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

Objective: Encrypt data using envelope encryption.

Solution: Follow the envelope encryption process.

Steps:

Step 1: Generate a Data Encryption Key (DEK) locally. The DEK is used to encrypt the actual data.

Step 2: Encrypt the data using the DEK.

Step 3: Use a Key Encryption Key (KEK) to wrap the DEK. The KEK is used to encrypt the DEK.

Step 4: Store the encrypted data and the wrapped DEK. This ensures that the data can be securely decrypted in the future using the KEK to unwrap the DEK.

Envelope encryption enhances security by adding an additional layer of encryption to the data encryption key, which is particularly useful for managing large volumes of encrypted data.

References:

Envelope Encryption Overview

Google Cloud Key Management Service Documentation

https://cloud.google.com/billing/docs/how-to/billing-access#overview-of-cloud-billing-roles-in-cloud-iam

Billing Account Costs Manager (roles/billing.costsManager)

- Manage budgets and view and export cost information of billing accounts (but not pricing information)

Billing Account Viewer (roles/billing.viewer)

- View billing account cost information and transactions.

”This encryption method is reversible, which helps to maintain referential integrity across your database and has no character-set limitations.” https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/identity-security/take-charge-of-your-data-how-tokenization-makes-data-usable-without-sacrificing-privacy

https://cloud.google.com/dlp/docs/pseudonymization

FPE provides fewer security guarantees compared to other deterministic encryption methods such as AES-SIV. For these reasons, Google strongly recommends using deterministic encryption with AES-SIV instead of FPE for all security sensitive use cases. Other methods like deterministic encryption using AES-SIV provide these stronger security guarantees and are recommended for tokenization use cases unless length and character set preservation are strict requirements—for example, for backward compatibility with a legacy data system.

When creating a secure container image, it is essential to follow best practices to minimize vulnerabilities and ensure the container operates as intended. Here are the two key practices:

Package a Single App as a Container: By packaging only a single application within a container, you reduce complexity and potential attack surfaces. This practice aligns with the principle of single responsibility, ensuring each container has a clear and focused purpose.

Remove Any Unnecessary Tools: Any additional tools or software that are not required by the application should be removed from the container image. This minimizes the number of potential vulnerabilities and reduces the attack surface. A minimal container image also leads to smaller image sizes and faster deployment times.

These practices contribute to creating a more secure and efficient container image.

References

Container Security Best Practices

Securing Container Images