Google PCA Designing for Security and Compliance Practice Question
A security admin wants to audit all 'create' and 'delete' operations on Compute Engine instances in a project for the last 90 days. Which type of audit log should they query?
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
✓
Admin Activity audit logs
Admin Activity audit logs record all API calls that modify configuration or metadata of resources. They are retained for 400 days by default.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Data Access audit logs
Why it's wrong here
Data Access logs record reads and data modifications, not admin actions.
- ✓
Admin Activity audit logs
Why this is correct
Admin Activity logs capture administrative actions like create and delete.
- ✗
System Event audit logs
Why it's wrong here
System Event logs record non-human actions like GCE maintenance.
- ✗
Policy Denied audit logs
Why it's wrong here
Policy Denied logs record access denied due to IAM policies.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Google Cloud Compute Options Overview
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.
Key term
Project
A project is a temporary endeavor with a defined beginning and end, undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result, managed through specific processes in IT environments.
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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.