This GCDL practice question tests your understanding of trust and security with google cloud. 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.
A company's security team wants to detect and remediate public exposure of Cloud SQL instances. Which service should they use?
Cloud Armor
Why wrong: Cloud Armor is a DDoS and web application firewall, not for detecting exposed instances.
Security Command Center
Security Command Center can find misconfigurations like public Cloud SQL instances.
Cloud Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
Why wrong: Cloud DLP discovers sensitive data, not publicly exposed resources.
VPC Service Controls
Why wrong: VPC Service Controls prevent data exfiltration but do not detect exposure.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Security Command Center
Security Command Center (SCC) is the correct service because it provides centralized visibility and monitoring of Google Cloud resources, including the ability to detect and alert on public exposure of Cloud SQL instances. SCC's built-in vulnerability and threat detection findings, such as 'Public SQL instance,' directly identify misconfigured Cloud SQL instances that are accessible from the internet, enabling the security team to remediate the exposure.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Cloud Armor
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Armor is a DDoS and web application firewall, not for detecting exposed instances.
Security Command Center
Why this is correct
Security Command Center can find misconfigurations like public Cloud SQL instances.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Cloud Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
Why it's wrong here
Cloud DLP discovers sensitive data, not publicly exposed resources.
VPC Service Controls
Why it's wrong here
VPC Service Controls prevent data exfiltration but do not detect exposure.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse services that enforce security (like VPC Service Controls or Cloud Armor) with services that detect and alert on misconfigurations, leading them to pick a tool that blocks or filters traffic rather than one that provides visibility and detection.
Detailed technical explanation
Security Command Center leverages the Cloud Asset Inventory and Cloud SQL Admin API to continuously scan for misconfigurations, including the 'public_ip' field in the Cloud SQL instance's settings. When a Cloud SQL instance is configured with an assigned public IP address and no authorized networks are specified (or a network is set to 0.0.0.0/0), SCC generates a finding under the 'Public SQL instance' category. In a real-world scenario, a security team can use SCC's findings to trigger automated remediation via Cloud Functions or Cloud Run, such as removing the public IP or enforcing private IP only, ensuring compliance with least-privilege network access policies.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A company's IT admin needs to give a contractor read-only access to production logs without sharing account credentials. Using role-based access control (RBAC) and temporary scoped permissions — not a permanent shared password — is the correct pattern. Questions like this test whether you can apply least-privilege access across cloud identity services.
What to study next
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FAQ
Trust and security with Google Cloud — This question tests Trust and security with Google Cloud — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Security Command Center — Security Command Center (SCC) is the correct service because it provides centralized visibility and monitoring of Google Cloud resources, including the ability to detect and alert on public exposure of Cloud SQL instances. SCC's built-in vulnerability and threat detection findings, such as 'Public SQL instance,' directly identify misconfigured Cloud SQL instances that are accessible from the internet, enabling the security team to remediate the exposure.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 25, 2026
This GCDL 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 GCDL exam.
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