Google PCA Design for security and compliance Practice Question
This PCA practice question tests your understanding of design for security and compliance. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 security architect is designing a zero-trust network for applications running on Compute Engine. They want to enforce that all traffic between VMs must be encrypted and authenticated, regardless of the VPC network. Which approach meets this requirement?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Deploy Anthos Service Mesh with mTLS enabled.
Mutual TLS (mTLS) with service mesh provides encryption and authentication at application level. Option A only encrypts, not authenticates. Option B encrypts but not authenticates. Option D is not a standard approach.
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.
✗
Configure each VM to use IPsec tunnels to every other VM.
Why it's wrong here
Not scalable and not native to Compute Engine.
✓
Deploy Anthos Service Mesh with mTLS enabled.
Why this is correct
Service mesh with mTLS provides both encryption and authentication between services.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Use Cloud VPN to encrypt all inter-VM traffic.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud VPN is for on-premises connectivity, not inter-VM.
✗
Enable VPC Flow Logs and use firewall rules to allow only encrypted traffic.
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→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 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.
Identify which PCA exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Design for security and compliance — This question tests Design for security and compliance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Deploy Anthos Service Mesh with mTLS enabled. — Mutual TLS (mTLS) with service mesh provides encryption and authentication at application level. Option A only encrypts, not authenticates. Option B encrypts but not authenticates. Option D is not a standard approach.
What should I do if I get this PCA question wrong?
Identify which PCA exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
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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