Easy1 markMultiple Choice

GCP PCA · Question 26 · Domain 3: Designing for Security and Compliance

Your company has a strict policy that all cryptographic keys used to encrypt data in Google Cloud must be generated and managed on-premises by your own Hardware Security Module (HSM). Which encryption method must you use?

Answer options:

A.

Google-Managed Encryption Keys

B.

Customer-Managed Encryption Keys (CMEK)

C.

Customer-Supplied Encryption Keys (CSEK)

D.

Cloud HSM

How to approach this question

Differentiate between CMEK (managed in Cloud KMS) and CSEK (supplied by the customer from outside GCP).

Full Answer

C.Customer-Supplied Encryption Keys (CSEK)✓ Correct
Customer-Supplied Encryption Keys (CSEK)
Customer-Supplied Encryption Keys (CSEK) is a feature where you generate your own encryption keys on-premises. When you create a resource (like a Compute Engine disk or Cloud Storage object), you provide the key in the API request. Google uses it to encrypt the data and immediately purges the key from memory. If you lose the key, Google cannot recover your data.

Common mistakes

Confusing CMEK with CSEK. CMEK means you manage the key lifecycle within Google Cloud KMS. CSEK means you supply the raw key material from outside.

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