PCSE Practice Question: Managing Operations in a Cloud Solution Environment
A security engineer is investigating a potential data exfiltration incident. They suspect that a compromised VM is sending sensitive data to an external IP. Which three data sources should they examine to trace the exfiltration? (Choose three.)
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
✓
VPC Flow Logs
VPC Flow Logs capture network metadata, DNS queries can show domain lookups, and Cloud Audit Logs (Data Access) can log data access events. Cloud NAT logs show outbound connections but are not as detailed for exfiltration. Compute Engine serial port output shows console logs but not network traffic.
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 NAT logs
Why it's wrong here
NAT logs show connections but are less granular; VPC Flow Logs are better.
- ✓
VPC Flow Logs
Why this is correct
Shows source/destination IPs, ports, protocols for all network flows.
- ✗
Compute Engine serial port output
Why it's wrong here
Serial output shows OS-level messages but not network traffic.
- ✓
Cloud Audit Logs (Data Access)
Why this is correct
Logs data access to services like BigQuery or Cloud Storage, showing if data was read.
- ✓
Cloud DNS logging
Why this is correct
Shows DNS queries made by the VM, which may reveal exfiltration domains.
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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.