Google PCA Designing for Security and Compliance Practice Question
This PCA practice question tests your understanding of designing for security and compliance. 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 wants to allow a Kubernetes pod in GKE to authenticate to Google Cloud APIs without storing service account keys in the cluster. Which three components need to be configured to enable Workload Identity? (Choose three.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Google Cloud service account
Workload Identity requires: (1) a Google Cloud IAM service account (GCP SA), (2) a Kubernetes service account (KSA) annotated with the GCP SA email, and (3) an IAM policy binding between the KSA and GCP SA to allow impersonation.
Key principle: NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✓
Google Cloud service account
Why this is correct
The GCP SA that the pod will impersonate.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
✓
Kubernetes service account with annotation
Why this is correct
The KSA must be annotated with iam.gke.io/gcp-service-account pointing to the GCP SA.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
✗
Firewall rule to allow traffic to metadata server
Why it's wrong here
Workload Identity uses the metadata server, but no special firewall rule is needed.
✓
IAM policy binding granting the GCP SA roles/iam.workloadIdentityUser on the GCP SA
Why this is correct
This allows the KSA to impersonate the GCP SA.
Related concept
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
→Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
→Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
→Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
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.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this PCA question in full detail.
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related PCA NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
Designing for Security and Compliance — This question tests Designing for Security and Compliance — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Google Cloud service account — Workload Identity requires: (1) a Google Cloud IAM service account (GCP SA), (2) a Kubernetes service account (KSA) annotated with the GCP SA email, and (3) an IAM policy binding between the KSA and GCP SA to allow impersonation.
What should I do if I get this PCA question wrong?
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related PCA NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
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Question Discussion
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