PSE-Strata Palo Alto Networks System Engineer Professional - Strata Questions and Answers

The core values of the Palo Alto Network Security Operating Platform revolve around:

Prevention of cyber attacks: This is achieved through a multi-layered approach combining advanced threat intelligence, machine learning, and behavioral analytics to proactively block known and unknown threats across the network, cloud, and endpoints.

Safe enablement of all applications: The platform is designed to provide comprehensive visibility and control over all applications within an organization. This ensures that applications can be securely accessed and used without compromising on security, facilitating business operations and productivity​ (Palo Alto Networks)​​ (Palo Alto Networks)​.

Palo Alto Networks Single Pass Parallel Processing (SP3) architecture is designed to handle traffic efficiently and securely. The key aspect of SP3 is:

Single Pass Processing (C): This means that all traffic is processed in a single pass through the firewall, regardless of the number of security features enabled. There is no additional performance impact for each feature because the firewall processes all security functions (such as threat prevention, URL filtering, and application control) simultaneously in a single pass. This architecture ensures high performance and low latency while maintaining robust security.

References:

Palo Alto Networks, Single Pass Parallel Processing (SP3) Whitepaper.

Palo Alto Networks, Firewall Performance and Architecture Documentation.

Dynamic User Groups (DUGs) is a built-in feature of PAN-OS that allows NGFW administrators to create policies that provide auto-remediation for anomalous user behavior and malicious activity while maintaining user visibility. DUGs dynamically update group membership based on user attributes and behavior, enabling real-time policy enforcement and automatic response to security incidents.

The SIA (Scan It All) Processing Engine in a Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) is responsible for handling multiple security functions such as file proxy solutions, virus and spyware scanning, vulnerability scanning, and HTTP decoding for URL filtering. This engine ensures comprehensive security coverage by performing deep inspection and analysis of network traffic to detect and mitigate various types of threats, ensuring robust protection for the network.

The signature-based Threat Prevention features of the firewall that are informed by intelligence from the Threat Intelligence Cloud include Vulnerability Protection, Anti-Spyware, and Anti-Virus. The Threat Intelligence Cloud collects data from a variety of sources, including global threat intelligence networks, and analyzes this data to identify new threats. This intelligence is then used to update the signatures for these features, allowing the firewall to detect and prevent known threats effectively.

Vulnerability Protection: Uses updated signatures to detect and block exploit attempts against known vulnerabilities.

Anti-Spyware: Detects and prevents spyware based on signatures and threat intelligence.

Anti-Virus: Blocks known malware based on updated virus signatures.

These features are continuously updated with new intelligence, ensuring the firewall can defend against the latest threats.

References: Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention documentation, Threat Intelligence Cloud overview.

In Panorama, the centralized management tool for Palo Alto Networks firewalls, WildFire analysis reports, threat logs, and botnet reports are essential for identifying the inclusion of a host source in a command-and-control (C2) incident. WildFire analysis reports provide detailed insights into malware behavior and characteristics. Threat logs record events related to security threats, such as attempted intrusions or malware detections. Botnet reports specifically track botnet activity, identifying compromised hosts that communicate with known botnet servers. By reviewing these reports and logs, administrators can accurately identify and mitigate C2 incidents.

With a WildFire subscription, email links contained in SMTP and POP3 messages can be submitted for WildFire analysis if they are either HTTP or HTTPS links. WildFire is a cloud-based threat analysis service that dynamically analyzes these links to detect malicious content. By submitting HTTP and HTTPS links, the system can effectively identify and block threats before they reach the end user, enhancing overall email security.

WildFire, a cloud-based threat analysis service from Palo Alto Networks, is capable of detecting zero-day malware across several types of traffic, including SMTP, HTTPS, and FTP. By analyzing files transmitted over these protocols, WildFire can identify malicious activities that traditional security measures might miss. SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is used for email transmission, HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure) secures web traffic, and FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is used for file transfers. These protocols are commonly exploited by attackers to distribute malware, making WildFire’s ability to monitor and analyze them critical for comprehensive network security.

When beginning to understand the Zero Trust protect surface using the Palo Alto Networks Zero Trust reference architecture, the following two steps are crucial:

Validate User Identities through Authentication (A): This step involves ensuring that all users are authenticated properly. By verifying the identities of users attempting to access the network, organizations can ensure that only authorized users can access sensitive resources. This is a fundamental principle of Zero Trust, which operates on the premise of "never trust, always verify."

Categorize Data and Applications by Levels of Sensitivity (C): This involves identifying and classifying data and applications based on their sensitivity and importance to the organization. By understanding what needs to be protected and the level of sensitivity, security policies can be tailored to provide appropriate levels of protection. This helps in prioritizing security measures based on the criticality of the data and applications.

References:

Palo Alto Networks, Zero Trust Architecture Documentation.

NIST Zero Trust Architecture (NIST SP 800-207).

The Decryption Broker in Palo Alto Networks supports the following types of security chains:

Virtual wire: This mode allows for seamless integration of the Decryption Broker into the network without the need for IP addressing, providing a transparent method of traffic inspection and decryption.

Layer 3: In this mode, the Decryption Broker operates at the network layer, allowing for routing and advanced inspection of decrypted traffic.

These security chains enable the Decryption Broker to decrypt SSL/TLS traffic and forward it to other security devices for further inspection, enhancing overall security posture.

References:

Palo Alto Networks Decryption Broker Documentation

Palo Alto Networks SSL Decryption Guide

When deploying User-ID, it's crucial to specify included and excluded networks to ensure that only relevant traffic is monitored, reducing unnecessary load and potential privacy concerns. Enabling User-ID only on trusted zones minimizes the risk of exposing sensitive user information. Using a dedicated service account with minimal permissions necessary for User-ID services enhances security by limiting the potential damage if the account is compromised.

References:

Palo Alto Networks' User-ID Best Practices

NIST Special Publication 800-53 on Access Control

AutoFocus is a threat intelligence service provided by Palo Alto Networks that gives context and insight into threat data by leveraging a vast repository of threat intelligence data. It can inform customers about whether a zero-day attack is specifically targeted at their organization by correlating global threat intelligence with local data. This allows the customer to understand the specific nature and scope of the threat, providing actionable insights to mitigate such attacks.

File Blocking Profiles can help prevent drive-by downloads by blocking certain types of file downloads that are commonly associated with malware. This allows web-browsing traffic to continue but prevents potentially harmful files from being downloaded automatically, thus protecting against malicious software that could be installed without user consent.

References:

Palo Alto Networks' documentation on File Blocking Profiles

OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) guidelines on preventing drive-by downloads

AutoFocus is the solution that informs a customer whether an attack is specifically targeted at them. AutoFocus provides high-fidelity, contextual threat intelligence by correlating data from a global network of sensors and applying advanced analytics to identify targeted attacks. This helps organizations understand if they are being specifically targeted and to tailor their defenses accordingly​ (Palo Alto Networks)​.

The Automated Correlation Engine in PAN-OS is designed to analyze firewall logs to detect and correlate actionable events on the network. This feature processes a series of related threat events to identify compromised hosts or other significant security issues. By automatically pinpointing areas of risk and providing detailed insights, it allows administrators to assess vulnerabilities and take preventive measures to protect network resources. This capability is crucial for optimizing security outcomes and maintaining a robust defense posture.

When HTTP header logging is enabled on a URL Filtering profile in Palo Alto Networks firewalls, the attribute-value that can be logged includes:

X-Forwarded-For (A): This HTTP header is commonly used to identify the originating IP address of a client connecting to a web server through an HTTP proxy or load balancer. Logging this header allows administrators to track the source IP addresses of clients accessing resources through proxies, providing better visibility into user activity.

References:

Palo Alto Networks, URL Filtering Profiles Documentation.

HTTP Header Field Definitions (RFC 7239).

The CLI command that allows you to view latency, jitter, and packet loss on a virtual SD-WAN interface is:

show sdwan path-monitor stats vif

This command displays the statistics related to the virtual SD-WAN interface, including important metrics such as latency, jitter, and packet loss. These metrics are crucial for monitoring the performance and quality of the SD-WAN connections to ensure optimal network performance and quick identification of issues.

References:

Palo Alto Networks SD-WAN Configuration Guide

Palo Alto Networks CLI Reference

The Vulnerability Protection profile on Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewall includes signatures to protect against a variety of threats, including brute force attacks.

Vulnerability Protection Profile:

This profile contains specific signatures designed to detect and block attempts to exploit vulnerabilities, including those used in brute force attacks.

To address threats based on domain generation algorithms (DGAs), the Anti-Spyware profile is used to configure Domain Name Security (DNS) on Palo Alto Networks firewalls. DGAs are algorithms used by malware to generate a large number of domain names for command-and-control servers, making it difficult to block them through traditional means. The Anti-Spyware profile includes features to detect and block connections to these dynamically generated domains in real-time, providing robust protection against this sophisticated attack vector.

Palo Alto Networks' Threat Intelligence Cloud sources malware sample data from various significant inputs:

Next-generation firewalls deployed with WildFire Analysis Security Profiles: These firewalls are equipped with WildFire Analysis Security Profiles, which analyze unknown files and email links to detect zero-day threats and malware. This provides a rich source of real-time threat data.

WF-500 configured as private clouds for privacy concerns: The WF-500 appliance is used by organizations that prefer to maintain privacy and have stringent data control requirements. It serves as a private cloud for malware analysis, adding another layer of data collection.

Third-party data feeds: Partnerships with organizations like ProofPoint and the Cyber Threat Alliance enable Palo Alto Networks to integrate additional threat intelligence feeds. These third-party collaborations expand the breadth and depth of threat data available for analysis and defense​ (Palo Alto Networks)​​ (Palo Alto Networks)​​ (Palo Alto Networks)​.

For detecting actionable events on the network and processing related threat events, the Automated Correlation Engine (ACE) in PAN-OS is highly suitable.

Automated Correlation Engine (ACE):

ACE analyzes firewall logs to detect patterns and sequences of events that may indicate a compromised host.

It automatically processes related threat events, pinpointing areas of risk and providing actionable insights.

Deploying Panorama in a High Availability (HA) configuration provides significant advantages, especially for maintaining the management layer and ensuring robust log collection. Here are the key reasons:

Ensure Management Continuity: By deploying a second Panorama appliance in an HA setup, you can ensure continuous management of your firewall environment. In the event that the primary Panorama appliance fails, the secondary appliance can take over, ensuring that there is no interruption in management capabilities. This is crucial for maintaining operational stability and uninterrupted administrative functions​ (Palo Alto Networks)​​ (Palo Alto Networks)​.

Improve Log Collection Redundancy: An HA setup improves the redundancy and reliability of log collection. If the primary Panorama appliance that is collecting logs from various firewalls becomes unavailable, the secondary appliance can continue the log collection process. This ensures that all security events and network activities are recorded without gaps, which is essential for effective monitoring and incident response​ (Palo Alto Networks)​​ (Palo Alto Networks Knowledge Base)​.

In the context of XYZ Corporation's legacy environment with asymmetric routing, enabling redundancy while supporting asymmetric routing can be effectively managed with Palo Alto Networks firewalls. Asymmetric routing occurs when the path the traffic takes to reach a destination is different from the path it takes to return. To handle this scenario, the following two features must be enabled:

HA Active/Active (B): High Availability (HA) in an active/active configuration allows both firewalls in the pair to process traffic simultaneously. This is essential for handling asymmetric routing as both firewalls can process and route packets independently, ensuring that the traffic can flow correctly even if it comes back via a different path.

Policy-Based Forwarding (D): Policy-Based Forwarding (PBF) enables the firewall to make routing decisions based on policies that match traffic to specific interfaces, rather than relying solely on the routing table. This is crucial for asymmetric routing because it allows the firewall to direct return traffic along a specific path, aligning with the asymmetric nature of the traffic flow.

References:

Palo Alto Networks, High Availability Concepts, and Policy-Based Forwarding documentation.

Palo Alto Networks updates Command-and-Control (C2) signatures frequently to ensure the latest threats are detected and blocked. The recommended schedule for updating C2 signatures is once a day. This daily update ensures that the firewall has the most current threat intelligence, providing robust protection against C2 traffic.

The Eval Systems, Security Lifecycle Reviews, and Prevention Posture Assessment tools serve several purposes:

When you're delivering a security strategy: These tools help in presenting a comprehensive security strategy to clients by highlighting the effectiveness and benefits of using Palo Alto Networks' solutions.

When clients want to see the power of the platform: They provide an opportunity for clients to witness the capabilities and impact of the Palo Alto Networks platform in real-world scenarios.

Assess the state of NGFW feature adoption: These tools help in evaluating how well the Next-Generation Firewall features have been adopted and utilized within the client's network, identifying areas for improvement and optimization.

References:

Palo Alto Networks Security Lifecycle Review Guide

Palo Alto Networks Prevention Posture Assessment Documentation

To support MineMeld indicators on PAN-OS External Dynamic Lists (EDLs), you must configure the Prototype setting. The prototype defines the type of node and its configuration in MineMeld, which is essential for generating the correct feed format that the firewall can consume. This allows the EDL to dynamically pull in threat intelligence data from MineMeld and apply it to security policies​ (LIVEcommunity | Palo Alto Networks)​​ (LIVEcommunity | Palo Alto Networks)​.

The Query Builder found in the Custom Report creation dialog of the firewall specifically includes the following components:

Connector (A): This is used to connect different parts of the query, allowing the user to specify how data elements are linked.

Operator (D): Operators are used to define the conditions for the query, such as equals, not equals, greater than, etc.

Attribute (E): Attributes represent the fields or data points that can be queried.

These components are essential for building effective and precise queries within the custom report creation functionality of the firewall, ensuring that users can extract relevant data based on specific conditions.

Users with an active Threat Prevention subscription but without a WildFire license still have access to some WildFire-related functionalities. Specifically, they can upload PE (Portable Executable) files to WildFire for analysis. This allows the firewall to leverage WildFire's capabilities to detect and prevent malware by analyzing and generating threat signatures for submitted files, even without a full WildFire subscription​ (Palo Alto Networks)​​ (Palo Alto Networks)​.

For large-scale deployments of Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) with multiple Panorama Management Servers, the Panorama Interconnect plugin is essential. This plugin enables the interconnection and management of multiple Panorama instances, allowing for centralized policy management and configuration across a distributed network environment. It ensures scalability and efficient management in large deployments.

To configure the rate of file submissions to WildFire in a Palo Alto Networks NGFW, you set a limit on the maximum number of files submitted per day. This configuration allows administrators to control and manage the volume of files sent to WildFire for analysis, ensuring that it fits within the limits of their license and operational requirements.

Dynamic User Groups (DUGs) in Palo Alto Networks are determined using tags. Tags are metadata assigned to users based on various criteria, such as behavior, location, or other attributes. These tags are used to dynamically update group memberships without manual intervention. For instance, if a user meets certain conditions defined by the administrator, they are automatically tagged and included in the respective DUG. This feature enhances the flexibility and automation of security policies, ensuring that the right policies are applied to the right users in real-time.

For the User-ID Agent to perform WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) Authentication on a Windows Server, the following domain permissions are required:

Domain Administrators: This group has the highest level of privileges in the domain and can perform any action within the Active Directory domain.

Distributed COM Users: This group allows members to launch, activate, and use Distributed COM objects on the server.

Event Log Readers: This group provides read access to the event logs, which is crucial for the User-ID Agent to collect security events necessary for user identification​ (Palo Alto Networks)​​ (Palo Alto Networks)​.

Decryption port mirroring is supported on all hardware-based and VM-Series firewalls, with specific exceptions.

Decryption port mirroring: This feature allows the firewall to forward decrypted traffic to a traffic analysis tool, providing visibility into encrypted traffic. It is supported on all hardware-based and VM-Series firewalls, except for deployments on VMware NSX, Citrix SDX, or public cloud hypervisors.

The following platform components can identify and protect against malicious email links:

WildFire hybrid cloud solution (A): This solution integrates on-premises and cloud-based threat intelligence to detect and prevent malware, including malicious email links.

WildFire public cloud (B): This component leverages the power of the cloud to provide real-time updates and protection against the latest threats, including those found in email links.

WF-500 (C): This appliance is designed to analyze files and links to detect malware and prevent it from spreading within the network.

These components work together to provide comprehensive protection against email-based threats, ensuring that organizations can identify and block malicious links before they cause harm.

To enable Credential Phishing Prevention on a Palo Alto Networks firewall, several actions need to be taken to detect and block phishing attempts effectively.

Enable User Credential Detection: This is crucial for identifying when user credentials are being sent to potentially malicious or unknown sites.

Enable User-ID: This feature maps IP addresses to user identities, which is necessary for identifying which user credentials are being used and applying relevant security policies.

Define a URL Filtering profile: This profile allows the firewall to inspect and control web traffic, blocking access to phishing sites and other malicious URLs.

Correlation objects in Palo Alto Networks' security solutions are designed to identify and highlight potential security risks. Two key network events that are flagged as potential security risks include:

Identified Vulnerability Exploits: These are attempts to exploit known vulnerabilities within the network. By correlating various data points, the system can identify patterns that suggest an exploit attempt is in progress, allowing for timely intervention and mitigation​ (Marks4Sure)​.

Suspicious Host Behavior: This includes any activity that deviates from normal behavior patterns for hosts within the network. Such behaviors might indicate compromised systems or malicious insiders. By analyzing and correlating these anomalies, the system helps in identifying potential security breaches early​ (Marks4Sure)​.

The three possible verdicts in WildFire Submissions log entries for a submitted sample are:

Benign: The sample is not considered harmful.

Spyware: The sample is identified as spyware, which is software designed to gather information about a person or organization without their knowledge.

Malicious: The sample is considered harmful and has the potential to cause damage or unauthorized access.

Grayware: The sample is not entirely benign nor fully malicious. It may exhibit behaviors that are suspicious or undesirable, such as adware or other unwanted software.

These classifications help in determining the necessary security measures and responses. Phishing, while a threat type, is not a separate WildFire verdict in the context of the WildFire analysis logs.

When sizing the Cortex Data Lake for Traps Management Service, two key factors must be considered:

Retention Requirements: It is essential to determine how long the logs and data need to be retained in the Cortex Data Lake. This affects the overall storage capacity required, as longer retention periods will necessitate more storage space​ (Palo Alto Networks)​​ (Palo Alto Networks)​.

The Number of Traps Agents: The total number of Traps agents deployed will directly impact the volume of data being generated and sent to the Cortex Data Lake. More agents mean more data, which in turn requires a larger data lake capacity to handle the increased load​ (Palo Alto Networks)​​ (Palo Alto Networks)​.