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Manage and provision cloud infrastructure →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

Google PCA Manage and provision cloud infrastructure Practice Question

This PCA practice question tests your understanding of manage and provision cloud infrastructure. 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.

Your company is using Cloud Storage to store sensitive customer data. The security team requires that all objects be encrypted with a customer-managed encryption key (CMEK) and that the key be automatically rotated every 90 days. You need to implement this without changing the application code. You have created a Cloud KMS key ring and a key with rotation period set to 90 days. What additional configuration is required?

Question 1mediummultiple choice

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A
Set a bucket lifecycle rule to transition objects to a different storage class.
Why wrong: Lifecycle rules manage object storage classes, not encryption. They do not enforce CMEK usage.
B
Create a custom customer-supplied encryption key (CSEK) and provide it in each request.
Why wrong: CSEK requires the application to supply the key in each request, which violates the requirement to not change application code. Also, CSEK does not support automatic rotation.
C
Grant the Cloud KMS CryptoKey Encrypter/Decrypter role to the Cloud Storage service account.
Why wrong: While this IAM role is needed for Cloud Storage to use the CMEK, it alone does not encrypt objects by default; you must also set the default encryption on the bucket.
D
Set the default encryption key of the Cloud Storage bucket to the Cloud KMS key.
Setting the default encryption key on the bucket ensures all new objects are automatically encrypted with the CMEK without code changes. Cloud KMS handles automatic rotation.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

Answer choices

Why each option matters

Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.

Correct answer & explanation

✓

Set the default encryption key of the Cloud Storage bucket to the Cloud KMS key.

Option D is correct because setting the default encryption key of the Cloud Storage bucket to the Cloud KMS key ensures that all objects written to the bucket are automatically encrypted with that CMEK, without requiring any application code changes. The Cloud KMS key's rotation period of 90 days is already configured, so the key will be rotated automatically, meeting the security team's requirement.

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.

✗
Set a bucket lifecycle rule to transition objects to a different storage class.
Why it's wrong here
Lifecycle rules manage object storage classes, not encryption. They do not enforce CMEK usage.
✗
Create a custom customer-supplied encryption key (CSEK) and provide it in each request.
Why it's wrong here
CSEK requires the application to supply the key in each request, which violates the requirement to not change application code. Also, CSEK does not support automatic rotation.
✗
Grant the Cloud KMS CryptoKey Encrypter/Decrypter role to the Cloud Storage service account.
Why it's wrong here
While this IAM role is needed for Cloud Storage to use the CMEK, it alone does not encrypt objects by default; you must also set the default encryption on the bucket.
✓
Set the default encryption key of the Cloud Storage bucket to the Cloud KMS key.
Why this is correct
Setting the default encryption key on the bucket ensures all new objects are automatically encrypted with the CMEK without code changes. Cloud KMS handles automatic rotation.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates may think granting the Cloud KMS role to the Cloud Storage service account (Option C) is sufficient, but they overlook the critical step of actually setting the key as the default encryption key on the bucket to enforce automatic encryption.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

When a Cloud KMS key is set as the default encryption key on a Cloud Storage bucket, the bucket's metadata stores a reference to the key's resource name (e.g., projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/keyRings/RING_NAME/cryptoKeys/KEY_NAME). For each new object, Cloud Storage automatically calls Cloud KMS to encrypt the object's data encryption key (DEK) with the CMEK, and the resulting wrapped DEK is stored with the object. Key rotation in Cloud KMS creates a new key version; Cloud Storage uses the primary version at the time of encryption, and old versions remain available for decryption of existing objects.

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.

TExam Day Tips

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 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

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this PCA question test?

Manage and provision cloud infrastructure — This question tests Manage and provision cloud infrastructure — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Set the default encryption key of the Cloud Storage bucket to the Cloud KMS key. — Option D is correct because setting the default encryption key of the Cloud Storage bucket to the Cloud KMS key ensures that all objects written to the bucket are automatically encrypted with that CMEK, without requiring any application code changes. The Cloud KMS key's rotation period of 90 days is already configured, so the key will be rotated automatically, meeting the security team's requirement.

What should I do if I get this PCA question wrong?

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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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.