Palo Alto Networks (PCNSE): Certified Network Security Engineer Interview Questions

 The Palo Alto Networks Certified Network Security Engineer (PCNSE) certification exam analyzes and formalizes the candidates’ knowledge, skills, and abilities required for network security engineers. To successfully pass the interview, you will need to showcase your specialization and hardcore knowledge of the Palo Alto Networks product portfolio that you can implant in real-life projects. You can also go through the Certified Network Security Engineer (PCNSE) Online tutorial to strengthen your knowledge if you want to build your career as a Certified Network Security Engineer (PCNSE). Further, our free practice tests will help you revise your concepts for clearing the exam in the first go!

You will need to show the hiring manager that you have the skills required for the position as a Certified Network Security Engineer (PCNSE) and that you are a capable communicator. In addition, you must handle yourself well during the interview. Here are some questions you might encounter during your interview.

What is your experience with Palo Alto Networks firewalls and security products?

Palo Alto Networks is a cybersecurity company that provides a suite of firewalls and security products. These products include the Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewall, which provides advanced threat protection, network security, and cloud security. Other products offered by Palo Alto Networks include:

1. GlobalProtect: A solution that provides secure remote access to corporate networks.
2. WildFire: A threat analysis system that uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to detect and prevent malware and other advanced threats.
3. Traps: An endpoint protection solution that prevents cyberattacks on endpoints, such as laptops and desktops.
4. Prisma Access: A cloud-delivered security solution that provides secure access to cloud applications and resources.
5. Cortex XDR: An integrated security platform that provides threat detection, response, and investigation capabilities.

These products work together to provide comprehensive security coverage for an organization’s network, endpoints, and cloud environments.

Can you explain the differences between next-generation firewalls and traditional firewalls?

Next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) and traditional firewalls are both network security devices that control the flow of incoming and outgoing traffic. However, NGFWs offer additional security features and functionalities compared to traditional firewalls. Some key differences between NGFWs and traditional firewalls are:

1. Application control: NGFWs are capable of identifying and controlling specific applications, while traditional firewalls only control traffic based on IP addresses, ports, and protocols.
2. Deep packet inspection: NGFWs can inspect the contents of network packets at the application layer, whereas traditional firewalls can only inspect at the transport layer.
3. Threat prevention: NGFWs integrate threat prevention technologies, such as intrusion prevention and antivirus capabilities, to stop threats in real-time. Traditional firewalls do not typically have these capabilities.
4. User identity: NGFWs can use user identity to determine what level of access a user should have, whereas traditional firewalls do not have this capability.
5. Security management: NGFWs typically offer a more centralized management system, which provides a single console to manage multiple firewalls, while traditional firewalls are managed individually.

Overall, NGFWs offer more comprehensive security than traditional firewalls and are better suited for modern network environments with complex security requirements.

What is your experience with configuring and managing Palo Alto Networks firewall rules, objects, and security policies?

Configuring and managing firewall rules, objects, and security policies in Palo Alto Networks is a critical aspect of network security. Firewall rules are used to control network traffic based on source, destination, and application, among other criteria. Objects, such as addresses and service objects, provide a means of grouping related firewall rule elements. Security policies bring together firewall rules and objects to define the overall security posture of the network.

In managing these components, it is important to keep in mind best practices for rule placement, object design, and policy design. Additionally, regular review and auditing of firewall rules, objects, and security policies is necessary to ensure the network remains secure and compliant with organizational policies and regulations.

Can you discuss the different types of security profiles in Palo Alto Networks, and how you would use each one to secure a network?

Palo Alto Networks firewall provides various types of security profiles to secure a network. These security profiles include:

1. Antivirus: This profile detects and prevents malware infections.
2. WildFire: This profile uses cloud-based analysis to detect and prevent malware and advanced threats.
3. URL Filtering: This profile helps to control access to specific websites based on URL categories.
4. Content-ID: This profile provides content inspection, such as inspecting SSL-encrypted traffic.
5. Threat Prevention: This profile helps to detect and prevent malicious network traffic by using signature-based and reputation-based threat intelligence.
6. GlobalProtect: This profile helps to provide secure remote access to corporate networks.

When implementing security policies using Palo Alto Networks firewalls, it’s important to consider factors such as network architecture, regulatory compliance requirements, and the threat landscape. By using the right combination of security profiles and configurations, you can build a comprehensive security posture that effectively protects your network from threats.

How would you implement a network security policy using Palo Alto Networks firewalls, and what are the key considerations to keep in mind?

Implementing a network security policy using Palo Alto Networks firewalls involves several steps, including the following:

1. Identifying network security requirements: The first step is to identify the security requirements of your network, such as protecting against threats, controlling network access, and enforcing security policies.
2. Defining security policies: Based on the security requirements, you need to define the security policies that will be implemented using the Palo Alto Networks firewall. These policies should include rules for controlling network access, defining firewall zones, and configuring application-level control.
3. Configuring the firewall: The next step is to configure the firewall to implement the security policies. This includes configuring the firewall’s interfaces, security zones, and policies. You should also configure the firewall to receive threat intelligence updates and security-related alerts.
4. Testing and verifying the policies: After configuring the firewall, you need to test and verify the policies to ensure that they are working as expected. This involves conducting penetration tests, network scans, and other types of security assessments.

Some of the key considerations to keep in mind when implementing a network security policy using Palo Alto Networks firewalls include:

1. Ensuring policy consistency: It is important to ensure that the security policies are consistent across the entire network and that they are updated regularly.
2. Managing access controls: Effective management of access controls is critical to maintaining network security. This includes controlling access to specific network resources, such as servers and applications, as well as managing user authentication and authorization.
3. Keeping the firewall updated: Regularly updating the firewall with the latest security patches and threat intelligence is essential to maintaining the security of the network.

What is your experience with using Palo Alto Networks to secure cloud environments, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure?

Palo Alto Networks provides a range of security solutions for securing cloud environments, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. These solutions include firewall appliances, cloud-based firewalls, and security automation tools that can be integrated with cloud-based services and platforms. By using Palo Alto Networks solutions, organizations can secure their cloud environments, control network traffic, and enforce security policies. These solutions can also be configured to provide security for cloud-based applications and data, as well as provide secure remote access to cloud-based resources. Additionally, Palo Alto Networks integrates with cloud security services and platforms, such as AWS Security Hub and Azure Security Center, to provide a comprehensive security posture for cloud environments.

Can you discuss your experience with using Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect to provide secure remote access to corporate networks?

GlobalProtect is a solution offered by Palo Alto Networks that provides secure remote access to a corporate network. It uses VPN technology to encrypt network traffic and establish a secure connection between remote users and the corporate network. GlobalProtect can be configured to provide different levels of access based on user roles, device security posture, and location. It integrates with other Palo Alto Networks security tools such as PAN-OS, WildFire, and Threat Prevention to provide a comprehensive security posture for remote users and devices.

What is your experience with integrating Palo Alto Networks firewalls with other security tools, such as intrusion prevention systems (IPS), security information and event management (SIEM) tools, and threat intelligence platforms?

Integrating Palo Alto Networks firewalls with other security tools can help organizations to improve their overall security posture and better protect their network environment.

One common integration is with intrusion prevention systems (IPS), which can help to prevent attacks by identifying and blocking malicious network traffic. To integrate with IPS, Palo Alto Networks firewalls can be configured to send logs to the IPS system, allowing the IPS to analyze the logs and take action to prevent attacks.

Another integration is with security information and event management (SIEM) tools, which can help organizations to centralize, correlate, and analyze security-related log data from multiple sources. To integrate with SIEM, Palo Alto Networks firewalls can be configured to send logs to the SIEM system, allowing the SIEM to collect and analyze the logs.

Palo Alto Networks firewalls can also be integrated with threat intelligence platforms, which provide organizations with information about new and emerging threats. To integrate with threat intelligence, Palo Alto Networks firewalls can be configured to receive threat intelligence feeds from the threat intelligence platform, which can then be used to update security policies and take action to prevent attacks.

Overall, integrating Palo Alto Networks firewalls with other security tools can help organizations to improve their security posture and better protect their network environment. By integrating with these tools, organizations can leverage the strengths of each security tool to provide a more comprehensive and effective security solution.

Can you discuss how you would use Palo Alto Networks WildFire to detect and prevent malware and other advanced threats in a network environment?

Palo Alto Networks WildFire is a cloud-base advance threat protection service that provides real-time analysis and prevention of malware and other advanced threats. To use WildFire in a network environment, it is integrated with the Palo Alto Networks firewall and other security devices.

WildFire works by analyzing and identifying the behavior and characteristics of malware and other advanced threats, and then using this information to provide real-time protection against these threats. This is achieved by submitting suspicious files to the WildFire cloud for analysis, where they are executed in a virtual environment and monitored for malicious behavior. If the file is determined to be malware, the information is used to create a security signature that is then pushed to all WildFire-enabled devices to provide real-time protection.

To configure WildFire, organizations can enable WildFire analysis on the Palo Alto Networks firewall and other security devices, and configure policies to determine which files should be submitted to the WildFire cloud for analysis. Additionally, organizations can use the WildFire API to automate the submission of files for analysis and receive information about the analysis results.

By using WildFire, organizations can improve their ability to detect and prevent malware and other advanced threats in their network environment. WildFire provides real-time protection against these threats, helps to reduce the risk of a successful attack, and enables organizations to respond quickly and effectively to potential threats.

Can you discuss your experience with configuring and managing network security in high-availability environments, and how you would ensure that Palo Alto Networks firewalls are highly available and able to provide continuous protection for a network?

High availability is a key concern in network security, as it ensures that network security services remain available even in the event of a hardware failure or other disruption. To configure and manage network security in high-availability environments, Palo Alto Networks firewalls can be deploye in a high-availability configuration, such as active/passive or active/active, to provide continuous protection for the network.

In an active/passive configuration, two firewalls are deployed, with one acting as the primary firewall and the other as the secondary firewall. In the event of a failure or disruption on the primary firewall, the secondary firewall takes over and provides continuous network security. Further, in an active/active configuration, both firewalls are active and operate simultaneously, with each firewall handling a portion of the network traffic.

To ensure high availability, it is important to properly configure the firewalls and the network infrastructure, including switches and routers, to minimize downtime and ensure fast failover in the event of a failure. It is also important to regularly test and validate the high-availability configuration to ensure that it is functioning as intended.

Additionally, Palo Alto Networks firewalls support features such as session persistence and connection mirroring, which help to ensure that network security services remain available even in the event of a hardware failure or other disruption. Overall, by properly configuring and managing network security in high-availability environments, organizations can ensure that they have the security they need to protect their network, applications, and data.

1. What are the characteristics of the security operating platform?

By combining a data-driven approach and precise analytics, the Security Operating Platform assists you in automating threat identification and enforcement across the cloud, network, and endpoints. To minimize infected endpoints and servers, it blocks exploits, ransomware, malware, and file-less attacks.

2. What is meant by high availability in the firewall?

High availability provides you with the ability to group two firewalls so they can share configuration information, which guarantees redundancy if one firewall fails. The firewalls have a heartbeat connection that ensures failover if one of the firewalls goes down.

3. Why do we need high availability?

 High availability means that your IT infrastructure will continue functioning even if some components fail. High availability is very important for mission-critical systems, where a service disruption can lead to serious business impacts that result in additional expenses or financial losses.

4. Which public cloud environments are support by Palo Alto Networks VM-Series?

• AWS®
• Google Cloud Platform
• Microsoft Azure®/Azure Stack
• Oracle Cloud
• Alibaba Cloud
• VMware vCloud® Air™

5.  What are the two dynamic routing options?

• Interior routing protocols or IGP (Interior Gateway Protocols)
• Exterior routing protocols or EGP (Exterior Gateway Protocols)

6. Could you explain the impact of application override on the overall functionality of the firewall?

 An Application Override can be use to bypass Content and Threat inspection for traffic that is matching the overriding rule. For example, if you create an Application Override rule in order to allow traffic that is coming from a web application that supports cloud-based client-side content filtering, then you cannot use the “Bypass Threat Inspection” checkbox on that rule.

7. What is bootstrapping in VM?

 Vagrant automates the process of provisioning a virtual machine, making it possible to set up an environment for your project with minimal effort. Bootstrapping refers to setting up your work environment; you can provide a script that Vagrant runs when it sets up a new machine.

8. What is the security profile in a firewall?

 Firewall security profiles evaluate the protection level on the computer. Each profile has predefine rules for ports, services, and protocols, which define how traffic is allow to and from your computer. You can also add rules that you have created yourself in certain circumstances.

9. What are the key features of URL filtering?

• Users can not bypass the URL filter restrictions imposed by the IT admins.
• Effective on endpoints regardless of their location.
• Easy to use and deploy to users.
• Saves bandwidth.

10. What is meant by the term credential theft prevention?

 Credential phishing prevention is a feature in URL filtering that compares username and password submissions to known corporate credentials. You can configure which credential categories you want to allow or block in a URL filtering profile.

11. How would you describe an App ID in Paloalto?

 App-ID is a feature that helps you learn about the applications on your network, including their behavior and relative risk. App-ID can identify applications by using multiple techniques, including signatures, decryption (if needed), protocol decoding, and heuristics.

12. What do you know about the Pan-OS and panorama?

 The PAN-OS and Panorama XML API enable third-party applications to access and manage firewalls through a programmatic XML-based API. You can use this API for accessing your firewall from another service, application, or even script.

13. Could you differentiate between the DHCP server and the DHCP relay?

 You can configure the DHCP server feature to allow devices on the same network as the SD-WAN appliance’s LAN/WAN interface to obtain their IP configuration from the SD-WAN appliance. You can also use a relay agent, such as a DHCP relay to forward DHCP packets between a client and server.

14. What are 4 methods of threat detection?

• Configuration
• Modeling
• Indicator
• Threat Behavior

15. Can you tell me about the different steps of Threat Analysis?

• Step 1: Identifying Threats
• Steps 2 and 3: Profiling Threats and Developing a Community Profile
• Step 4: Determining Vulnerability
• Step 5: Creating and Applying Scenarios
• Creating an Emergency Plan.

16. What is the maximum number of firewalls that can be place in an HA cluster?

A high availability (HA) cluster of up to 16 firewalls can now synchronize session states among them

17. What are the CLI tools?

 Command-line tools can be categorize as scripts, libraries, and programs. They range from web development to utility functions to entertainment and can provide a lot of functionality for users working from the command line – even on Windows.

18. Could you elaborate on the main problem with using a command-line interface?

 For someone unfamiliar with using the command-line interface, the experience can be frustrating. Commands must be type precisely or they won’t work. If there is a spelling mistake or the user mistypes an instruction, it is often necessary to start over again.

19. Could you explain to me why is packet capture need?

 Packets can be capture on a network to troubleshoot problems and gather data about security threats. Packets are use as forensic clues following a data breach or other incident, providing vital information to investigations.

20. What is another name for packet capture?

An application programming interface (API) for capturing live network packet data from OSI layers 2 to 7 is Packet Capture (also known as libpcap).

21. Is SSL decryption necessary?

A company cannot adequately protect its business and its valuable data from modern threats without the ability to decrypt, classify, control, and scan encrypted traffic.

22. Could you define the purpose of having a certificate chain of trust?

 The chain of trust certification aims to show that a particular certificate originated from a trusted source. When the user sees a certificate that links back to one of their Root CAs in the browser’s Truststore, they will know that the website is secure.

23. At which stage in the flow logic does the firewall attempt to match a packet to an existing flow?

The firewall performs decapsulation/decryption at the parsing stage.

24. What is the three-tier architecture of a Checkpoint firewall?

• Smart Center Server
• Security Gateway
• Smart Console

25. Which two analysis methods does WildFire use to detect malware?

WildFire makes use of static analysis along with machine learning for the initial determination of maliciousness of any known variants of known samples.

26. What are some ways that WildFire can be use to protect a network?

 WildFire is a security service that provides automated threat prevention across the platform, stopping malware, malicious URLs, DNS and C2. WildFire works with next-generation firewalls or other Palo Alto Networks services to protect your organization from cyberattacks without any operational impact on your infrastructure.

27. How would you define an MFA process?

 Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a way to verify your identity by requiring you to use two or more forms of identification. It’s a core component of a good identity-and-access management policy.

28. Why do we implement MFA?

 The presence of multi-factor authentication makes it harder for criminals to steal your login information. This protects you and others from the harm that can come from having your identity stolen. 

29. Could you define what is traffic forwarding?

 Traffic Forwarding is use to redirect traffic from one destination to another. For example, if you want to forward the ZIA cloud traffic to an on-premises location and application traffic to the ZPA cloud, use the Traffic Forwarding method by configuring appropriate rules.

30. What are some ways to configure a firewall?

• Secure the Firewall
• Establish Firewall Zones and an IP Address Structure
• Configure Access Control Lists (ACLs)
• Configure Other Firewall Services and Logging
• Test the Firewall Configuration
• Manage Firewall Continually.