A systems engineer (SE) is informed by the primary contact at a bank of an unused balance of 15,000 software NGFW flexible credits the bank does not want to lose when they expire in 1.5 years. The SE is told that the bank's new risk and compliance officer is concerned that its operation is too permissive when allowing its servers to send traffic to SaaS vendors. Currently, its AWS and Azure VM-Series firewalls only use Advanced Threat Prevention. What should the SE recommend to address the customer's concerns?
Correct Answer: C
The core issue is the customer's concern about overly permissive outbound traffic to SaaS vendors and the desire to utilize expiring software NGFW credits. The best approach is a structured, needs-based assessment before simply activating features. Option C directly addresses this. Why C is correct: Verifying conformance to standards and regulations, assessing risk and criticality of workloads, and then aligning subscriptions to those needs is the most responsible and effective approach. This ensures the customer invests in the right security capabilities that address their specific concerns and compliance requirements, maximizing the value of their credits. This aligns with Palo Alto Networks best practices for security deployments, which emphasize a risk-based approach. Why A, B, and D are incorrect: A and D: Simply activating Advanced WildFire without understanding the customer's specific needs is not a strategic approach. Starting with the largest or smallest vCPU models is arbitrary and doesn't guarantee the best use of resources or the most effective security posture. It also doesn't directly address the SaaS traffic concerns. B: Subscribing to all available services just to use up credits is wasteful and might not address the customer's core concerns. It's crucial to prioritize based on actual needs, not just available funds.
Question 2
Which two products are deployed with Terraform for high levels of automation and integration? (Choose two.)
Correct Answer: A,B
Terraform is an Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) tool that enables automated deployment and management of infrastructure. Why A and B are correct: A . Cloud NGFW: Cloud NGFW can be deployed and managed using Terraform, allowing for automated provisioning and configuration. B . VM-Series firewall: VM-Series firewalls are commonly deployed and managed with Terraform, enabling automated deployments in public and private clouds. Why C and D are incorrect: C . Cortex XSOAR: While Cortex XSOAR can integrate with Terraform (e.g., to automate workflows related to infrastructure changes), XSOAR itself is not deployed with Terraform. XSOAR is a Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) platform. D . Prisma Access: While Prisma Access can be integrated with other automation tools, the core Prisma Access service is not deployed using Terraform. Prisma Access is a cloud-delivered security platform. Palo Alto Networks Reference: Terraform Registry: The Terraform Registry contains official Palo Alto Networks providers for VM-Series and Cloud NGFW. These providers allow you to define and manage these resources using Terraform configuration files. Palo Alto Networks GitHub Repositories: Palo Alto Networks maintains GitHub repositories with Terraform examples and modules for deploying and configuring VM-Series and Cloud NGFW. Palo Alto Networks Documentation on Cloud NGFW and VM-Series: The official documentation for these products often includes sections on automation and integration with tools like Terraform. These resources clearly demonstrate that VM-Series and Cloud NGFW are designed to be deployed and managed using Terraform.
Question 3
Which three Cloud NGFW management tasks are inherently performed by the service within AWS and Azure? (Choose three.)
Correct Answer: A,B,C
The question asks about Cloud NGFW management tasks performed inherently by the service within AWS and Azure. This means we are looking for tasks that are automated and handled by the Cloud NGFW service itself, not by the customer. Here's a breakdown of why A, B, and C are correct and why D and E are incorrect, referencing relevant Palo Alto Networks documentation where possible (though specific, publicly accessible documentation on the inner workings of the managed service is limited, the principles are consistent with their general cloud and firewall offerings): A . Horizontally scaling out to meet increased traffic demand: This is a core feature of cloud-native services. Cloud NGFW is designed to automatically scale its resources (compute, memory, etc.) based on traffic volume. This eliminates the need for manual intervention by the customer to provision or de-provision resources. This aligns with the general principles of cloud elasticity and autoscaling, which are fundamental to cloud-native services like Cloud NGFW. While explicit public documentation detailing the exact scaling mechanism is limited, it's a standard practice for cloud-based services and is implied in the general description of Cloud NGFW as a managed service. B . Installing new content (applications and threats): Palo Alto Networks maintains the threat intelligence and application databases for Cloud NGFW. This means that updates to these databases, which are crucial for identifying and blocking threats, are automatically pushed to the service by Palo Alto Networks. Customers do not need to manually download or install these updates. This is consistent with how Palo Alto Networks manages its other security services, such as Threat Prevention and WildFire, where content updates are delivered automatically. C . Installing new PAN-OS software updates: Just like content updates, PAN-OS software updates are also managed by Palo Alto Networks for Cloud NGFW. This ensures that the service is always running the latest and most secure version of the operating system. This removes the operational burden of managing software updates from the customer. This is a key advantage of a managed service. D . Blocking high-risk S2C threats in accordance with SOC2 compliance: While Cloud NGFW does block threats, including server-to-client (S2C) threats, the management of this blocking is not inherently performed by the service in the context of SOC2 compliance. SOC2 is an auditing framework, and compliance is the customer's responsibility. The service provides the tools to achieve security controls, but demonstrating and maintaining compliance is the customer's task. The service does not inherently manage the compliance process itself. E . Decrypting high-risk SSL traffic: While Cloud NGFW can decrypt SSL traffic for inspection (SSL Forward Proxy), the question asks about tasks inherently performed by the service. Decryption is a configurable option. Customers choose whether or not to enable SSL decryption. It is not something the service automatically does without explicit configuration. Therefore, it's not an inherent management task performed by the service. In summary, horizontal scaling, content updates, and PAN-OS updates are all handled automatically by the Cloud NGFW service, making A, B, and C the correct answers. D and E involve customer configuration or compliance considerations, not inherent management tasks performed by the service itself.
Question 4
What are three benefits of Palo Alto Networks VM-Series firewalls as they relate to direct integration with third-party network virtualization solution providers? (Choose three.)
Correct Answer: A,C,D
The question focuses on the benefits of VM-Series firewalls concerning direct integration with third-party network virtualization solutions. A . Integration with Cisco ACI allows insertion of a virtual firewall and enforcement of dynamic policies between endpoint groups without the need for manual policy adjustments. This is a key benefit. The integration between Palo Alto Networks VM-Series and Cisco ACI automates the insertion of the firewall into the traffic path and enables dynamic policy enforcement based on ACI endpoint groups (EPGs). This eliminates manual policy adjustments and simplifies operations. C . Integration with Nutanix AHV allows the firewall to be dynamically informed of changes in the environment and ensures policy is applied to virtual machines (VMs) as they join the network. This is also a core advantage. The integration with Nutanix AHV allows the VM-Series firewall to be aware of VM lifecycle events (creation, deletion, migration). This dynamic awareness ensures that security policies are automatically applied to VMs as they are provisioned or moved within the Nutanix environment. D . Integration with VMware NSX provides comprehensive visibility and security of all virtualized data center traffic including intra-host ESXi virtual machine (VM) communications. This is a significant benefit. The integration between VM-Series and VMware NSX provides granular visibility and security for all virtualized traffic, including east-west (VM-to-VM) traffic within the same ESXi host. This level of microsegmentation is crucial for securing modern data centers. Why other options are incorrect: B . Integration with a third-party network virtualization solution allows management and deployment of the entire virtual network and hosts directly from Panorama. While Panorama provides centralized management for VM-Series firewalls, it does not manage the underlying virtual network infrastructure or hosts of third-party providers like VMware NSX or Cisco ACI. These platforms have their own management planes. Panorama manages the security policies and firewalls, not the entire virtualized infrastructure. E . Integration with network virtualization solution providers allows manual deployment and management of firewall rules through multiple interfaces and front ends specific to each technology. This is the opposite of what integration aims to achieve. The purpose of integration is to automate and simplify management, not to require manual configuration through multiple interfaces. Direct integration aims to reduce manual intervention and streamline operations. Palo Alto Networks Reference: To verify these points, you can refer to the following types of documentation on the Palo Alto Networks support site (live.paloaltonetworks.com): VM-Series Deployment Guides: These guides often have sections dedicated to integrations with specific virtualization platforms like VMware NSX, Cisco ACI, and Nutanix AHV. Solution Briefs and White Papers: Palo Alto Networks publishes documents outlining the benefits and technical details of these integrations. Technology Partner Pages: On the Palo Alto Networks website, there are often pages dedicated to technology partners like VMware, Cisco, and Nutanix, which describe the joint solutions and integrations.
Question 5
A company has created a custom application that collects URLs from various websites and then lists bad sites. They want to update a custom URL category on the firewall with the URLs collected. Which tool can automate these updates?
Correct Answer: D
The scenario describes a need for programmatic and automated updating of a custom URL category on a Palo Alto Networks firewall. The XML API is specifically designed for this kind of task. It allows external systems and scripts to interact with the firewall's configuration and operational data. Here's why the XML API is the appropriate solution and why the other options are not: D . XML API: The XML API provides a well-defined interface for making changes to the firewall's configuration. This includes creating, modifying, and deleting URL categories and adding or removing URLs within those categories. A script can be written to retrieve the list of "bad sites" from the company's application and then use the XML API to push those URLs into the custom URL category on the firewall. This process can be automated on a schedule. This is the most efficient and recommended method for this type of integration. Why other options are incorrect: A . Dynamic User Groups: Dynamic User Groups are used to dynamically group users based on attributes like username, group membership, or device posture. They are not relevant for managing URL categories. B . SNMP SET: SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) is primarily used for monitoring and retrieving operational data from network devices. While SNMP can be used to make some configuration changes, it is not well-suited for complex configuration updates like adding multiple URLs to a category. The XML API is the preferred method for configuration changes. C . Dynamic Address Groups: Dynamic Address Groups are used to dynamically populate address groups based on criteria like tags, IP addresses, or FQDNs. They are intended for managing IP addresses and not URLs, so they are not applicable to this scenario. Palo Alto Networks Reference: The primary reference for this is the Palo Alto Networks XML API documentation. Searching the Palo Alto Networks support site (live.paloaltonetworks.com) for "XML API" will provide access to the latest documentation. This documentation details the various API calls available, including those for managing URL categories. Specifically, you would look for API calls related to: Creating or modifying custom URL categories. Adding or removing URLs from a URL category. The XML API documentation provides examples and detailed information on how to construct the XML requests and interpret the responses. This is crucial for developing a script to automate the URL updates.
