NetSec-Analyst Management And Operations — Timed 10 Questions

Question 1

A security analyst notices that the Threat Prevention subscription on a firewall is expired, but the firewall still has its previously downloaded signature database. Why might this happen?

Accepted Answer

The firewall still has the previous signature database stored locally.. The firewall maintains the last downloaded signatures in its local database even after the subscription expires, but it will not fetch new updates until renewed.

Answer

The firewall is using a grace period provided by the license server.

Answer

The subscription is tied to the Panorama management server, not the firewall.

Answer

The update server is misconfigured to allow free updates.

Question 2

When migrating from local management to Strata Cloud Manager, what happens to the existing local security policies on the firewall?

Accepted Answer

They remain as they are until the administrator pushes a new configuration from SCM.. When a device is added to SCM for management, the SCM policies typically override or merge with the existing local policies, and administrators must perform a 'push' operation to unify.

Answer

They are exported to a CSV file for manual review.

Answer

They are moved to a 'Local-Only' device group.

Answer

They are automatically deleted to prevent conflict.

Question 3

An administrator is troubleshooting a synchronization issue between SCM and an on-premises firewall. Which log file is best for verifying communication between the two?

Accepted Answer

devsrvr.log. The 'cms' (Cloud Management System) or 'scm' logs are typically used to troubleshoot connectivity between the firewall and the cloud management service.

Answer

tlog.log

Answer

pan_config.log

Answer

mp-log system.log

Question 4

Which of the following is considered an operational task performed via the firewall Dashboard?

Accepted Answer

Monitoring system resource utilization.. Monitoring system resource utilization is an operational task because it involves ongoing observation of the firewall's health and performance metrics (CPU, memory, disk, session counts) via the Dashboard. The Dashboard in Palo Alto Networks firewalls provides real-time widgets and graphs for this purpose, falling under operational monitoring rather than configuration. Other options are configuration or maintenance tasks, not operational monitoring.

Answer

Updating the App-ID database.

Answer

Defining a security policy rule.

Answer

Creating an address object.

Question 5

Which action must an administrator perform after installing a new license key on an NGFW?

Accepted Answer

Retrieve license keys from the license server.. After installing a new license, it is best practice to retrieve the latest license information from the portal to ensure the device reflects the updated status.

Answer

Clear the configuration cache.

Answer

Reboot the firewall.

Answer

Reset the management plane.

Question 6

What is the primary purpose of the 'Commit' operation?

Accepted Answer

To apply configuration changes to the running system.. The commit operation saves the running configuration into the candidate configuration and activates it, applying the changes to the firewall's data plane.

Answer

To save the configuration to the local disk.

Answer

To verify if the configuration syntax is correct.

Answer

To reboot the firewall.

Question 7

If an administrator forgets the password for the 'admin' account, how can it be recovered?

Accepted Answer

Reboot into maintenance mode and follow the recovery sequence.. On newer PAN-OS versions, password recovery involves using the 'maintenance' mode during boot, which requires physical console access.

Answer

Use the 'Reset Password' button on the login screen.

Answer

Contact TAC for a universal override password.

Answer

Factory reset the device.

Question 8

Where can an administrator view the total number of sessions currently active on the firewall?

Accepted Answer

Dashboard > System Resources. The Dashboard > Session Browser or the 'show session info' CLI command provides this data.

Answer

Device > Setup > Session

Answer

Network > Interfaces

Answer

Monitor > Traffic Logs

Question 9

Which TWO of the following are valid methods for performing a configuration backup on a firewall?

Accepted Answer

Exporting the configuration file via Device > Setup > Operations.. Option C is correct because on Palo Alto Networks firewalls the Device > Setup > Operations page provides the 'Export named configuration snapshot' and 'Export configuration version' functions, which generate an XML configuration file that can be saved locally as a valid backup. Option D is correct because the same Operations area (or Panorama/expedition scheduling) allows you to schedule recurring configuration exports to a remote server (e.g., SCP/HTTPS), giving an automated, off-box backup. Option A is wrong because a hard reset wipes the configuration rather than preserving a copy of it. Option B is wrong because an interface status snapshot captures runtime/operational state, not the device configuration. Option E is wrong because 'save config' is not a valid configuration-backup command on these firewalls; the CLI uses 'save config to <filename>' only in specific contexts and the standard backup mechanism is the export/scheduled export, not a generic 'save config' command.

Answer

Performing a hard reset.

Answer

Taking a snapshot of the interface status.

Answer

Using the 'save config' command in the CLI.

Question 10

A security operations team wants to ensure that configuration changes on a Palo Alto Networks firewall are automatically backed up and that they can quickly roll back to a previous version if a change causes issues. They need to schedule automatic backups that include the complete configuration and device state. Which feature should they configure?

Accepted Answer

Configuration Versioning with Scheduled Snapshots. Configuration Versioning with Scheduled Snapshots is designed to automatically capture full configuration and device state at scheduled intervals. These snapshots are stored on the firewall and can be restored with a single operation, enabling quick rollback. Other options either export only configuration, manage settings centrally without backup, or handle logs, none of which provide the required automatic backup and rollback capability.

Answer

Panorama Template Stack

Answer

Log Forwarding Profile

Answer

Scheduled Config Export