Preface

Organizations are increasingly adopting cloud migration for several reasons, including scalability, cost-efficiency, and agility. Cloud platforms offer the ability to scale resources on demand, reduce infrastructure costs, and quickly adapt to changing business needs. As a result, businesses are seeking to leverage the benefits of cloud computing, leading to rising demand for cloud security. Cloud security plays a crucial role in cloud computing, and so cloud service providers such as Google Cloud invest heavily in security measures such as encryption, access controls, threat detection, and incident response. By migrating to the cloud, organizations can leverage the expertise and infrastructure of cloud providers to enhance their overall security posture, protecting against data breaches, unauthorized access, and other cyber threats. As a result, there is growing demand for skilled professionals who can ensure the security of these cloud environments.

Data breaches and security incidents have become a major concern for businesses. The role of a Google Cloud security engineer involves implementing robust security measures, designing secure architectures, and managing access controls to safeguard data from unauthorized access, breaches, and other security threats. The Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer Certification acts as a testament to your proficiency in securing cloud environments and demonstrates your commitment to professional development. It enhances your credibility and opens up new career opportunities in the field of cloud security.

This book will introduce you to a range of essential topics. It will provide an understanding of cloud security fundamentals and the shared responsibility model. The book will go in-depth into the security features and services offered by Google Cloud, such as IAM, network security, container security, and Security Command Center. It will also address secure cloud architecture and design, data protection and encryption, security operations compliance and governance, and best practices. Additionally, the book has two full mock exams to aid in exam preparation. By covering these topics thoroughly, the book prepares you to excel in the certification exam and thrive as a cloud security practitioner using Google Cloud.

By the end of this book, you will have gained the knowledge and skills required to pass the Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer Certification exam and implement architectural best practices and strategies in your day-to-day work.

Who this book is for

This book is for IT professionals, cybersecurity specialists, system administrators, and any technology enthusiasts aspiring to strengthen their understanding of Google Cloud security and elevate their career trajectory. We delve deep into the core elements needed to successfully attain the Google Cloud Professional Security Engineer certification—a credential that stands as a testament to your proficiency in leveraging Google Cloud technologies to design, develop, and manage a robust, secure infrastructure. As businesses increasingly migrate their operations to the cloud, the demand for certified professionals in this field has skyrocketed. Earning this certification not only validates your expertise but also makes you part of an elite group of GCP Security Engineers, opening doors to opportunities that can significantly advance your career. Whether you’re seeking to gain a competitive edge in the job market, earn higher pay, or contribute at a higher level to your current organization, this book will guide you every step of the way on your journey to becoming a certified Google Cloud Professional Security Engineer.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, About the Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer Exam, focuses on the Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer Certification and provides guidance on how to register for the exam. This chapter also covers the outline of the exam.

Chapter 2, Google Cloud Security Concepts, covers how Google secures its cloud infrastructure. You will learn how shared security responsibility is applied to the different Google Cloud services, the defense-in-depth model that Google deploys in securing its infrastructure at various layers, and how the isolation and security of data are achieved. Other areas covered include threat and vulnerability management, security monitoring, and data residency.

Chapter 3, Trust and Compliance, looks at two essential aspects of cloud architecture. The first part of the chapter focuses how Google builds security and privacy and provides customers with full transparency. Data security is all about control, and you will learn about how Google Cloud empowers its consumers to own, control, and protect their data. The second part of the chapter covers the different compliance standards and programs that Google Cloud is compliant with and how you can gain access to compliance reports. It also gives an introduction to some advanced topics that will be discussed later in the book when covering continuous monitoring and continuous compliance.

Chapter 4, Resource Management, covers Google Cloud Resource Manager and how resources are organized. It also covers of IAM policies, organizational policy controls, Cloud Asset Inventory, and firewall rules that can be applied and inherited via the resource hierarchy.

Chapter 5, Understanding Google Cloud Identity, introduces Google Cloud Identity. You will learn how to design and build your authentication strategy on Google Cloud using Cloud Identity. The topics include user lifecycle management, device security, cloud directory, account security, app management, identity federation, and single sign-on.

Chapter 6, Google Cloud Identity and Access Management, takes a deep dive into Google Cloud Identity and Access Management. It covers IAM roles, permissions and conditions, service accounts, how to manage service account keys, and IAM policy intelligence, along with best practices and design considerations.

Chapter 7, Virtual Private Cloud, covers network security concepts within Google Cloud. You will look at what a VPC is and the different types of VPC models, as well as how to do micro-segmentation using subnets, custom routing, and firewall rules. Furthermore, you will also look at DNSSEC in Google Cloud and different types of load balancers.

Chapter 8, Advanced Network Security, teaches you how to secure your content by using the advanced network security features that are available on Google Cloud. This chapter also covers Identity-Aware Proxy, Private Google Access, VPC Service Controls, DDoS, and the web application firewall.

Chapter 9, Google Cloud Key Management Service, lays the foundation for understanding the key hierarchy in Google Cloud Key Management Service (KMS) and how envelope encryption works. In this chapter, you will look at different types of encryption keys, their purpose, and how Google does encryption and key management, including coverage of the underlying cryptographic operation. The chapter also covers concepts such as bringing your own key to the cloud.

Chapter 10, Cloud Data Loss Prevention, guides you on how to use Google Cloud Data Loss Prevention (DLP) to secure sensitive data. It covers techniques used to scan for sensitive data by creating scan jobs and also how to enforce DLP rules to redact sensitive data using techniques such as masking, redaction, and tokenization.

Chapter 11, Secret Manager, guides you on how to use Google Cloud Secret Manager to create secrets that are used during runtime by your applications.

Chapter 12, Cloud Logging, covers how Cloud Logging works on Google Cloud. You will look at the different log types and key components for logging and learn how to build a centralized logging system for continuous monitoring.

Chapter 13, Image Hardening and CI/CD Security, teaches you how to harden compute images for both virtual machines and containers. It covers how to manage, secure, patch, and harden images, and how to build image management pipelines. Furthermore, you will look at building security scanning of the CI/CD pipeline. Finally, this chapter covers some Google Cloud Compute Engine security capabilities such as Shielded VMs and confidential computing.

Chapter 14, Security Command Center, explores the capabilities offered by Security Command Center and teaches you how to configure and use Security Command Center’s capabilities to detect threats, vulnerabilities, and misconfigurations. You will also look at how Security Command Center can be used to build automated incident response and ingest its findings with third-party security information and event management tools such as Splunk.

Chapter 15, Container Security, covers how to design, develop, and deploy containers securely on Google Cloud. The topics covered include various aspects of container security, such as image hardening, isolation, implementing a security policy, scanning containers, and Binary Authorization. It also covers various security features of Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) and some best practices.

Mock Exam 1 is a full-length exam covering all certification areas. Pay attention to the language of the questions.

Mock Exam 2 is another full-length exam covering all certification areas. This exam should increase your confidence in passing the exam.

To get the most out of this book

To get the most out of a certification book like this, follow these strategies:

• Set clear goals: Define your objectives and what you aim to achieve by studying the certification book. Identify the specific areas you want to strengthen your knowledge in and the skills you want to acquire.
• Plan and allocate time: Create a study schedule that fits your routine and allows for consistent learning. Allocate dedicated time each day or week to focus on the book’s content. Consistency is key to retaining information effectively.
• Active reading: Approach the book with an active mindset. Take notes, highlight important concepts, and jot down questions for further exploration. Engage with the material actively to enhance comprehension and retention.
• Hands-on practice: Supplement your reading with practical exercises and hands-on labs whenever possible. Apply the concepts and techniques described in the book to real-world scenarios. This will solidify your understanding and help you develop practical skills.
• Review and reinforce: Regularly review the topics covered in the book to reinforce your knowledge. Make use of review questions or quizzes provided in the book or seek additional practice exams to test your understanding and identify areas that require further study.
• Seek additional resources: While the certification book serves as a comprehensive guide, supplement your learning with additional resources such as official documentation, online tutorials, video courses, and practice exams. Use these resources to gain different perspectives and reinforce your understanding.
• Join study groups or communities: Engage with others pursuing the same certification. Join online study groups or communities where you can discuss concepts, share insights, and clarify doubts. Collaborating with peers can enhance your learning experience.
• Track your progress: Keep track of your progress by setting milestones or checkpoints throughout your study journey. Celebrate achievements along the way, and identify areas that require more attention to ensure a well-rounded understanding.
• Practice time management: Efficiently manage your time during the exam preparation phase. Allocate sufficient time for reviewing and practicing sample questions or mock exams to simulate the actual exam environment and improve your test-taking skills.
• Stay motivated: Maintain a positive mindset and stay motivated throughout your certification journey. Remember your goals and the benefits that achieving the certification can bring. Reward yourself for milestones reached and stay committed to the process.

By implementing these strategies, you can maximize your learning experience with the certification book, deepen your knowledge, and increase your chances of success in the certification exam.

Download the color images

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots and diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://packt.link/Wmiqu.

Conventions used

Code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles are shown as follows: “The lifecycle state is displayed as ACTIVE or DELETE_REQUESTED.”

Words that you see on the screen, for example, in menus or dialog boxes, also appear in the text like this: “Navigate to Billing from the console menu on the left.”

A block of code is set as follows:

 {

  "creationTime": "2020-01-07T21:59:43.314Z",

  "displayName": "my-organization",

  "lifecycleState": "ACTIVE",

  "name": "organizations/34739118321",

  "owner": {

    "directoryCustomerId": "C012ba234"

  }

}

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:

{

  "type": "service_account",

  "project_id": "project-id",

  "private_key_id": "key-id",

  "private_key": "-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----\private-key\n-----END PRIVATE KEY-----\n",

  "client_email": " [e-mail] ",

  "client_id": "client-id",

  "auth_uri": "https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/auth",

  "token_uri": "https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/token",

  "auth_provider_x509_cert_url": "https://www.googleapis.com/oauth2/v1/certs",

  "client_x509_cert_url": "https://www.googleapis.com/robot/v1/metadata/x509/service-account-email"

}

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

git secrets --add 'private_key'
git secrets --add 'private_key_id'

New terms and important words are shown like this: “The aim of this book is to help cloud security professionals pass the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Professional Cloud Security Engineer exam.”

Tips or important notes

Appear like this.

If you are using the digital version of this book, we advise you to type the code yourself. Doing so will help you avoid any potential errors related to the copying and pasting of code.

Get in touch

Feedback from our readers is always welcome.

General feedback: If you have any questions about this book, please mention the book title in the subject of your message and email us at [e-mail].

Errata: Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen. If you have found a mistake in this book, we would be grateful if you could report this to us. Please visit www.packtpub.com/support/errata and complete the form.

Piracy: If you come across any illegal copies of our works in any form on the Internet, we would be grateful if you could provide us with the location address or website name. Please contact us at [e-mail] with a link to the material.

If you are interested in becoming an author: If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, please visit authors.packtpub.com.

Share your thoughts

Once you’ve read Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer Exam Guide, we’d love to hear your thoughts! Please click here to go straight to the Amazon review page for this book and share your feedback.

Your review is important to us and the tech community and will help us make sure we’re delivering excellent quality content.