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Design for security and compliance →hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

Google PCA Design for security and compliance Practice Question

This PCA practice question tests your understanding of design for security and compliance. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. 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.

An organization has a security policy that prohibits the use of external IP addresses on Compute Engine instances to reduce attack surface. They want to enforce this policy across all new and existing projects. Which approach 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

✓

Use Organization Policy with constraint compute.vmExternalIpAccess

The Organization Policy constraint `compute.vmExternalIpAccess` is the correct approach because it allows you to set a policy at the organization, folder, or project level that denies the assignment of external IP addresses to Compute Engine instances. This policy is enforced at resource creation time and applies to all new and existing VM instances, ensuring compliance with the security policy across the entire resource hierarchy. It directly prevents the use of external IPs, reducing the attack surface without requiring per-project or per-instance configuration.

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 Organization Policy with constraint compute.vmExternalIpAccess

    Why this is correct

    This constraint explicitly prevents creation of VMs with external IPs and can be applied at org level.

    Related concept

    Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

  • ✗

    Use IAM conditions to prevent creation of instances with external IPs

    Why it's wrong here

    IAM conditions on roles like compute.instanceAdmin can use resource attributes, but cannot easily block external IP assignment.

  • ✗

    Use Cloud Security Command Center to detect and alert on external IPs

    Why it's wrong here

    SCC provides visibility but not enforcement; instances may already be exposed.

  • ✗

    Use VPC Firewall rules to block traffic to external IPs

    Why it's wrong here

    Firewall rules block traffic but the external IP still exists and could be used internally.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates often confuse IAM conditions (which control who can perform an action) with Organization Policy constraints (which control what actions are allowed), leading them to choose IAM conditions as a preventive control when they only provide authorization-level restrictions, not resource-level enforcement.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

The `compute.vmExternalIpAccess` constraint is a list constraint that allows you to specify which VMs (by instance name or tag) are exempted from the denial, enabling granular exceptions for bastion hosts or NAT gateways. Under the hood, this constraint is enforced by the Compute Engine API at instance creation or update time, and it overrides any project-level default settings; it is part of the Organization Policy Service, which uses a hierarchical evaluation model where a deny at a higher level (e.g., organization) cannot be overridden by a lower level (e.g., project). In a real-world scenario, an organization might use this constraint to enforce a zero-trust network model where all VMs must route through a Cloud NAT or VPN gateway, ensuring no direct internet exposure.

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: Use Organization Policy with constraint compute.vmExternalIpAccess — The Organization Policy constraint `compute.vmExternalIpAccess` is the correct approach because it allows you to set a policy at the organization, folder, or project level that denies the assignment of external IP addresses to Compute Engine instances. This policy is enforced at resource creation time and applies to all new and existing VM instances, ensuring compliance with the security policy across the entire resource hierarchy. It directly prevents the use of external IPs, reducing the attack surface without requiring per-project or per-instance configuration.

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

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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.