PCSE Ensuring Data Protection Practice Question
A company is using Cloud KMS with software keys for encryption. They want to increase security by using an HSM backend without changing their existing key rings or key names. Which TWO steps should they take? (Choose two.)
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
✓
Create a new key version with the protection level set to HSM.
To switch a key from software to HSM backend, you need to create a new key version with the protection level HSM, and then update the key's default protection level to HSM so that future versions are also HSM-backed. You cannot change the protection level of an existing key version.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Create a new key ring and migrate all keys to it.
Why it's wrong here
You can keep the same key ring; there is no need to create a new one.
- ✗
Change the protection level of the existing key version to HSM using the API.
Why it's wrong here
The protection level of an existing key version cannot be changed.
- ✗
Delete the existing software key versions and recreate them with HSM protection.
Why it's wrong here
Deleting existing versions would break decryption of data encrypted with them.
- ✓
Create a new key version with the protection level set to HSM.
Why this is correct
You can create a new key version with the desired protection level; the existing software versions remain for decryption.
- ✓
Update the key's default protection level to HSM.
Why this is correct
Setting the default protection level ensures that future automatically generated versions use HSM.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PCSE 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 PCSE exam.