PCSE Practice Question: Configuring Access Within a Cloud Solution Environment
A company wants to provide their employees access to a web application running on Compute Engine without exposing the VM to the public internet. The application uses a custom header to verify the user's identity. Which service 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
✓
Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP)
Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP) provides zero-trust access to web applications. It can be configured to verify identity and pass signed headers (e.g., X-Goog-Authenticated-User-Email) to the backend, allowing the application to verify the user without public IP exposure.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP)
Why this is correct
IAP provides identity verification and signed headers for backend verification.
- ✗
Cloud Armor with OAuth
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Armor is a WAF, not for identity verification.
- ✗
Cloud Load Balancing with SSL termination
Why it's wrong here
Load balancing does not provide identity verification or signed headers.
- ✗
VPC firewall rules with source IP restrictions
Why it's wrong here
Firewall rules only control network access, not user identity.
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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.