Practitioner Questions and Answers

A physical firewall is ideal for environments like a company headquarters that require redundant power, high throughput, and dedicated hardware for maximum reliability and performance. It supports more robust failover and scalability compared to virtual or containerized options.

In addition to local analysis, Cortex XDR can send unknown files to WildFire for discovery and deeper analysis to rapidly detect.

Cybercriminals are attackers who act independently or as part of an unlawful organization, such as a crime syndicate or a hacker group. Their main motivation is to make money by exploiting vulnerabilities in systems, networks, or applications. They use various methods, such as ransomware, phishing, identity theft, fraud, or botnets, to steal data, extort victims, or disrupt services. Cybercriminals often target individuals, businesses, or institutions that have valuable or sensitive information, such as financial, personal, or health data. Cybercriminals are constantly evolving their techniques and tools to evade detection and countermeasures. They may also collaborate with other cybercriminals or hire hackers to perform specific tasks. References:

Cybersecurity Threats: Cybercriminals

Attackers Profile

The Anthem data breach of 2015 was caused by a phishing scheme that captured a database administrator’s password. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR), hackers sent phishing emails to an Anthem subsidiary. At least one employee responded. Attackers were able to plant malware on the company’s system and gain remote access to confidential information1. The breach exposed the electronic protected health information of almost 79 million people, including names, Social Security numbers, medical identification numbers, addresses, dates of birth, email addresses, and employment information2. References:

Anthem Pays OCR $16 Million in Record HIPAA Settlement Following Largest U.S. Health Data Breach

How Anthem Data Breach Exposed Personnel Records - IDStrong

Layer 4 of the TCP/IP model is the transport layer, which is responsible for providing reliable and efficient data transmission between hosts. The transport layer can use different protocols, such as TCP or UDP, depending on the requirements of the application. The transport layer also performs functions such as segmentation, acknowledgement, flow control, and error recovery. 1

The transport layer of the TCP/IP model corresponds to three layers of the OSI model: the transport layer, the session layer, and the presentation layer. The session layer of the OSI model manages the establishment, maintenance, and termination of sessions between applications. The session layer also provides services such as synchronization, dialogue control, and security. The presentation layer of the OSI model handles the representation, encoding, and formatting of data for the application layer. The presentation layer also performs functions such as compression, encryption, and translation. 23

Full-disk encryption is a method of protecting data on a laptop that has been stolen by encrypting the entire hard drive, making it unreadable without the correct password or key. This prevents unauthorized access to the proprietary data stored on the laptop, even if the thief removes the hard drive and connects it to another device. Full-disk encryption can be enabled using built-in features such as BitLocker on Windows or FileVault on macOS, or using third-party software such as Absolute Home & Office12. References: How to Protect your Data if a Laptop is Lost or Stolen, What to do when your laptop is stolen, Palo Alto Networks Certified Cybersecurity Entry-level Technician

● Application (Layer 7 or L7): This layer identifies and establishes availability of communication partners, determines resource availability, and synchronizes communication.

● Presentation (Layer 6 or L6): This layer provides coding and conversion functions (such as data representation, character conversion, data compression, and data encryption) to ensure that data sent from the Application layer of one system is compatible with the Application layer of the receiving system.

● Session (Layer 5 or L5): This layer manages communication sessions (service requests and service responses) between networked systems, including connection establishment, data transfer, and connection release.

● Transport (Layer 4 or L4): This layer provides transparent, reliable data transport and

end-to-end transmission control.

Examples of serverless environments include Amazon Lambda and Azure Functions. Many PaaS offerings, such as Pivotal Cloud Foundry, also are effectively serverless even if they have not historically been marketed as such. Although serverless may appear to lack the container-specific, cloud native attribute, containers are extensively used in the underlying implementations, even if those implementations are not exposed to end users directly.

An encoded string is a common technique used by attackers to obfuscate their malicious code or data. By decoding the string, a security operations engineer can reveal the true nature and intent of the attacker, and potentially discover indicators of compromise (IOCs) such as IP addresses, domain names, file names, etc. Decoding the string can also help the engineer to determine the type and severity of the incident, and the appropriate response actions. Therefore, decoding the string and continuing the investigation is the best option among the given choices. Saving the string to a new file and running it in a sandbox may be risky, as it could execute the malicious code and cause further damage. Running the string against VirusTotal may not yield any useful results, as the string may not be recognized by any antivirus engines. Appending the string to the investigation notes but not altering it may not provide any additional insight into the incident, and may delay the response process. References:

1: SANS Digital Forensics and Incident Response Blog | Strings, Strings, Are Wonderful Things

2: 5 Minute Forensics: Decoding PowerShell Payloads - Tevora

3: Known plaintext analysis of encoded strings - SANS Institute

4: Palo Alto Networks Certified Cybersecurity Entry-level Technician - Palo Alto Networks

5: 10 Palo Alto Networks PCCET Exam Practice Questions - CBT Nuggets

IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) is a cloud computing model that delivers on-demand infrastructure resources to organizations via the cloud, such as compute, storage, networking, and virtualization1. Customers do not have to manage, maintain, or update their own data center infrastructure, but are responsible for the operating system, middleware, virtual machines, and any apps or data1. Therefore, IaaS gives customers full control over the operating system(s) running on their cloud computing platform, as well as the flexibility to customize and configure their infrastructure according to their needs2. References: What are the different types of cloud computing? | Google Cloud, PaaS vs IaaS vs SaaS: What’s the difference? | Google Cloud

XDR (Extended Detection and Response) uses machine learning (ML) to detect threats by identifying patterns and anomalies. XDR ingests data from multiple sources — including endpoints, networks, servers, and cloud workloads — to provide a unified and correlated view of threats across the environment.

A “ports first” data security solution is a traditional approach that relies on port numbers to identify and filter network traffic. This approach has several limitations and security weaknesses, such as12:

Port numbers are not reliable indicators of the type or content of network traffic, as they can be easily spoofed or changed by malicious actors.

Port numbers do not provide any visibility into the application layer, where most of the attacks occur.

Port numbers do not account for the dynamic and complex nature of modern applications, which often use multiple ports or protocols to communicate.

Port numbers do not support granular and flexible policies based on user identity, device context, or application behavior. One of the security weaknesses that is caused by implementing a “ports first” data security solution in a traditional data center is that you may have to open up multiple ports and these ports could also be used to gain unauthorized entry into your datacenter. For example, if you have a web server that runs on port 80, you may have to open up port 80 on your firewall to allow incoming traffic. However, this also means that any other service or application that uses port 80 can also access your datacenter, potentially exposing it to attacks. Moreover, opening up multiple ports increases the attack surface area of your network, as it creates more entry points for attackers to exploit34. References: Common Open Port Vulnerabilities List - Netwrix, Optimize security with Azure Firewall solution for Azure Sentinel | Microsoft Security Blog, Which item accurately describes a security weakness that is caused by …, Which item accurately describes a security weakness … - Exam4Training

Least privileges access control is the capability of a Zero Trust network security architecture that leverages the combination of application, user, and content identification to prevent unauthorized access. Least privileges access control means that users and devices are only granted the permissions they need to perform their tasks, and nothing more. This helps reduce the attack surface and makes it more difficult for attackers to gain access to sensitive data or resources. Least privileges access control is based on the principle of Zero Trust, which assumes that there are attackers both within and outside of the network, so no users or devices should be automatically trusted. Zero Trust verifies user identity and privileges as well as device identity and security, and requires end-to-end encryption. Least privileges access control also involves careful management of user permissions and network segmentation, which limit the amount of information and length of time people can access something, and contain the damage if someone does get unauthorized access. References: What Is Zero Trust Architecture? | Microsoft Security, Zero Trust security | What is a Zero Trust network? | Cloudflare, What is Zero Trust Architecture? | SANS Institute, What Is a Zero Trust Architecture? | Zscaler, What is Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA)? - CrowdStrike.

Dynamic analysis is a method of malware analysis that executes the malware in a controlled environment and observes its behavior and effects. Dynamic analysis can reveal the malware’s network activity, file system changes, registry modifications, and other indicators of compromise. Dynamic analysis is performed by Palo Alto Networks WildFire, a cloud-based service that analyzes unknown files and links from various sources, such as email attachments, web downloads, and firewall traffic. WildFire uses a custom-built, evasion-resistant virtual environment to detonate the submissions and generate detailed reports and verdicts. WildFire can also share the threat intelligence with other Palo Alto Networks products and partners to prevent future attacks. References: WildFire Overview, WildFire Features, WildFire Dynamic Analysis

CaaS, or Containers-as-a-Service, is a cloud service that allows users to manage and deploy applications using containers and clusters. CaaS can be situated between IaaS and PaaS in the spread of cloud computing services, based on how much is managed by the vendor. IaaS, or Infrastructure-as-a-Service, provides the lowest level of abstraction, where users have to manage the servers, storage, network, and operating system. PaaS, or Platform-as-a-Service, provides a higher level of abstraction, where users only have to manage the application code and data. FaaS, or Function-as-a-Service, provides the highest level of abstraction, where users only have to manage the functions or logic of the application. CaaS falls in between IaaS and PaaS, as it provides users with more control over the container orchestration and configuration than PaaS, but also simplifies the infrastructure management and scaling than IaaS123. References:

What is CaaS? from Red Hat

Containers as a Service from Atlassian

Container as a Service (CaaS) from GeeksforGeeks

Stateful packet inspection firewalls Second-generation stateful packet inspection (also known as dynamic packet filtering) firewalls have the following characteristics:

● They operate up to Layer 4 (Transport layer) of the OSI model and maintain state information about the communication sessions that have been established between hosts on the trusted and untrusted networks.

● They inspect individual packet headers to determine source and destination IP address, protocol (TCP, UDP, and ICMP), and port number (during session establishment only) to

determine whether the session should be allowed, blocked, or dropped based on configured

firewall rules.

● After a permitted connection is established between two hosts, the firewall creates and

deletes firewall rules for individual connections as needed, thus effectively creating a tunnel that allows traffic to flow between the two hosts without further inspection of individual packets during the session.

● This type of firewall is very fast, but it is port-based and it is highly dependent on the

trustworthiness of the two hosts because individual packets aren’t inspected after the

connection is established.

To find the subnet that the host 192.168.19.36/27 belongs to, we need to convert the IP address and the subnet mask to binary form and perform a logical AND operation. The /27 notation means that the subnet mask has 27 bits of ones and 5 bits of zeros. In decimal form, the subnet mask is 255.255.255.224. The binary form of the IP address and the subnet mask are:

IP address: 11000000.10101000.00010011.00100100 Subnet mask: 11111111.11111111.11111111.11100000

The logical AND operation gives us the network prefix:

Network prefix: 11000000.10101000.00010011.00100000

To get the subnet address, we convert the network prefix back to decimal form:

Subnet address: 192.168.19.32

The subnet address is the first address in the subnet range. To find the last address in the subnet range, we flip the bits of the subnet mask and perform a logical OR operation with the network prefix:

Flipped subnet mask: 00000000.00000000.00000000.00011111 Logical OR: 11000000.10101000.00010011.00111111

The last address in the subnet range is:

Last address: 192.168.19.63

The subnet range is from 192.168.19.32 to 192.168.19.63. The host 192.168.19.36 belongs to this subnet. Therefore, the correct answer is B. 192.168.19.16, which is the second address in the subnet range.

IP Subnet Calculator

Subnet Calculator - IP and CIDR

Which subnet does the host 192.168.19.36/27 belong? - VCEguide.com

A SASE solution converges networking and security services into one unified, cloud-delivered solution (see Figure 3-12) that includes the following:

● Networking

○ Software-defined wide-area networks (SD-WANs)

○ Virtual private networks (VPNs)

○ Zero Trust network access (ZTNA)

○ Quality of Service (QoS)

● Security

○ Firewall as a service (FWaaS)

○ Domain Name System (DNS) security

○ Threat prevention

○ Secure web gateway (SWG)

○ Data loss prevention (DLP)

○ Cloud access security broker (CASB)

SecOps is the organizational function that is responsible for security automation and eventual vetting of the solution to help ensure consistency through machine-driven responses to security issues. SecOps is a collaboration between security and operations teams that aims to align their goals, processes, and tools to improve security posture and efficiency. SecOps can leverage automation to simplify and accelerate security tasks, such as threat detection, incident response, vulnerability management, compliance enforcement, and more. Security automation can also reduce human errors, enhance scalability, and free up resources for more strategic initiatives. References:

SecOps from Palo Alto Networks

What is security automation? from Red Hat

What is Security Automation? from Check Point Software

Web 2.0 applications provide the type of service known as Software as a Service (SaaS). SaaS is a cloud computing model that allows users to access and use web-based applications over the internet, without having to install or maintain any software on their own devices. SaaS applications are hosted and managed by a third-party provider, who is responsible for the security, performance, availability, and updates of the software. SaaS applications are typically accessed through a web browser or a mobile app, and offer features such as user-generated content, social networking, collaboration, and interoperability. Examples of Web 2.0 SaaS applications include Facebook, X, Wikipedia, Gmail, and Salesforce. References:

What Is Web 2.0? Definition, Impact, and Examples - Investopedia

Web 2.0 - Wikipedia

[What is SaaS? Software as a service (SaaS) definition - Salesforce.com]

A knowledge-based system uses a database of known vulnerabilities and attack profiles

to identify intrusion attempts. These types of systems have lower false-alarm rates than

behavior-based systems but must be continually updated with new attack signatures to

be effective.

● A behavior-based system uses a baseline of normal network activity to identify unusual

patterns or levels of network activity that may be indicative of an intrusion attempt.

These types of systems are more adaptive than knowledge-based systems and therefore

may be more effective in detecting previously unknown vulnerabilities and attacks, but

they have a much higher false-positive rate than knowledge-based systems.

In cloud computing, there are three main service models: Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Each model defines the level of responsibility and control that the cloud provider and the cloud customer have over the cloud resources and services. The cloud provider is responsible for vulnerability and patch management of the underlying operating system in SaaS and PaaS models, while the cloud customer is responsible for it in IaaS model. In SaaS, the cloud provider delivers software applications over the internet and manages all aspects of the cloud infrastructure, platform, and application. The cloud customer only needs to access the software through a web browser or an API. In PaaS, the cloud provider offers a platform for developing, testing, and deploying applications and manages the cloud infrastructure and operating system. The cloud customer can use the platform tools and services to create and run their own applications. In IaaS, the cloud provider supplies the basic cloud infrastructure, such as servers, storage, and networking, and the cloud customer can provision and configure their own operating system, middleware, and applications. References: Cloud Computing Service Models, Cloud Security Fundamentals - Module 2: Cloud Computing Models, Palo Alto Networks Certified Cybersecurity Entry-level Technician (PCCET)

DevSecOps takes the concept behind DevOps that developers and IT teams should work together closely, instead of separately, throughout software delivery and extends it to include security and integrate automated checks into the full CI/CD pipeline. The integration of the CI/CD pipeline takes care of the problem of security seeming like an outside force and instead allows developers to maintain their usual speed without compromising data security

List three advantages of serverless computing over

CaaS: - Reduce costs - Increase agility - Reduce operational overhead

PCI DSS stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, which is a set of requirements intended to ensure that all companies that process, store, or transmit credit card information maintain a secure environment1. The standard is administered by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council, and its use is mandated by the major card brands2. PCI DSS covers 12 requirements for compliance, organized into six control objectives, such as building and maintaining a secure network and systems, protecting cardholder data, and implementing strong access control measures3. References: Payment Card Industry Security Standards, PCI Security Standards Council – Protect Payment Data with Industry-driven Security Standards, Training, and Programs, What is PCI Compliance? 12 Requirements & More - Digital Guardian

 If an endpoint does not know how to reach its destination, it will send data to the specified default gateway. A default gateway is a device that routes traffic from a local network to other networks or the internet. The endpoint will use the default gateway’s IP address as the next hop for packets that are destined for unknown or remote networks. The default gateway will then forward the packets to the appropriate destination or another gateway, based on its routing table. References:

Fundamentals of Network Security, Module 2: Networking Concepts, Lesson 2: IP Addressing and Routing1

PCCET Study Guide, Section 2.2: Describe IP Addressing and Routing2

 Docker and bare metal hypervisor are two different types of virtualization technologies that have different functioning mechanisms, architectures, and use cases. Docker is a containerization technology that allows users to create, deploy, and run applications using containers. Containers are isolated environments that share the same host operating system kernel, but have their own libraries, dependencies, and resources. Docker can run multiple containers on the same host, without requiring a separate operating system for each container12. Bare metal hypervisor, also known as type 1 hypervisor, is a software that runs directly on the hardware and creates virtual machines. Virtual machines are complete operating systems that have their own kernel, drivers, and resources. Bare metal hypervisor can run multiple virtual machines on the same host, each with a different operating system and dedicated resources3 .

The main difference between Docker and bare metal hypervisor is the level of abstraction they provide. Docker uses OS-level virtualization, which means it creates containers on top of the host operating system. Bare metal hypervisor uses hardware virtualization, which means it runs independently from the host operating system and creates virtual machines on the hardware layer. This difference has implications for the performance, efficiency, and portability of the virtualized environments. Docker containers are generally faster, lighter, and more scalable than virtual machines, as they do not have the overhead of running a separate operating system for each container. However, Docker containers are more limited and can run only on Linux, certain Windows servers and IBM mainframes if hosted on bare metal. Virtual machines, on the other hand, are more flexible and secure, as they can run any operating system and isolate the guest operating system from the host operating system. However, virtual machines are more resource-intensive and slower than containers, as they have to emulate the hardware and run a full operating system for each virtual machine12.

Docker vs VMWare: How Do They Stack Up? | UpGuard

Hypervisor vs. Docker: Complete Comparison of the Two - HitechNectar

Beginners Track - Docker On Bare Metal | dockerlabs

[Getting Started: Layer 3 Subinterfaces - Palo Alto Networks Knowledge Base]

A Type 1 hypervisor, also known as a bare-metal hypervisor, is a software layer that runs directly on the hardware of a physical host computer, without requiring an underlying operating system. A Type 1 hypervisor can create and manage multiple isolated virtual machines (VMs), each with its own virtual (or guest) operating system and applications. A Type 1 hypervisor is hardened against cyber attacks, as it has a smaller attack surface and fewer vulnerabilities than a Type 2 hypervisor, which runs within an operating system. A Type 1 hypervisor also offers better performance, scalability, and resource utilization than a Type 2 hypervisor. References: 10 Palo Alto Networks PCCET Exam Practice Questions, Palo Alto Networks Certified Cybersecurity Entry-level Technician v1.0, FREE Cybersecurity Education Courses.

In a host-based architecture, the server (host) handles all processing tasks, while the client mainly provides input/output. This centralizes control, processing, and data storage on the server, reducing the client’s role to that of a terminal.

 A demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a portion of an enterprise network that sits behind a firewall but outside of or segmented from the internal network1. The DMZ typically hosts public services, such as web, mail, and domain servers, that can be accessed by traffic from the internet1. However, the DMZ is isolated from the internal network by another firewall or security gateway, which prevents unauthorized access to the private network2. Therefore, statements A and D are true about servers in a DMZ, while statements B and C are false. References:

What is a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)? | F5

Demilitarized Zones (DMZs) - Secure Network Architecture - CompTIA …

Containers encapsulate applications and their dependencies into lightweight, portable units that can run consistently across multiple environments. This abstraction supports cloud-native development by enabling microservices architectures, rapid deployment, and scaling within orchestration platforms like Kubernetes. Containers accelerate cloud migration by decoupling applications from infrastructure, facilitating automation, and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) workflows. Palo Alto Networks addresses container security by integrating runtime protection, vulnerability scanning, and compliance enforcement within its Prisma Cloud platform, ensuring safe adoption of cloud-native tools and methodologies.

Elastic scalability is the feature of the VM-Series firewalls that allows them to fully integrate into the DevOps workflows and CI/CD pipelines without slowing the pace of business. Elastic scalability means that the VM-Series firewalls can automatically adjust their capacity and performance based on the changing demand and workload of the applications they protect. This enables the VM-Series firewalls to provide consistent and optimal security across multiple cloud environments, while also reducing operational costs and complexity. Elastic scalability also allows the VM-Series firewalls to seamlessly integrate with automation and orchestration tools, such as Terraform, Ansible, and AWS CloudFormation, that are commonly used in DevOps processes. This way, the VM-Series firewalls can be deployed and managed as part of the application development lifecycle and CI/CD pipelines, ensuring that security is always aligned with the business needs and objectives. References: VM-Series Virtual Next-Generation Firewall - Palo Alto Networks, Securing Multi-Cloud Environments with VM-Series Virtual Firewalls, Terraform Modules for Palo Alto Networks VM-Series on AWS.

SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response) differs from SIEM by adding automated incident response and workflow orchestration to the detection and alerting capabilities found in SIEM. This enables faster and more efficient handling of security incidents.

SSL/TLS decryption allows security tools to inspect encrypted traffic, enabling them to detect hidden malware, command-and-control communication, or data exfiltration that would otherwise bypass inspection if left encrypted.

To maximize the use of a network address, the administrator should use the subnet that can accommodate the required number of hosts with the least amount of wasted IP addresses. The subnet mask determines how many bits are used for the network portion and the host portion of the IP address. The more bits are used for the network portion, the more subnets can be created, but the fewer hosts can be assigned to each subnet. The formula to calculate the number of hosts per subnet is

2(32−n)−2

, where

n

is the number of bits in the network portion of the subnet mask. For example, a /30 subnet mask has 30 bits in the network portion, so the number of hosts per subnet is

2(32−30)−2=2

A /25 subnet mask has 25 bits in the network portion, so the number of hosts per subnet is

2(32−25)−2=126

The subnet 192.168.6.0/25 can accommodate 126 hosts, which is enough for the network with 120 hosts. The subnet 192.168.6.168/30 can only accommodate 2 hosts, which is not enough. The subnet 192.168.6.160/29 can accommodate 6 hosts, which is also not enough. The subnet 192.168.6.128/27 can accommodate 30 hosts, which is enough, but it wastes more IP addresses than the /25 subnet. Therefore, the best option is B. 192.168.6.0/25. References:

Getting Started: Layer 3 Subinterfaces - Palo Alto Networks Knowledge Base

DotW: Multiple IP Addresses on an Interface - Palo Alto Networks Knowledge Base

Configure NAT - Palo Alto Networks | TechDocs

URL categories classify websites based on content type or risk, enabling dynamic policy enforcement such as blocking or allowing access. Administrators can create custom URL categories to group sites like gambling domains and apply blocking rules across the firewall infrastructure. Palo Alto Networks firewalls leverage URL categorization combined with threat intelligence to provide granular web filtering, reducing exposure to malicious or unwanted sites. This dynamic grouping approach is more manageable and scalable than creating individual signatures or static lists and allows for automated policy application aligned with organizational compliance requirements.

The IP stack adds source (sender) and destination (receiver) IP addresses to the TCP segment (which now is called an IP packet) and notifies the server operating system that it has an outgoing message ready to be sent across the network.

TCP stands for Transmission Control Protocol, and it is one of the main protocols used in the internet. TCP provides reliable, ordered, and error-free delivery of data between applications 1. In terms of the OSI model, TCP is a transport-layer protocol. The transport layer is the fourth layer of the OSI model, and it is responsible for establishing end-to-end connections, segmenting data into packets, and ensuring reliable and efficient data transfer 2. The transport layer also provides flow control, congestion control, and error detection and correction mechanisms 2. TCP is not the only transport-layer protocol; another common one is UDP (User Datagram Protocol), which is faster but less reliable than TCP 3. References: 1: TCP/IP TCP, UDP, and IP protocols - IBM 2: Transport Layer | Layer 4 | The OSI-Model 3: TCP/IP Model vs. OSI Model | Similarities and Differences - Fortinet

The diagram displays a mesh topology, where each device is connected to every other device in the network. This topology is characterized by the multiple connections each node has, ensuring there is no single point of failure and providing redundant paths for data transmission, enhancing the reliability and resilience of the network. Mesh topology is one of the types of LAN technology that uses ethernet or Wi-Fi to connect devices12. References:

What Is Local Area Network (LAN)? Definition, Types, Architecture, and Best Practices from Spiceworks

Types of LAN | Introduction and Classification of LAN from EDUCBA

Scanning for excessive logins – ITDR identifies suspicious patterns such as unusual or excessive login attempts, which may indicate credential abuse.

Analyzing access management logs – ITDR tools analyze identity-related logs, including authentication and authorization events, to detect threats tied to user behavior and access anomalies.

Device security and signature matching are not core functions of ITDR; they fall under endpoint protection and traditional threat detection respectively.

Xpanse is a tool from Palo Alto Networks that provides attack surface management by analyzing exposed services and internet-facing assets, giving security operations teams visibility into environmental risks and helping prioritize remediation of vulnerabilities.

Attack communication traffic is usually hidden with various techniques and

tools, including:

● Encryption with SSL, SSH (Secure Shell), or some other custom or proprietary encryption

● Circumvention via proxies, remote access tools, or tunneling. In some instances, use of

cellular networks enables complete circumvention of the target network for attack C2 traffic.

● Port evasion using network anonymizers or port hopping to traverse over any available open

ports

● Fast Flux (or Dynamic DNS) to proxy through multiple infected endpoints or multiple,

ever-changing C2 servers to reroute traffic and make determination of the true destination

or attack source difficult

● DNS tunneling is used for C2 communications and data infiltration

App-ID™ technology leverages the power of the broad global community to provide continuous identification, categorization, and granular risk-based control of known and previously unknown SaaS applications, ensuring new applications are discovered automatically as they become popular.

A stateless firewall is a network firewall that primarily filters traffic based on source and destination IP address, as well as port numbers and protocols. A stateless firewall does not keep track of the state or context of network connections, and only inspects packet headers. A stateless firewall is faster and simpler than a stateful firewall, but it is less secure and flexible. A stateless firewall cannot block complex attacks or inspect packet contents for malicious payloads. References: What Is a Packet Filtering Firewall? - Palo Alto Networks, Common IP Filtering Techniques – APNIC, What is IP filtering? - Secure Network Traffic Management

page 211 "Consolidating servers within trust levels: Organizations often consolidate servers within the same trust level into a single virtual computing environment: ... ... ... This virtual systems capability enables a single physical device to be used to simultaneously meet the unique requirements of multiple VMs or groups of VMs. Control and protection of inter-host traffic with physical network security appliances that are properly positioned and configured is the primary security focus."

SOAR tools ingest aggregated alerts from detection sources (such as SIEMs, network security tools, and mailboxes) before executing automatable, process-driven playbooks to enrich and respond to these alerts.

https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/cortex/security-operations-automation

Detection of threats using data analysis – SIEM platforms analyze collected data to identify suspicious patterns and detect threats.

Ingestion of log data – SIEM systems collect and centralize log data from various sources, which is essential for analysis, correlation, and alerting.

Automation and prevention are more aligned with SOAR and firewall/EDR functionalities, not the core operations of SIEM.

According to the NIST definition of cloud computing1, there are three service models for cloud computing: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). In the SaaS model, the cloud provider delivers the software applications over the internet, and the users access them from various devices through a web browser or a program interface. The cloud provider manages the underlying infrastructure, including the servers, databases, and code of the applications. The users do not need to install, update, or maintain the software, and they only pay for the service they use. The scenario described in the question is an example of the SaaS model, as the user is provided access over the internet to an application running on a cloud infrastructure, and the vendor hosts and maintains the servers, databases, and code of that application. References:

SP 800-145, The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing | CSRC

Final Version of NIST Cloud Computing Definition Published

NIST Cloud Computing Program - NCCP | NIST

SaaS - User responsible for only the data, vendor responsible for rest

When you enable URL Filtering, all web traffic is compared against the URL Filtering database, PAN-DB, which contains millions of URLs that have been grouped into about 65 categories.

 A zero-day threat is an attack that takes advantage of a security vulnerability that does not have a fix in place. It is referred to as a “zero-day” threat because once the flaw is eventually discovered, the developer or organization has “zero days” to then come up with a solution. A zero-day threat can compromise a system or network by exploiting the unknown vulnerability, and can cause data loss, unauthorized access, or other damages. Zero-day threats are difficult to detect and prevent, and require advanced security solutions and practices to mitigate them. References:

Palo Alto Networks Certified Cybersecurity Entry-level Technician (PCCET)

Zero-day (computing) - Wikipedia

What is a zero-day exploit? | Zero-day threats | Cloudflare

Lateral movement is a key stage where the attacker moves across the network to find valuable targets.

Privilege escalation involves gaining higher access rights to expand control within the compromised environment.

Communication with covert channels is a tactic used during persistence or exfiltration, while deletion of critical data is not a standard APT lifecycle stage — it’s more characteristic of destructive attacks.

DevOps is not:

● A combination of the Dev and Ops teams: There still are two teams; they just operate

in a communicative, collaborative way.

● Its own separate team: There is no such thing as a “DevOps engineer.” Although some

companies may appoint a “DevOps team” as a pilot when trying to transition to a

DevOps culture, DevOps refers to a culture where developers, testers, and operations

personnel cooperate throughout the entire software delivery lifecycle.

● A tool or set of tools: Although there are tools that work well with a DevOps model or

help promote DevOps culture, DevOps ultimately is a strategy, not a tool.

● Automation: Although automation is very important for a DevOps culture, it alone does

not define DevOps.

IDSs and IPSs also can be classified as knowledge-based (or signature-based) or behavior-based (or statistical anomaly-based) systems:

● A knowledge-based system uses a database of known vulnerabilities and attack profiles

to identify intrusion attempts. These types of systems have lower false-alarm rates than

behavior-based systems but must be continually updated with new attack signatures to

be effective.

● A behavior-based system uses a baseline of normal network activity to identify unusual

patterns or levels of network activity that may be indicative of an intrusion attempt.

These types of systems are more adaptive than knowledge-based systems and therefore

may be more effective in detecting previously unknown vulnerabilities and attacks, but they have a much higher false-positive rate than knowledge-based systems

Wireshark is a network analysis tool that can capture packets from various network interfaces and protocols. It can display the captured packets in a human-readable format, as well as filter, analyze, and export them. Wireshark is widely used for network troubleshooting, security testing, and education purposes12. References: Wireshark · Go Deep, How to Use Wireshark to Capture, Filter and Inspect Packets, Palo Alto Networks Certified Cybersecurity Entry-level Technician

 An exploit is a type of malware that takes advantage of a vulnerability on an endpoint or server to execute malicious code, gain unauthorized access, or perform other malicious actions. Exploits can be categorized into known and unknown (i.e., zero-day) exploits, depending on whether the vulnerability is publicly disclosed or not12. Exploits can target various types of software, such as operating systems, browsers, applications, or network devices3. References: Malware vs. Exploits, Top Routinely Exploited Vulnerabilities, 12 Types of Malware + Examples That You Should Know, Palo Alto Networks Certified Cybersecurity Entry-level Technician

Advanced WildFire is a Cloud-Delivered Security Service (CDSS) that detects zero-day malware using inline cloud machine learning (ML) and sandboxing techniques. It analyzes unknown files in real-time to identify and block new threats before they can cause harm.

2G/2.5G: 2G connectivity remains a prevalent and viable IoT connectivity option due

to the low cost of 2G modules, relatively long battery life, and large installed base of

2G sensors and M2M applications.

○ 3G: IoT devices with 3G modules use either Wideband Code Division Multiple Access

(W-CDMA) or Evolved High Speed Packet Access (HSPA+ and Advanced HSPA+) to

achieve data transfer rates of 384Kbps to 168Mbps.

○ 4G/Long-Term Evolution (LTE): 4G/LTE networks enable real-time IoT use cases, such

as autonomous vehicles, with 4G LTE Advanced Pro delivering speeds in excess of

3Gbps and less than 2 milliseconds of latency.

○ 5G: 5G cellular technology provides significant enhancements compared to 4G/LTE

networks and is backed by ultra-low latency, massive connectivity and scalability for

IoT devices, more efficient use of the licensed spectrum, and network slicing for

application traffic prioritization.

Local organization security policies are the rules and guidelines that define how a SaaS application can be used by the employees, contractors, and partners of an organization. These policies cover aspects such as authentication, authorization, data access, data protection, data sharing, and compliance. Local organization security policies aim to ensure that the SaaS application is used in a secure, ethical, and legal manner, and that the organization’s data and assets are not compromised or misused123. References:

Securing SaaS tools for your organisation - GOV.UK

SaaS Security: A Complete Best Practices Guide - BetterCloud

Security policy document examples for B2B SaaS apps

Automation in SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response) is the process of programming tasks, alerts, and responses to security incidents so that they can be executed without human intervention. Automation in SOAR helps security teams to handle the huge amount of information generated by various security tools, analyze it through machine learning processes, and take appropriate actions based on predefined rules and workflows. Automation in SOAR also reduces the manual effort and time required for security operations, improves the accuracy and efficiency of threat detection and response, and provides consistency in handling security issues across different environments and scenarios. References: What is SOAR (security orchestration, automation and response)? | IBM, What Is SOAR? Technology and Solutions | Microsoft Security, Security orchestration - Wikipedia.

Cortex XDR is a detection and response platform that natively integrates network, endpoint, and cloud data to stop sophisticated attacks. A key benefit of Cortex XDR is that it acts as a safety net during an attack while patches are developed. Cortex XDR uses machine learning and behavioral analytics to detect and validate threats, and automatically reveals the root cause of alerts to speed up investigations. Cortex XDR also enables flexible and rapid response actions to contain and remediate threats across the environment. References: Cortex XDR- Extended Detection and Response - Palo Alto Networks, What is Cortex XDR | Palo Alto Networks, Cortex XDR Datasheet - Palo Alto Networks

DNS tunneling is an attack technique where data packets are disguised as DNS queries and sent to a remote server. That server, often under the attacker's control, responds with additional data or instructions, effectively creating a covert command-and-control (C2) channel over DNS.

SaaS financial botnets are often sold as kits, enabling attackers to license and reuse the malicious code easily.

These kits allow attackers to build and operate their own botnets, often targeting financial data or systems.

Financial botnets are typically smaller but more targeted than spamming or DDoS botnets. Botnets are not a defense mechanism, but rather a threat.