PCNSA Policy Evaluation and Management Practice Question
An organization has a security policy that requires all outbound HTTP traffic from the 'Corporate' zone to the 'Internet' zone to be inspected by the URL Filtering profile. However, the administrator notices that some users can still access blocked categories. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates assume a rule with a URL Filtering profile automatically blocks traffic for blocked categories, but they overlook that the profile's per-category action must be set to 'block' to actually deny the traffic.
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
✓
The URL Filtering profile is set to 'alert' instead of 'block' for the relevant categories.
If the URL Filtering profile is set to 'alert' instead of 'block' for the relevant categories, the firewall will log the violation but still allow the traffic to pass. This means users can access blocked categories even though the rule is correctly applied, as the profile does not enforce a blocking action.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The firewall is configured to use DNS sinkholing, which bypasses URL filtering.
Why it's wrong here
DNS sinkholing is a separate feature and does not affect URL filtering inspection.
- ✗
The rule is placed too low in the rulebase and a higher rule allows traffic without URL filtering.
Why it's wrong here
If the rule is at the top, it should match first; but the issue might be profile configuration.
- ✗
The rule uses a source zone of 'Corporate' but the users are in a different zone.
Why it's wrong here
The stem states the rule matches Corporate zone; users are in that zone.
- ✓
The URL Filtering profile is set to 'alert' instead of 'block' for the relevant categories.
Why this is correct
An alert action logs but allows traffic; it does not block.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PCNSA 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 PCNSA exam.