- A
Share the project's service account key with the auditor so they can impersonate it.
Why wrong: Sharing service account keys is insecure and violates key rotation policies.
- B
Use VPC Service Controls to allow access only from the auditor's IP range.
Why wrong: VPC Service Controls restrict network-level access but do not grant IAM permissions.
- C
Create a service account in the company's project, grant it the BigQuery Data Viewer role, and allow the auditor's organization to use that service account via Workload Identity Federation.
Workload Identity Federation allows secure cross-organization access without managing external identities.
- D
Create a Google Group and add the auditor's email addresses, then grant the group the BigQuery Data Viewer role.
Why wrong: Creating a group requires external user management and does not provide cross-organization access control.
Quick Answer
The correct answer is to create a service account in the company's project, grant it the BigQuery Data Viewer role, and allow the auditor's organization to use that service account via Workload Identity Federation. This approach is the most secure because it enables cross organization access workload identity federation BigQuery, allowing the auditor’s externally managed identities to impersonate a dedicated service account without ever exchanging or storing long-lived keys. For the Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer exam, this scenario tests your understanding of federated trust over shared keys or direct IAM membership—a common trap is choosing to grant the auditor’s users direct IAM roles on the dataset, which violates the principle of least privilege and creates management overhead. Remember the key distinction: Workload Identity Federation lets you trust an external identity provider’s token, not the identity itself. Memory tip: “Federate, don’t share keys—impersonate, don’t assign.”
PCSE Practice Question: Configuring access within a cloud solution environment
This PCSE practice question tests your understanding of configuring access within a cloud solution environment. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 grant a third-party auditor read-only access to specific BigQuery datasets in a project. The auditor's identity is managed in their own Google Cloud organization. What is the most secure way to grant access?
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
Create a service account in the company's project, grant it the BigQuery Data Viewer role, and allow the auditor's organization to use that service account via Workload Identity Federation.
Option C is correct because it uses Workload Identity Federation to allow the auditor's Google Cloud organization to impersonate a service account in the company's project without sharing a key. This grants read-only access via the BigQuery Data Viewer role while eliminating the risk of long-lived credentials. The auditor's identity is managed externally, and access is granted through a secure, federated trust relationship.
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.
- ✗
Share the project's service account key with the auditor so they can impersonate it.
Why it's wrong here
Sharing service account keys is insecure and violates key rotation policies.
- ✗
Use VPC Service Controls to allow access only from the auditor's IP range.
Why it's wrong here
VPC Service Controls restrict network-level access but do not grant IAM permissions.
- ✓
Create a service account in the company's project, grant it the BigQuery Data Viewer role, and allow the auditor's organization to use that service account via Workload Identity Federation.
Why this is correct
Workload Identity Federation allows secure cross-organization access without managing external identities.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Create a Google Group and add the auditor's email addresses, then grant the group the BigQuery Data Viewer role.
Why it's wrong here
Creating a group requires external user management and does not provide cross-organization access control.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that sharing a service account key is acceptable for cross-organization access, when in fact Workload Identity Federation is the secure, keyless alternative designed for this exact scenario.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Workload Identity Federation uses OpenID Connect (OIDC) or SAML 2.0 to exchange an external identity token for a Google Cloud access token, allowing the auditor to impersonate a service account without holding a key. The auditor's organization must configure an identity provider (IdP) and the company's project creates a workload identity pool and provider. This approach is critical in multi-cloud or cross-organization scenarios where managing individual user accounts is impractical and key rotation is automated.
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
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this PCSE question test?
Configuring access within a cloud solution environment — This question tests Configuring access within a cloud solution environment — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create a service account in the company's project, grant it the BigQuery Data Viewer role, and allow the auditor's organization to use that service account via Workload Identity Federation. — Option C is correct because it uses Workload Identity Federation to allow the auditor's Google Cloud organization to impersonate a service account in the company's project without sharing a key. This grants read-only access via the BigQuery Data Viewer role while eliminating the risk of long-lived credentials. The auditor's identity is managed externally, and access is granted through a secure, federated trust relationship.
What should I do if I get this PCSE 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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Last reviewed: Jun 30, 2026
This PCSE 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 PCSE exam.
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