Google Updated Professional-Cloud-Security-Engineer Exam Questions and Answers by hasan

The problem requires exposing a sensitive AI model endpoint internally (strictly isolated from the internet) to a defined list of projects within the organization.

Internal Exposure and Isolation: An "internal Application Load Balancer" is suitable for exposing services within your VPC network, ensuring they are not accessible from the internet.

Private Service Connect (PSC): This is the key technology for securely and privately exposing services from one VPC network (the service producer, where the model is) to other VPC networks (the service consumers, the defined list of projects) within the same or different organizations. PSC allows consumers to access services using internal IP addresses, with traffic remaining on Google's private network. You can configure a service attachment that points to the internal load balancer, and then permit specific consumer projects to connect to this service attachment.Extract Reference: "Private Service Connect is a capability of Google Cloud networking that allows consumers to access managed services privately from inside their VPC network. Similarly, it allows managed service producers to host these services in their own separate VPC networks and offer a private connection to their consumers." (Google Cloud Documentation: "Private Service Connect | VPC" - https://cloud.google.com/vpc/docs/private-service-connect)

Extract Reference: "Private Service Connect endpoints are internal IP addresses in a consumer VPC network that can be directly accessed by clients in that network. Endpoints are created by deploying a forwarding rule that references a service attachment or a bundle of Google APIs." (Google Cloud Documentation: "About Private Service Connect | VPC" - https://cloud.google.com/vpc/docs/private-service-connect)

Extract Reference: "Private Service Connect can be used to access managed services that are owned by Google, third-party software as a service (SaaS) companies, or other teams within the consumer's own company. Both published services and Google APIs can be targets of Private Service Connect." (Google Cloud Documentation: "About Private Service Connect | VPC" - https://cloud.google.com/vpc/docs/private-service-connect)

Let's evaluate the other options:

A. Shared VPC and central firewall rules: While Shared VPC centralizes network management, it does not provide a direct managed service exposure mechanism like PSC for a model endpoint to specific projects. It's more about sharing subnets and network resources. Administering all firewall rules centrally would also not meet the need for exposing only this specific model to a defined list of projects in a managed, private service pattern.

B. Activate Private Google Access (PGA): Private Google Access allows VMs without external IP addresses to access Google APIs and services (like Cloud Storage, BigQuery, etc.) privately from within their VPC network. It's for consuming Google services, not for exposing custom services hosted in a Google Cloud project to other projects.

D. External Application Load Balancer + Cloud Armor: An "external Application Load Balancer" exposes the service to the internet. While Cloud Armor can restrict access based on IP addresses, it still involves internet exposure, which contradicts the "strictly isolated from the internet" requirement. Restricting to "Google Cloud IP addresses" doesn't guarantee access only to a defined list of projects and still exposes the service externally.

Therefore, creating an internal Application Load Balancer and exposing it via Private Service Connect is the most suitable and secure solution for this scenario.

Access Google Cloud Console:

Log in to the Google Cloud Console with administrative privileges.

Navigate to the "IAM & Admin" section.

Set Session Length Timeout:

Go to the "Settings" page within IAM & Admin.

Locate the "Session control" settings.

Configure the session length timeout to a shorter duration, such as 15 or 30 minutes. This ensures that user sessions expire automatically after the specified time of inactivity.

Apply and Enforce the Policy:

Save the changes and ensure the new session timeout policy is applied across all users and services.

Communicate the new policy to employees, highlighting the importance of session security and the rationale behind the change.

Additional Security Measures:

Consider implementing additional measures such as automatic screen locks and secure session management practices.

Educate employees on the importance of logging out of their sessions and securing their devices when not in use.

To ensure that an external user cannot gain access to an internal application on Google App Engine even if an employee’s password is compromised, configure Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy (IAP).

Enable IAP:

Go to the Cloud Console, navigate to the App Engine application, and select "Identity-Aware Proxy".

Enable IAP for the application.

Configure Access Policies:

Set up access policies to restrict who can access the application.

Use IAM roles to grant access only to specific users or groups.

Enforce Authentication:

IAP enforces Google authentication, ensuring that users must log in with their GSuite credentials.

Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA):

Enforce 2FA for all GSuite users to add an extra layer of security.

Advantages:

Protection against Compromised Credentials: Even if passwords are compromised, attackers cannot access the application without passing IAP authentication.

Centralized Access Management: Easily manage and monitor access through IAM and IAP policies.

Identity-Aware Proxy Overview

Setting up IAP