Question 967 of 985

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. 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 security engineer needs to ensure that no one in the organization can disable or delete Cloud Key Management Service (Cloud KMS) keys, except for a designated security team. Which TWO approaches should be combined? (Choose 2 correct answers)

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

Grant the security team the Cloud KMS Admin role (roles/cloudkms.admin) at the organization level.

Option B is correct because the Cloud KMS Admin role (roles/cloudkms.admin) includes the permissions needed to manage key lifecycle, such as disabling and destroying keys. Granting this role at the organization level ensures the security team can control keys across all projects, while the IAM deny policy in option C blocks all other principals from performing those actions, creating a secure, layered access control approach.

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.

  • Apply the organization policy constraint constraints/cloudkms.disableKeyDeletion with value True.

    Why it's wrong here

    There is no such predefined constraint; the correct constraint is constraints/cloudkms.restrictAllowedOperations, but it's not a boolean to disable deletion.

  • Grant the security team the Cloud KMS Admin role (roles/cloudkms.admin) at the organization level.

    Why this is correct

    This role includes permissions to disable and destroy keys, and if the deny policy has an exception for the security team, they can perform these actions.

    Related concept

    Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

  • Create an IAM deny policy at the organization level that denies cloudkms.cryptoKeys.disable and cloudkms.cryptoKeys.destroy for all principals.

    Why this is correct

    This blocks everyone from disabling or deleting keys.

    Related concept

    Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

  • Store the key material in a separate project with a private key access control.

    Why it's wrong here

    This does not address the requirement to control disable/delete permissions.

  • Create an IAM allow policy at the organization level that grants the same permissions only to the security team.

    Why it's wrong here

    Allow policies are overridden by deny policies, so this would not work.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

Cisco often tests the distinction between organization policy constraints (which apply to all principals uniformly) and IAM deny policies (which can exclude specific principals), leading candidates to incorrectly choose option A as a blanket solution without considering the need for an exception for the security team.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

IAM deny policies are evaluated before allow policies, meaning a deny for cloudkms.cryptoKeys.disable and cloudkms.cryptoKeys.destroy at the organization level will override any inherited or directly granted allow permissions for all principals except those explicitly excluded in the deny policy. The Cloud KMS Admin role (roles/cloudkms.admin) includes these permissions, so the security team can still perform the actions. This combination leverages the principle of least privilege and the hierarchical nature of IAM, where organization-level policies cascade to all projects and folders.

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.

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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: Grant the security team the Cloud KMS Admin role (roles/cloudkms.admin) at the organization level. — Option B is correct because the Cloud KMS Admin role (roles/cloudkms.admin) includes the permissions needed to manage key lifecycle, such as disabling and destroying keys. Granting this role at the organization level ensures the security team can control keys across all projects, while the IAM deny policy in option C blocks all other principals from performing those actions, creating a secure, layered access control approach.

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: Jul 4, 2026

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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.