Security best practices in GCP - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Security Best Practices in Google Cloud Platform

📖 Scenario: You are setting up a new project in Google Cloud Platform (GCP) for a small company. The company wants to follow security best practices to protect their cloud resources.We will create a simple setup that includes a service account with limited permissions, enable audit logging, and configure firewall rules to restrict access.

🎯 Goal: Build a secure GCP environment by creating a service account with minimal permissions, enabling audit logs for monitoring, and setting up firewall rules to allow only specific traffic.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a service account named secure-sa in the project

Assign the roles/viewer role to the service account

Enable audit logging for all admin read and write activities

Create a firewall rule named allow-ssh that allows TCP port 22 from a specific IP range 203.0.113.0/24

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Companies use these security best practices to protect their cloud resources from unauthorized access and to monitor changes for compliance.

💼 Career

Cloud engineers and security specialists must know how to configure service accounts, audit logs, and firewall rules to maintain secure cloud environments.

1

Create a service account

Create a service account named secure-sa in the project using the gcloud command.

GCP

# Use gcloud to create the service account named secure-sa
# Your code here

Hint

Use the gcloud iam service-accounts create command with the name secure-sa.

2

Assign the Viewer role to the service account

Assign the roles/viewer role to the service account secure-sa@${PROJECT_ID}.iam.gserviceaccount.com using the gcloud command.

GCP

gcloud iam service-accounts create secure-sa --display-name="Secure Service Account"
# Assign roles/viewer role to secure-sa service account
# Your code here

Hint

Use gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding with the service account email and role roles/viewer.

3

Enable audit logging for admin read and write activities

Enable audit logging for admin read and write activities on all services in the project by updating the audit config using the gcloud command.

GCP

gcloud iam service-accounts create secure-sa --display-name="Secure Service Account"
gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding ${PROJECT_ID} --member="serviceAccount:secure-sa@${PROJECT_ID}.iam.gserviceaccount.com" --role="roles/viewer"
# Enable audit logging for admin read and write activities
# Your code here

Hint

Use gcloud logging sinks create with a filter for admin activity methods.

4

Create a firewall rule to allow SSH from a specific IP range

Create a firewall rule named allow-ssh that allows TCP port 22 from the IP range 203.0.113.0/24 using the gcloud command.

GCP

gcloud iam service-accounts create secure-sa --display-name="Secure Service Account"
gcloud projects add-iam-policy-binding ${PROJECT_ID} --member="serviceAccount:secure-sa@${PROJECT_ID}.iam.gserviceaccount.com" --role="roles/viewer"
gcloud logging sinks create admin-activity-logs storage.googleapis.com/my-secure-bucket --log-filter='protoPayload.methodName:("SetIamPolicy" OR "Create" OR "Delete" OR "Update")' --project=${PROJECT_ID}
# Create firewall rule allow-ssh to allow TCP port 22 from 203.0.113.0/24
# Your code here

Hint

Use gcloud compute firewall-rules create with the name allow-ssh, allow TCP port 22, and source range 203.0.113.0/24.

Practice

1. Which of the following is a key security best practice when managing access to Google Cloud resources?

easy

A. Give all users owner permissions for convenience

B. Assign the least privilege necessary using IAM roles

C. Share your service account keys publicly

D. Disable all logging to improve performance

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand IAM role assignment

   IAM roles control what users can do. Assigning least privilege means giving only the permissions needed.

2. Step 2: Evaluate options for security

   Giving owner permissions broadly or sharing keys publicly risks unauthorized access. Disabling logging hides important audit info.

3. Final Answer:

   Assign the least privilege necessary using IAM roles -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Least privilege = Assign minimal permissions [OK]

Hint: Always give only needed permissions, never more [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Giving broad permissions for convenience
• Sharing keys or credentials publicly
• Disabling audit logs

2. Which of the following is the correct way to encrypt data in Google Cloud using Cloud KMS?

easy

A. Use Cloud KMS to generate encryption keys and encrypt data with those keys

B. Store encryption keys in plaintext in Cloud Storage

C. Encrypt data manually without using Cloud KMS

D. Disable encryption to improve speed

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand Cloud KMS role

   Cloud KMS manages encryption keys securely and helps encrypt/decrypt data safely.

2. Step 2: Evaluate encryption methods

   Storing keys in plaintext or disabling encryption risks data exposure. Manual encryption is error-prone.

3. Final Answer:

   Use Cloud KMS to generate encryption keys and encrypt data with those keys -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Cloud KMS = Secure key management [OK]

Hint: Always use Cloud KMS for key management and encryption [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Storing keys unencrypted
• Skipping encryption for speed
• Encrypting data without key management

3. Consider this IAM policy snippet in JSON format:

{
  "bindings": [
    {
      "role": "roles/storage.objectViewer",
      "members": ["user:[e-mail]"]
    }
  ]
}

What permission does Alice have on the storage bucket?

medium

A. She can upload and delete objects

B. She has no access

C. She can only view objects

D. She can manage bucket settings

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify the role assigned

   The role is roles/storage.objectViewer, which grants read-only access to objects.

2. Step 2: Understand permissions of the role

   This role allows viewing objects but not uploading, deleting, or managing bucket settings.

3. Final Answer:

   She can only view objects -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   objectViewer = read-only access [OK]

Hint: Viewer roles allow read-only access, no changes [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing viewer with editor or owner roles
• Assuming upload/delete permissions
• Ignoring role details

4. You have a service account key stored in a public GitHub repository. What is the best immediate action to secure your Google Cloud environment?

medium

A. Change the project name to confuse attackers

B. Ignore it since the key is not used

C. Share the key with your team for transparency

D. Delete the exposed key and create a new one

Solution

1. Step 1: Recognize the risk of exposed keys

   Publicly exposed keys can be used by attackers to access resources.

2. Step 2: Take immediate action to revoke and replace keys

   Deleting the exposed key and creating a new one prevents unauthorized access.

3. Final Answer:

   Delete the exposed key and create a new one -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Exposed keys = revoke immediately [OK]

Hint: Revoke exposed keys immediately to prevent breaches [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Ignoring exposed keys
• Changing unrelated settings
• Sharing keys openly

5. You want to enforce that all data stored in Cloud Storage buckets is encrypted with customer-managed keys (CMKs) using Cloud KMS. Which combination of steps ensures this security best practice?

hard

A. Create a Cloud KMS key ring and key, then configure the bucket to use this key for default encryption

B. Store keys in a Compute Engine instance and manually encrypt files before upload

C. Use Google-managed encryption only and disable Cloud KMS

D. Encrypt files locally and upload without bucket encryption settings

Solution

1. Step 1: Create a Cloud KMS key ring and key

   This provides a customer-managed key to control encryption.

2. Step 2: Configure the Cloud Storage bucket to use the CMK for default encryption

   This ensures all objects are encrypted automatically with your key.

3. Final Answer:

   Create a Cloud KMS key ring and key, then configure the bucket to use this key for default encryption -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   CMK + bucket default encryption = secure data [OK]

Hint: Use CMK with bucket default encryption for strong control [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Relying only on Google-managed keys
• Encrypting manually without bucket settings
• Storing keys insecurely