PCSE Practice Question: Configuring Access Within a Cloud Solution Environment
A developer wants to grant a Kubernetes service account in GKE the ability to read objects from a specific Cloud Storage bucket. Which two resources need to be bound together? (Choose two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
The Google Cloud Professional Cloud Security Engineer exam often tests the distinction between a Kubernetes service account (a cluster-internal identity) and a GCP service account (an IAM identity). Candidates mistakenly think the bucket or the cluster itself can be directly bound to the Kubernetes service account.
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
✓
The Kubernetes service account
The Kubernetes service account is the identity used by pods running in GKE to authenticate to Google Cloud APIs. Option D is correct because a GCP service account is the IAM identity that must be granted permissions on the Cloud Storage bucket via IAM policies. The two are bound together using workload identity federation, which allows the Kubernetes service account to impersonate the GCP service account.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The Cloud Storage bucket
Why it's wrong here
The bucket is the resource, not an identity.
- ✗
The IAM policy for the bucket
Why it's wrong here
The IAM policy is applied to the bucket, but the binding is between identities.
- ✓
The Kubernetes service account
Why this is correct
The Kubernetes service account needs to be mapped to the GCP service account via Workload Identity.
- ✓
The GCP service account
Why this is correct
The GCP service account is the identity that will be granted IAM roles.
- ✗
The GKE cluster
Why it's wrong here
The cluster is not directly bound; the mapping is between KSA and GSA.
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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.