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PCSE Practice Question: A security engineer for a company that runs a…
You are a security engineer for a company that runs a critical application on Google Cloud. You need to implement defense in depth for network security. Which TWO of the following are effective network security controls that you should implement?
⚠ Common exam trap
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between network security controls (which filter traffic at the network layer) and host/identity/authentication controls, so candidates mistakenly select IAM or Workload Identity Federation because they think 'access control' equals network security.
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 firewall rules to restrict traffic between subnets
VPC firewall rules (B) are a fundamental network security control that allow you to restrict traffic between subnets based on source/destination IP ranges, protocols, and ports. This implements network segmentation and micro-segmentation, which is a core principle of defense in depth. Cloud Armor (E) provides Web Application Firewall (WAF) capabilities and DDoS protection at the edge of Google's network, filtering malicious traffic before it reaches your VMs or load balancers.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
OS-level host-based firewalls on each VM
Why it's wrong here
While important, host-based firewalls are compute instance security, not a network-level control.
- ✓
VPC firewall rules to restrict traffic between subnets
Why this is correct
VPC firewall rules are a fundamental network security control to filter traffic.
- ✗
IAM roles to control who can create Compute Engine instances
Why it's wrong here
IAM is an identity and access management control, not a network security control.
- ✗
Workload Identity Federation to allow workloads to authenticate to Google APIs
Why it's wrong here
This is an identity and access management feature, not a network security control.
- ✓
Cloud Armor to protect against DDoS and web application attacks
Why this is correct
Cloud Armor is a network security service that provides WAF and DDoS protection at the edge.
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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.