This PCA practice question tests your understanding of manage implementation of cloud architecture. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 stores sensitive data in Cloud Storage and wants to enforce encryption at rest using customer-managed keys. Which Google Cloud service should they use to manage the keys?
Cloud HSM
Why wrong: Hardware security module, but KMS is the standard service for CMEK.
Secret Manager
Why wrong: Designed for secrets like API keys, not for encryption key management.
Cloud KMS
Manages customer-managed encryption keys for Cloud Storage.
IAM
Why wrong: Manages access control, not encryption keys.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Cloud KMS
Cloud KMS (Key Management Service) is the correct choice because it is the native Google Cloud service for managing cryptographic keys, including customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK). It allows you to create, rotate, and control access to keys used to encrypt data at rest in Cloud Storage, and it integrates directly with Cloud Storage's CMEK feature. Cloud HSM is a hardware-backed key management option but is built on top of Cloud KMS, not a separate service for key management.
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 HSM
Why it's wrong here
Hardware security module, but KMS is the standard service for CMEK.
Secret Manager
Why it's wrong here
Designed for secrets like API keys, not for encryption key management.
Cloud KMS
Why this is correct
Manages customer-managed encryption keys for Cloud Storage.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
IAM
Why it's wrong here
Manages access control, not encryption keys.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates confuse Cloud HSM as a separate key management service, but Cloud HSM is actually a hardware-backed key storage option that requires Cloud KMS for key management, not a replacement for it.
Detailed technical explanation
Cloud KMS uses envelope encryption by default, where a Cloud KMS-managed key (key encryption key) encrypts a data encryption key (DEK) that is stored alongside the encrypted data in Cloud Storage. This allows efficient encryption and decryption without exposing the KEK to the client. When using CMEK, Cloud Storage automatically calls Cloud KMS to encrypt/decrypt the DEK on each read/write, and you can audit these operations via Cloud Audit Logs.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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.
What to study next
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FAQ
Manage implementation of cloud architecture — This question tests Manage implementation of cloud architecture — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Cloud KMS — Cloud KMS (Key Management Service) is the correct choice because it is the native Google Cloud service for managing cryptographic keys, including customer-managed encryption keys (CMEK). It allows you to create, rotate, and control access to keys used to encrypt data at rest in Cloud Storage, and it integrates directly with Cloud Storage's CMEK feature. Cloud HSM is a hardware-backed key management option but is built on top of Cloud KMS, not a separate service for key management.
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 PCA 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 PCA exam.
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