PCSE Practice Question: Configuring Access Within a Cloud Solution Environment
An organization has multiple GCP projects under a folder. They want to prevent all users from creating service account keys in any project under that folder. They also want to allow exceptions for a specific project where key creation is needed. Which approach should they take?
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
✓
Apply the organization policy constraint 'constraints/iam.disableServiceAccountKeyCreation' at the folder level and set an exception for the specific project.
Organization policies can be set at the folder level with an enforce: true condition, and then an exception can be made for a specific project using a conditional policy or by setting a different policy on that project. IAM deny policies cannot disable the API for all users. Custom roles cannot disable key creation globally. Removing roles is impractical.
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 custom role that excludes the permission to create keys and assign it to all users.
Why it's wrong here
Custom roles are not automatically applied to all users; users may have other roles.
- ✗
Remove the roles/iam.serviceAccountKeyAdmin role from all users.
Why it's wrong here
There is no single role that grants key creation; it's a permission within several roles.
- ✗
Use an IAM deny policy on the folder to deny the permission to create service account keys.
Why it's wrong here
Deny policies deny by default but cannot be easily excepted per project.
- ✓
Apply the organization policy constraint 'constraints/iam.disableServiceAccountKeyCreation' at the folder level and set an exception for the specific project.
Why this is correct
This constraint disables key creation; exceptions can be made with conditional policies or separate project-level policies.
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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.