[NEW] GIAC Cloud Security Automation (GCSA)

Detailed Exam Domain CoverageCloud Foundations (15%) - Cloud service models and shared-responsibility concepts, fundamentals of public-cloud networking and identity/access management, overview of the cloud native toolchain and DevSecOps culture.Secure Development Lifecycle (20%) - DevSecOps security controls for each CI/CD phase, automated remediation and incident response integration, compliance-as-code and policy enforcement in the pipeline.Infrastructure as Code (15%) - Secure Infrastructure as Code principles, configuration management as code tools and practices, version-controlled provisioning of cloud resources.Container Orchestration Security (15%) - Container security hardening and runtime controls, Kubernetes architecture components and API security, Kubernetes RBAC, admission controllers, and pod security policies.Secrets Management (10%) - Cloud secret manager services and vault integration, lifecycle of secret creation, rotation, and revocation, access-control mechanisms for secret retrieval.Continuous Monitoring Compliance (15%) - Continuous security monitoring and telemetry collection, automated compliance checks and reporting, observability of deployments and runtime environments.Incident Response Automation (10%) - Event-driven architecture for automated response, integration of security alerts into remediation workflows, post-incident analysis and improvement of automation rules.GIAC Cloud Security Automation (GCSA) Practice Tests DescriptionI have designed this extensive question bank to give you a highly realistic experience of the GIAC Cloud Security Automation certification exam. Passing this certification validates your deep understanding of cloud-native toolchains, DevSecOps methodologies, and how to implement security controls throughout CI/CD pipelines. I know that finding high-quality, scenario-based practice questions for the GCSA exam can be difficult, so I built these practice tests to help fill that gap and ensure you are thoroughly prepared.Every single question in this course comes with a highly detailed explanation for all options, ensuring you understand exactly why a specific answer is correct and why the alternatives fall short. By practicing with these carefully crafted scenarios, you will build the confidence needed to implement automated, repeatable security controls that improve the reliability and integrity of cloud-native systems. I have mapped every question strictly to the official exam domains to ensure you are focusing your study time on the exact topics you will encounter.Practice Questions PreviewQuestion 1: Which of the following methodologies is most appropriate for enforcing compliance-as-code and preventing insecure configurations from being deployed within a CI/CD pipeline? A. Relying exclusively on runtime vulnerability scanning of active containers B. Implementing Open Policy Agent to evaluate Infrastructure as Code templates during the build phase C. Utilizing a Web Application Firewall to filter malicious external traffic D. Scheduling weekly manual security audits of the cloud environment E. Enabling cloud provider flow logs for deep network packet inspection F. Using a centralized secrets management vault to dynamically rotate database credentials Correct Answer: BA is incorrect because runtime scanning detects issues after deployment, whereas compliance-as-code aims to prevent insecure deployments before they happen in the pipeline.B is correct because Open Policy Agent evaluates Infrastructure as Code against predefined security policies during the CI/CD pipeline, effectively enforcing compliance-as-code before provisioning.C is incorrect because a Web Application Firewall protects running applications from network attacks but does not enforce configuration compliance during the development pipeline.D is incorrect because manual audits are not automated, contradicting the principles of automated DevSecOps pipelines and compliance-as-code.E is incorrect because flow logs monitor network traffic for running resources, which does not prevent insecure infrastructure from being deployed during the CI/CD phase.F is incorrect because while a secrets vault is crucial for credential management, it is not a tool used to scan or enforce compliance-as-code policies on infrastructure templates.Question 2: When hardening a Kubernetes environment, which specific component should be configured to intercept and validate requests to the Kubernetes API server to ensure that pod security policies are strictly enforced before an object is persisted? A. Kubelet B. Kube-proxy C. Admission Controllers D. Ingress Controllers E. Container Network Interface plugins F. The etcd datastore Correct Answer: CA is incorrect because the Kubelet is the primary node agent that manages containers on a specific node, rather than intercepting global API requests for policy validation.B is incorrect because Kube-proxy handles network routing and load balancing for services on a node, not API request validation.C is correct because Admission Controllers intercept requests to the Kubernetes API server after authentication and authorization, allowing them to mutate or validate objects against security policies before they are saved to the datastore.D is incorrect because Ingress Controllers manage external HTTP/HTTPS access to services within the cluster, completely separate from internal API server request validation.E is incorrect because CNI plugins handle the network connectivity between pods, not API security enforcement.F is incorrect because etcd is the backing store for all cluster data, it simply stores the data and relies on the API server and admission controllers to validate the data first.Question 3: In a mature cloud-native infrastructure, which approach provides the most secure lifecycle management for application database credentials to minimize the risk of credential leakage? A. Hardcoding credentials as environment variables directly in the source code repository B. Encrypting the credentials in a configuration file stored inside the container image C. Sharing a single static database password across all microservices for operational simplicity D. Storing the credentials in plaintext within a private S3 bucket restricted by IP address E. Using a centralized secrets manager to dynamically generate, rotate, and revoke short-lived credentials via an API F. Passing base64 encoded credentials via Kubernetes Secrets without enabling encryption at rest Correct Answer: EA is incorrect because storing credentials in source code, even as environment variables, exposes them to anyone with repository access and violates secure development lifecycle practices.B is incorrect because baking encrypted credentials into an image makes rotation highly difficult, requiring an entire image rebuild to change a password.C is incorrect because sharing a static password violates the principle of least privilege and severely limits the ability to audit or isolate security breaches.D is incorrect because plaintext storage, even in a private bucket, is highly insecure and fails to address the lifecycle of secret creation and rotation.E is correct because a centralized secrets manager automates the lifecycle of secret creation, enforces rotation, provides short-lived access, and ensures centralized access control and auditing.F is incorrect because standard Kubernetes Secrets are only base64 encoded by default, which provides no cryptographic security unless encryption at rest is explicitly configured.Welcome to the Mock Exam Practice Tests Academy to help you prepare for your GIAC Cloud Security Automation (GCSA) examYou can retake the exams as many times as you wantThis is a huge original question bankYou get support from instructors if you have questionsEach question has a detailed explanationMobile-compatible with the Udemy appI hope that by now you're convinced! And there are a lot more questions inside the course.