Google Cloud Professional Cloud Security Engineer Practice Exam

When using App Engine, which area should security and risk management teams focus on as their primary responsibility?

1. Data Encryption and Backup Management

2. Network Traffic Management

3. Defending against XSS and SQLi attacks

4. User Access Permissions

The correct answer is: Defending against XSS and SQLi attacks

In the context of App Engine, security and risk management teams should focus on defending against cross-site scripting (XSS) and SQL injection (SQLi) attacks as a primary responsibility. This is because App Engine applications are typically web-based, making them susceptible to vulnerabilities that exploit user input and impact web application security. XSS attacks allow an attacker to inject malicious scripts into webpages viewed by users, which can lead to session hijacking, user data theft, and other malicious actions. Similarly, SQLi attacks exploit vulnerabilities in an application's database layer, allowing attackers to run unauthorized SQL commands, potentially leading to data breaches or database manipulation. Focusing on these areas helps ensure that the applications deployed on App Engine are resilient against common web threats, thus protecting both the application's integrity and its users' sensitive information. By prioritizing defenses against these types of attacks, security and risk management teams can significantly enhance the overall security posture of applications hosted on App Engine. Other areas, such as user access permissions or network traffic management, while also important, are more general aspects of application and infrastructure security that may not specifically address the unique vulnerabilities present in web applications. Data encryption and backup management are crucial for protecting the data itself but do not directly mitigate threats originating from