This PCNE practice question tests your understanding of implementing network security. 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.
A company wants to enforce that all HTTPS load balancer traffic uses TLS 1.2 or higher. Which Google Cloud resource should they configure?
SSL certificate resource
Why wrong: SSL certificate only holds the certificate, not protocol versions.
SSL policy attached to the target HTTPS proxy
SSL policy specifies minimum TLS version and ciphers.
VPC firewall rule to block TLS 1.0/1.1
Why wrong: Firewall rules cannot inspect TLS layer.
Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP)
Why wrong: IAP provides authentication, not TLS version enforcement.
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 policy attached to the target HTTPS proxy
Option B is correct because an SSL policy in Google Cloud can be attached to a target HTTPS proxy to enforce minimum TLS version requirements, such as TLS 1.2 or higher. This policy directly controls the TLS handshake parameters at the load balancer level, ensuring that only clients supporting TLS 1.2 or above can establish HTTPS connections.
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.
SSL certificate resource
Why it's wrong here
SSL certificate only holds the certificate, not protocol versions.
SSL policy attached to the target HTTPS proxy
Why this is correct
SSL policy specifies minimum TLS version and ciphers.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
VPC firewall rule to block TLS 1.0/1.1
Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP)
Why it's wrong here
IAP provides authentication, not TLS version enforcement.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates often confuse SSL certificates (which only provide cryptographic material) with SSL policies (which enforce protocol and cipher restrictions), leading them to select the SSL certificate resource as the answer.
Detailed technical explanation
An SSL policy in Google Cloud allows you to configure a list of enabled TLS versions (e.g., TLS 1.2, TLS 1.3) and cipher suites, and it is enforced at the Google Front End (GFE) before the request reaches the backend. This is critical for compliance with standards like PCI DSS, which requires disabling TLS 1.0 and 1.1. The policy is attached to the target HTTPS proxy, which is the component that terminates TLS for HTTP(S) load balancers.
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 policy attached to the target HTTPS proxy — Option B is correct because an SSL policy in Google Cloud can be attached to a target HTTPS proxy to enforce minimum TLS version requirements, such as TLS 1.2 or higher. This policy directly controls the TLS handshake parameters at the load balancer level, ensuring that only clients supporting TLS 1.2 or above can establish HTTPS connections.
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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