Question 23 of 1,000

PCDOE Principle of Least Privilege Practice Question

This PCDOE practice question tests your understanding of bootstrapping a google cloud organization for devops. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. A key principle to apply: principle of Least Privilege. 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.

Which TWO are best practices when bootstrapping a Google Cloud organization for DevOps? (Choose two.)

Clue words in this question

Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.

  • Clue: "best"

    Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.

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 separate service accounts for each environment.

The question asks to select two best practices. Options A and B are correct: using separate service accounts per environment enforces least privilege, and using separate folders for environments enables policy isolation and cost tracking. Option C (enabling audit logging at the organization level) is also a recommended practice but is not required as one of the two selected. Choosing three would exceed the selection limit, so the correct choices are A and B.

Key principle: Principle of Least Privilege

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 separate service accounts for each environment.

    Why this is correct

    Correct. Separate service accounts per environment enforce least privilege and reduce blast radius, aligning with Google Cloud IAM best practices.

    Clue confirmation

    The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.

    Related concept

    Principle of Least Privilege

  • Use separate folders for development, staging, and production environments.

    Why this is correct

    Correct. Separate folders for each environment allow environment-specific policies, access control, and cost tracking.

    Clue confirmation

    The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.

    Related concept

    Principle of Least Privilege

  • Enable audit logging for all projects at the organization level.

    Why it's wrong here

    Incorrect for this question. While enabling audit logging at the organization level is a security best practice, it is not one of the two required selections. The question asks for exactly two best practices, so you must choose A and B.

  • Create a single service account for all environments to simplify permissions.

    Why it's wrong here

    Incorrect. Using a single service account for all environments violates the principle of least privilege and increases the risk of cross-environment breaches.

  • Disable audit logging to reduce costs.

    Why it's wrong here

    Incorrect. Disabling audit logging compromises security and compliance; audit logs are essential for monitoring and incident investigation in DevOps.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

A common trap is believing that a single service account simplifies management or that audit logging is not necessary for DevOps. Both violate security and observability best practices.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Under the hood, Google Cloud IAM service accounts are tied to a project, and using separate accounts per environment allows you to apply granular IAM roles (e.g., roles/storage.objectViewer for dev vs. roles/storage.objectAdmin for prod) without cross-contamination. In a real-world scenario, if a CI/CD pipeline in the dev environment is compromised, a separate service account prevents the attacker from using the same key to access production Cloud Storage buckets or Cloud SQL instances, which is a common attack vector in multi-environment setups.

KKey Concepts to Remember

  • Principle of Least Privilege
  • Resource Hierarchy (Folders)
  • Audit Logging

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

Principle of Least Privilege

Real-world example

How this comes up in practice

A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Review principle of Least Privilege, then practise related PCDOE questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.

Related practice questions

Related PCDOE practice-question pages

Use these pages to review the topic behind this question. This is how one missed question becomes focused revision.

Practice this exam

Start a free PCDOE practice session

Short sessions build daily habit. Longer sessions build exam-day stamina. Try a timed session to simulate real conditions.

FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this PCDOE question test?

Bootstrapping a Google Cloud organization for DevOps — This question tests Bootstrapping a Google Cloud organization for DevOps — Principle of Least Privilege.

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Use separate service accounts for each environment. — The question asks to select two best practices. Options A and B are correct: using separate service accounts per environment enforces least privilege, and using separate folders for environments enables policy isolation and cost tracking. Option C (enabling audit logging at the organization level) is also a recommended practice but is not required as one of the two selected. Choosing three would exceed the selection limit, so the correct choices are A and B.

What should I do if I get this PCDOE question wrong?

Review principle of Least Privilege, then practise related PCDOE questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.

Are there clue words in this question I should notice?

Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Principle of Least Privilege

About these practice questions

Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →

How Courseiva writes practice questions · Editorial policy

Keep practising

More PCDOE practice questions

Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026

Question Discussion

Share a tip, memory trick, or ask about the reasoning behind this question. Do not post real exam questions, leaked content, braindumps, or copyrighted exam material. Comments are moderated and may be removed without notice.

Loading comments…

Sign in to join the discussion.

This PCDOE 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 PCDOE exam.