mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
Automatic Remediation of Public Cloud Storage Buckets with Cloud SCC
A security engineer receives an alert from Cloud Security Command Center (Cloud SCC) about a resource that is publicly accessible. The engineer identifies that the resource is a Cloud Storage bucket containing sensitive data. After making the bucket private, what is the next best step to prevent recurrence?
Quick Answer
The answer is to create a Cloud Security Command Center notification for public bucket findings and use a Cloud Function to automatically disable public access. This is correct because it establishes a continuous, automated remediation pipeline: Cloud SCC detects the public bucket, publishes the finding to a Pub/Sub topic via a security health analytics sink, and a Cloud Function subscribed to that topic executes the code to revoke public access, preventing recurrence without manual intervention. On the Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer exam, this scenario tests your understanding of automated security response using serverless architectures, often appearing as a trap where candidates choose overly broad organization-level policies or destructive actions like deletion. The key distinction is that automated remediation targets the specific misconfiguration rather than blocking all public access, which could break legitimate use cases. Memory tip: think “Sink, Pub, Function” — the three-step chain that turns an alert into an automatic fix.
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 Cloud Security Command Center notification for public bucket findings and use a Cloud Function to automatically disable public access.
It automates the prevention of future public exposure by using Cloud SCC notifications to trigger a Cloud Function that disables public access. Option A is incorrect because manual checks are not preventive and rely on human action. Option B is incorrect because deleting the bucket causes data loss and does not address the root cause. Option C is incorrect because an organization policy disallowing public access may be too restrictive for legitimate use cases, and it does not provide automated remediation for existing buckets.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Add a note in the operations runbook to check bucket permissions weekly.
Why it's wrong here
Reactive, not preventive.
- ✗
Delete the bucket and all its contents to avoid future exposure.
Why it's wrong here
Data loss may be unacceptable.
- ✗
Set an organization policy to disable public access to all Cloud Storage buckets.
Why it's wrong here
May interfere with legitimate use cases.
- ✓
Create a Cloud Security Command Center notification for public bucket findings and use a Cloud Function to automatically disable public access.
Why this is correct
Automated response reduces recurrence risk.
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Same concept, more angles
1 more way this is tested on PCSE
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A multinational corporation operates multiple Google Cloud projects across several folders. They have a security requirement to enforce that all Cloud Storage buckets are created with uniform bucket-level access enabled and that no bucket has public access. They want to automatically remediate any non-compliant bucket that violates these policies. Currently, they use Organization Policies to enforce uniform bucket-level access, but they still find some buckets with public access due to exceptions. They have Cloud Security Command Center (Cloud SCC) enabled and receive findings about public buckets. The operations team wants to build a solution that automatically disables public access on non-compliant buckets. Which approach should they take?
medium- A.Create a new Organization Policy that denies public access to all buckets.
- B.Configure a Cloud Monitoring alert policy that triggers a webhook to a third-party automation tool.
- ✓ C.Create a Cloud Security Command Center notification channel for public bucket findings, publish to a Pub/Sub topic, and trigger a Cloud Function that removes public IAM bindings from the bucket.
- D.Write a script using gsutil and run it daily via Cloud Scheduler to check all buckets and remove public access.
Why C: Cloud Security Command Center can send notifications for public bucket findings to a Pub/Sub topic, which triggers a Cloud Function that automatically removes public IAM bindings from the bucket in real time. Option A is incorrect because Organization Policies can deny public access but cannot retroactively fix buckets already created with exceptions; they apply at resource creation time. Option B is incorrect because Cloud Monitoring alerts are designed for monitoring metrics and logs, not for directly triggering remediation workflows like Cloud Functions. Option D is incorrect because running a scheduled script via Cloud Scheduler is not real-time and may leave buckets exposed between runs.
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.