Google Cloud Professional Cloud Security Engineer Practice Exam

What is the recommended solution for managing identities when using GCP along with an established directory service?

1. Google Cloud Identity

2. Google Cloud Directory Sync (GCDS)

3. Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy

4. Single Sign-On (SSO) integration

The correct answer is: Google Cloud Directory Sync (GCDS)

The recommended solution for managing identities when using Google Cloud Platform (GCP) alongside an established directory service is Google Cloud Directory Sync (GCDS). GCDS serves as a bridge that allows you to synchronize your existing on-premises directory data, such as users and groups, with Google Cloud. This is particularly vital for organizations that have already invested in an on-premises Active Directory or LDAP solution and wish to extend their identity management capabilities to the cloud. With GCDS, changes made to the existing directory, like additions or deletions of users, automatically reflect in Google Cloud, which streamlines user management and enhances security. This synchronization process ensures that identities are consistently maintained across environments, allowing organizations to adhere to governance and compliance requirements more effectively. In contrast, while Google Cloud Identity, Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy, and Single Sign-On (SSO) integration provide important functionality related to identity and access management, they do not specifically focus on synchronizing an on-premises directory with Google Cloud services. Google Cloud Identity is more about managing identities natively in the cloud, while Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy focuses on providing secure access to applications based on user identity. SSO integration simplifies user authentication but does not inherently manage the identity synchronization process.