The answer is to grant the compute.securityAdmin role to a group with a condition that limits access using the resource.name condition. This is correct because the compute.securityAdmin role includes the compute.firewalls.create permission, and by applying an IAM condition on resource.name, you can restrict that permission to only specific service projects within the Shared VPC hierarchy. On the Google Professional Cloud Network Engineer exam, this scenario tests your understanding of how IAM conditions can enforce fine-grained access control in a Shared VPC environment, a common trap being the assumption that network-level roles like compute.networkAdmin are sufficient—they are not, as they lack firewall creation rights. A key memory tip is to think "Security Admin + resource.name condition = project-scoped firewall control," ensuring only authorized service projects can create ingress rules without granting broad network permissions.
PCNE Implementing network security Practice Question
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 Shared VPC with multiple service projects. The security team wants to ensure that only specific service projects can create firewall rules that allow ingress traffic to the Shared VPC network. What is the best practice?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Grant the compute.securityAdmin role to a group with a condition that limits access to only the service projects that need it, using the resource.name condition.
IAM conditions allow fine-grained access control.
B
Disable firewall rule creation by setting an organization policy constraint.
Why wrong: This would block all firewall rule creation, which is too restrictive.
C
Grant the compute.securityAdmin role to a group at the organization level.
Why wrong: This would give access to all projects, not just specific ones.
D
Grant the compute.securityAdmin role to the service project owners at the host project level.
Why wrong: Service project owners might be too many; need to restrict.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Grant the compute.securityAdmin role to a group with a condition that limits access to only the service projects that need it, using the resource.name condition.
Option A is correct because the compute.securityAdmin role allows users to create firewall rules, and by applying a condition on the resource.name, you can restrict this permission to only specific service projects. This ensures that only authorized service projects can create ingress firewall rules in the Shared VPC network, aligning with 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.
✓
Grant the compute.securityAdmin role to a group with a condition that limits access to only the service projects that need it, using the resource.name condition.
Why this is correct
IAM conditions allow fine-grained access control.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Disable firewall rule creation by setting an organization policy constraint.
Why it's wrong here
This would block all firewall rule creation, which is too restrictive.
✗
Grant the compute.securityAdmin role to a group at the organization level.
Why it's wrong here
This would give access to all projects, not just specific ones.
✗
Grant the compute.securityAdmin role to the service project owners at the host project level.
Why it's wrong here
Service project owners might be too many; need to restrict.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that granting roles at the organization level or to project owners is sufficient for granular control, but the trap here is that without IAM conditions, these broad grants allow all service projects to create firewall rules, failing the requirement for selective access.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
In Shared VPC, the host project owns the network, and service projects consume it. The compute.securityAdmin role includes the compute.firewalls.create permission, which can be scoped using IAM conditions with the resource.name attribute to match specific service project prefixes (e.g., 'projects/service-project-*/regions/...'). This leverages Google Cloud's IAM condition language, which evaluates at runtime to enforce fine-grained access control, preventing unauthorized service projects from creating ingress rules that could expose the shared network.
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 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
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.
Implementing network security — This question tests Implementing network security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Grant the compute.securityAdmin role to a group with a condition that limits access to only the service projects that need it, using the resource.name condition. — Option A is correct because the compute.securityAdmin role allows users to create firewall rules, and by applying a condition on the resource.name, you can restrict this permission to only specific service projects. This ensures that only authorized service projects can create ingress firewall rules in the Shared VPC network, aligning with the security team's requirement.
What should I do if I get this PCNE question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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