The answer is to enable Admin Activity audit logs at the organization level and configure a log sink to export these logs to BigQuery for analysis. This is correct because IAM policy changes are classified as configuration modifications, which are captured exclusively by Admin Activity audit logs—not by System Event or Data Access logs. Enabling this log type at the organization level ensures a centralized audit trail across all projects, while exporting to BigQuery allows for long-term retention and powerful querying of historical changes. On the Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer exam, this question tests your understanding of the three audit log categories and their scopes; a common trap is confusing Admin Activity with Data Access logs or forgetting that organization-level enablement is required to capture changes across all child resources. Remember the mnemonic: “Admin for Access changes, Org for Overall coverage.”
PCSE Supporting compliance requirements Practice Question
This PCSE practice question tests your understanding of supporting compliance requirements. 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 audit all changes to IAM policies in their organization. They need to set up logging to capture these changes. Which TWO steps should they take? (Choose TWO.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Enable Admin Activity audit logs for the organization.
Admin Activity audit logs record operations that modify the configuration or metadata of resources, such as IAM policy changes. Enabling Admin Activity audit logs at the organization level captures these changes across all projects within the organization, providing a centralized audit trail. This is the correct step because IAM policy modifications are classified as admin activity, not system events or data access.
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.
✗
Enable Admin Activity audit logs for each individual project.
Why it's wrong here
This would miss organization-level changes.
✗
Enable System Event audit logs for the organization.
Why it's wrong here
System Event logs are for GCP system events, not IAM changes.
✗
Enable Data Access audit logs for the organization.
Why it's wrong here
Data Access logs record data access, not admin changes.
✓
Enable Admin Activity audit logs for the organization.
Why this is correct
Admin Activity logs record IAM policy changes.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Configure a log sink to export these logs to BigQuery for analysis.
Why this is correct
Exporting logs allows analysis.
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 distinction between audit log types, and the trap here is that candidates confuse System Event logs (which handle infrastructure events) with Admin Activity logs, or assume that enabling logs per project is equivalent to enabling them at the organization level.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Admin Activity audit logs are enabled by default for all projects and organizations, but they must be explicitly configured at the organization level to ensure inheritance across all child resources. These logs use the Cloud Audit Logs service, which writes to the _Required and _Default log buckets; exporting them via a log sink to BigQuery allows for advanced querying and analysis using SQL, enabling compliance teams to detect unauthorized IAM changes quickly. A common subtlety is that organization-level Admin Activity logs include changes made by Resource Manager roles, which are not captured by project-level logs.
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: Enable Admin Activity audit logs for the organization. — Admin Activity audit logs record operations that modify the configuration or metadata of resources, such as IAM policy changes. Enabling Admin Activity audit logs at the organization level captures these changes across all projects within the organization, providing a centralized audit trail. This is the correct step because IAM policy modifications are classified as admin activity, not system events or data access.
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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