Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect — Question 56

You are designing a large distributed application with 30 microservices. Each of your distributed microservices needs to connect to a database back-end. You want to store the credentials securely.
Where should you store the credentials?

Answer options

• A. In the source code
• B. In an environment variable
• C. In a secret management system
• D. In a config file that has restricted access through ACLs

Correct answer: C

Explanation

The correct answer is C because a secret management system is specifically designed to securely store sensitive information like credentials, providing encryption and access controls. Options A and D are less secure as they expose credentials to potential breaches, while B may not provide adequate security as environment variables can be accessed by unintended processes.