NetSec-Architect Practice Question: NGFW And Cloud Delivered Security Services Architecture
An architect is designing a high-performance perimeter security architecture where encrypted traffic represents over 80% of total volume. Which THREE architectural design steps are critical when enabling SSL Forward Proxy at scale? (Choose three)
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Deploy a subordinate (intermediate) CA issued by the enterprise internal Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) rather than using the firewall self-signed root CA.
Scaling SSL decryption requires sizing hardware cryptographic accelerators, planning for certificate management (intermediate CAs), and defining selective decryption policies for privacy and performance.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Decrypt all internal employee traffic without exception, including HR, legal, and financial counseling sessions.
Why it's wrong here
Exempting HR, legal, and financial sessions is required for privacy and regulatory compliance.
- ✓
Deploy a subordinate (intermediate) CA issued by the enterprise internal Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) rather than using the firewall self-signed root CA.
Why this is correct
Using an intermediate CA allows proper chain management and revocation capability.
- ✗
Configure all user endpoints to trust self-signed root certificates downloaded from unknown external websites.
Why it's wrong here
Trusting external unknown root certificates is a major security hazard.
- ✓
Implement Decryption Policy rules to bypass categories that cannot or should not be decrypted (e.g., finance, healthcare).
Why this is correct
Bypassing sensitive categories maintains compliance and prevents application breakage.
- ✓
Size the hardware platform to account for the cryptographic performance overhead introduced by SSL decryption and re-signing.
Why this is correct
Decryption is CPU-intensive; proper hardware sizing (or hardware crypto offload cards) is essential.
About these practice questions
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official Palo Alto Networks exam blueprint
This NetSec-Architect practice question is part of Courseiva's free Palo Alto Networks certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the NetSec-Architect exam.