PCSE Supporting compliance requirements Practice Question
This PCSE practice question tests your understanding of supporting compliance requirements. 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 financial services company is deploying a new payment processing system on Google Cloud that must comply with PCI DSS. The system processes credit card data. The security team has implemented encryption at rest and in transit, and uses Private Google Access for VPC communication. During a PCI assessment, the assessor points out that the company is missing a critical control: the need to regularly scan the external IP addresses of the VMs for vulnerabilities. What should the company do to address this requirement?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Set up a third-party vulnerability scanner (e.g., Nessus) from the Cloud Marketplace and run scans against external IPs.
Option D is correct because PCI DSS Requirement 11.2 mandates that external-facing IP addresses be scanned for vulnerabilities at least quarterly and after any significant change. Deploying a third-party scanner like Nessus from the Cloud Marketplace allows the company to run authenticated or unauthenticated scans against the external IPs of their VMs, meeting the specific requirement. Google Cloud does not provide a native active vulnerability scanning service for external IPs; Security Command Center Premium and Cloud IDS focus on asset discovery and threat detection, not active scanning of external endpoints.
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.
✗
Use Security Command Center Premium to perform vulnerability scanning.
Why it's wrong here
Security Command Center provides findings but may not satisfy ASV scan requirement.
✗
Deploy Cloud IDS to perform active vulnerability scanning on external IPs.
Why it's wrong here
Cloud IDS is for threat detection, not vulnerability scanning.
✗
Enable Cloud Armor to block all traffic and thus eliminate the need for scanning.
Set up a third-party vulnerability scanner (e.g., Nessus) from the Cloud Marketplace and run scans against external IPs.
Why this is correct
A third-party ASV scanner is standard for PCI DSS.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Google Cloud often tests the misconception that Google Cloud's native security tools (like Security Command Center or Cloud IDS) can replace the need for a dedicated external vulnerability scanner, but PCI DSS explicitly requires active scanning of external IPs, which only a third-party or ASV scanner can perform.
Trap categories for this question
Command / output trap
Security Command Center provides findings but may not satisfy ASV scan requirement.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
PCI DSS Requirement 11.2 specifically requires external-facing IP addresses to be scanned by a PCI Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV) or a qualified internal scanner that meets ASV standards. Third-party scanners like Nessus or Qualys can be deployed on a Compute Engine instance with a public IP to perform authenticated scans against target VMs, using protocols like SSH or RDP for credential-based checks. Google Cloud's VPC firewall rules must allow the scanner's source IP to reach the target VMs on ports like 22 or 3389 for authenticated scans, and the scanner must be configured to exclude internal-only IPs to avoid false positives.
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.
Supporting compliance requirements — This question tests Supporting compliance requirements — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Set up a third-party vulnerability scanner (e.g., Nessus) from the Cloud Marketplace and run scans against external IPs. — Option D is correct because PCI DSS Requirement 11.2 mandates that external-facing IP addresses be scanned for vulnerabilities at least quarterly and after any significant change. Deploying a third-party scanner like Nessus from the Cloud Marketplace allows the company to run authenticated or unauthenticated scans against the external IPs of their VMs, meeting the specific requirement. Google Cloud does not provide a native active vulnerability scanning service for external IPs; Security Command Center Premium and Cloud IDS focus on asset discovery and threat detection, not active scanning of external endpoints.
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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Question Discussion
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