which require periodic key rotation to limit the impact of a potential key compromise.
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 company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
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.
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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: Cloud Key Management Service (KMS) — Cloud KMS provides built-in key rotation capabilities that allow you to automatically rotate cryptographic keys on a schedule (e.g., every 90 days) without manual intervention. You define a rotation period, and KMS automatically generates a new primary key version while retaining older versions for decryption of existing data. This is the correct service because it is specifically designed for managing encryption keys with automated lifecycle policies.
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.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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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.
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