Google ACE Configuring access and security Practice Question
This ACE practice question tests your understanding of configuring access and security. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
You want to ensure that all Cloud Storage buckets in your organization require customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK). What is the most efficient way to enforce this?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create an Organization Policy with constraint 'storage.requireCustomerManagedEncryption'.
Option B is correct because the Organization Policy constraint 'storage.requireCustomerManagedEncryption' is a centralized, scalable way to enforce CMEK across all Cloud Storage buckets in the organization. This policy is applied at the organization or folder level and automatically prevents the creation of new buckets without CMEK, while also blocking updates to existing non-compliant buckets. It is the most efficient method as it requires no per-bucket configuration or ongoing monitoring.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Use Cloud Audit Logs to monitor for non-compliant buckets.
Why it's wrong here
Audit logs are detective, not preventive.
✓
Create an Organization Policy with constraint 'storage.requireCustomerManagedEncryption'.
Why this is correct
Organization Policy can enforce CMEK requirement on all buckets in the organization.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use a service account to encrypt all objects with CMEK.
Why it's wrong here
This does not enforce the requirement on bucket creation or object uploads.
✗
Set a bucket policy on each bucket to require CMEK.
Why it's wrong here
This requires manual configuration per bucket and does not prevent creation of non-compliant buckets.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the distinction between monitoring (Audit Logs) and enforcement (Organization Policies), and the trap here is that candidates may think monitoring is sufficient for compliance, when in fact only a proactive policy constraint can prevent non-compliant resources from being created.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The Organization Policy constraint 'storage.requireCustomerManagedEncryption' is a boolean constraint that, when set to True, enforces that all new buckets must have a default encryption key that is a CMEK. Under the hood, this constraint is evaluated at bucket creation time by the Cloud Storage API, and if the bucket does not specify a valid CMEK key name (in the format projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/LOCATION/keyRings/KEY_RING/cryptoKeys/KEY), the request is denied with a 403 error. This constraint also applies to bucket metadata updates that would remove or change the default encryption key to a Google-managed key, ensuring ongoing compliance without manual intervention.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this ACE question in full detail.
Configuring access and security — This question tests Configuring access and security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create an Organization Policy with constraint 'storage.requireCustomerManagedEncryption'. — Option B is correct because the Organization Policy constraint 'storage.requireCustomerManagedEncryption' is a centralized, scalable way to enforce CMEK across all Cloud Storage buckets in the organization. This policy is applied at the organization or folder level and automatically prevents the creation of new buckets without CMEK, while also blocking updates to existing non-compliant buckets. It is the most efficient method as it requires no per-bucket configuration or ongoing monitoring.
What should I do if I get this ACE question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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