Google PCA Designing for Security and Compliance Practice Question
An organization needs to encrypt data at rest in BigQuery using keys that are rotated every 90 days. They want to manage the keys themselves but cannot store keys on-premises. Which encryption approach should they use?
⚠ Common exam trap
PCA often tests the distinction between CMEK (customer controls key lifecycle in Cloud KMS) and CSEK (customer supplies and stores raw keys), so candidates who see 'manage keys themselves' and jump to CSEK miss the 'cannot store keys on-premises' constraint.
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
✓
Customer-Managed Encryption Keys (CMEK) with Cloud KMS
CMEK with Cloud KMS lets the organization own and control the key material while Google Cloud stores and manages the keys in KMS, satisfying the requirement to manage keys themselves without on-premises storage. Cloud KMS supports automatic rotation schedules (e.g., every 90 days) and integrates natively with BigQuery so that data at rest is encrypted with the customer's key. This gives the customer control over key lifecycle, access, and revocation while meeting the no-on-premises constraint.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Default Google-managed encryption
Why it's wrong here
Google manages the keys, not the customer, so rotation cannot be controlled.
- ✓
Customer-Managed Encryption Keys (CMEK) with Cloud KMS
Why this is correct
CMEK with Cloud KMS lets the organisation generate, rotate and manage its own key material inside Google Cloud, satisfying the 90-day rotation requirement without on-premises key storage. BigQuery decrypts data using these keys, so control stays with the customer while keys never leave Cloud KMS.
- ✗
Cloud HSM
Why it's wrong here
Cloud HSM provides hardware-backed keys but also uses CMEK approach; however, the question specifies managing keys themselves, and CMEK is the general term. Cloud HSM is a type of CMEK.
- ✗
Customer-Supplied Encryption Keys (CSEK)
Why it's wrong here
CSEK requires customers to provide keys with each API call, which is not suitable for automatic rotation every 90 days.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Cloud SQL and Managed Data Stores
Key term
Organization
An Organization is a top-level container in Google Cloud that represents your company or entities and serves as the root node for all your cloud resources, policies, and access control.
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
This PCA question is part of Courseiva's 807-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Google Cloud exam blueprint
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.