This PCNE practice question tests your understanding of implementing network security. 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 company uses an HTTPS load balancer with SSL certificates. They want to ensure only strong cipher suites are accepted. Which Google Cloud service should they use to enforce this?
Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP).
Why wrong: IAP is for identity-based access control, not cipher suites.
Cloud Armor security policy.
Why wrong: Cloud Armor is for WAF and DDoS protection, not SSL/TLS configuration.
SSL policies on the target HTTPS proxy.
SSL policies control TLS versions and ciphers for load balancers.
Firewall rules on the backend instances.
Why wrong: Firewall rules operate at network layer, not SSL/TLS.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
SSL policies on the target HTTPS proxy.
SSL policies on the target HTTPS proxy allow you to define a set of allowed SSL/TLS cipher suites and protocols for the load balancer. By configuring an SSL policy with a 'RESTRICTED' profile or a custom list of strong ciphers, you can enforce that only secure cipher suites (e.g., TLS 1.2+ with ECDHE and AES-GCM) are accepted, rejecting weak or deprecated ciphers like RC4 or 3DES.
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.
Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP).
Why it's wrong here
IAP is for identity-based access control, not cipher suites.
Cloud Armor security policy.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud Armor is for WAF and DDoS protection, not SSL/TLS configuration.
SSL policies on the target HTTPS proxy.
Why this is correct
SSL policies control TLS versions and ciphers for load balancers.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Firewall rules on the backend instances.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates confuse Cloud Armor (which enforces security policies at the application layer) with SSL policies (which control TLS cipher suites at the transport layer), leading them to pick Cloud Armor when the question specifically asks about cipher suite enforcement.
Detailed technical explanation
SSL policies on the target HTTPS proxy map to the `SslPolicy` resource in Google Cloud, which supports predefined profiles like 'MODERN' or 'RESTRICTED' that align with industry standards (e.g., Mozilla's recommended ciphers). Under the hood, the load balancer's Envoy proxy uses these policies to configure the BoringSSL library, rejecting connections that do not match the allowed cipher list during the TLS handshake. A real-world scenario is meeting PCI DSS compliance, which requires disabling TLS 1.0 and weak ciphers like CBC-mode ciphers; SSL policies enforce this at the edge without modifying backend instances.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
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.
What to study next
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FAQ
Implementing network security — This question tests Implementing network security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: SSL policies on the target HTTPS proxy. — SSL policies on the target HTTPS proxy allow you to define a set of allowed SSL/TLS cipher suites and protocols for the load balancer. By configuring an SSL policy with a 'RESTRICTED' profile or a custom list of strong ciphers, you can enforce that only secure cipher suites (e.g., TLS 1.2+ with ECDHE and AES-GCM) are accepted, rejecting weak or deprecated ciphers like RC4 or 3DES.
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 PCNE 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 PCNE exam.
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