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.
An organization wants to protect an HTTPS load-balanced web application from common web attacks, such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS), as well as rate-limit traffic from specific IPs. Which three capabilities should they use together? (Choose three.)
Cloud Armor rate limiting
Rate limiting can throttle traffic from specific IPs.
Cloud CDN
Why wrong: Cloud CDN caches content, does not provide WAF or rate limiting.
Cloud Armor WAF rules
Preconfigured rules block SQLi, XSS, etc.
Cloud Load Balancing logging
Why wrong: Logging provides visibility, not protection.
Cloud Armor IP blacklist/whitelist
IP lists can be used to block or allow traffic.
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 Armor rate limiting
Cloud Armor provides WAF rules (preconfigured rules for SQLi, XSS, etc.), rate limiting, and IP blacklisting/whitelisting. All three are part of Cloud Armor security policies.
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 rate limiting
Why this is correct
Rate limiting can throttle traffic from specific IPs.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Cloud CDN
Why it's wrong here
Cloud CDN caches content, does not provide WAF or rate limiting.
Cloud Armor WAF rules
Why this is correct
Preconfigured rules block SQLi, XSS, etc.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Cloud Load Balancing logging
Why it's wrong here
Logging provides visibility, not protection.
Cloud Armor IP blacklist/whitelist
Why this is correct
IP lists can be used to block or allow traffic.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
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
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.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A cloud solutions architect for a retail company is evaluating services for a new workload. The correct answer here reflects best practice for the specific scenario described — not a general cloud recommendation. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Cloud exam questions reward reading the constraint carefully: the same technology can be right or wrong depending on the use case.
What to study next
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.
Designing for Security and Compliance — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Designing for Security and Compliance — This question tests Designing for Security and Compliance — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Cloud Armor rate limiting — Cloud Armor provides WAF rules (preconfigured rules for SQLi, XSS, etc.), rate limiting, and IP blacklisting/whitelisting. All three are part of Cloud Armor security policies.
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.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 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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