PCNSA Securing Traffic Practice Question
When configuring a security policy rule to allow HTTP traffic from the internal zone to the external zone, which mandatory components must be defined?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse Service with Application, assuming a port-based service (like TCP/80) is mandatory, but Palo Alto emphasizes App-ID as the primary identifier, making Service optional when Application is defined.
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
✓
Source Zone, Destination Zone, Source Address, Destination Address, Application, and Action
A security policy rule in Palo Alto Networks firewalls requires at minimum the source zone, destination zone, source address, destination address, application, and action to be defined. For HTTP traffic from internal to external zones, these components ensure the rule is specific enough to match the intended traffic while leveraging App-ID for application identification, not just port-based service definitions.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Source Zone, Destination Zone, Application, and User
Why it's wrong here
User is optional.
- ✗
Source Zone, Destination Zone, Application, and Service
Why it's wrong here
Service is not mandatory; application is.
- ✗
Source Zone, Destination Zone, Service, and Action
Why it's wrong here
Application is needed, service is optional.
- ✓
Source Zone, Destination Zone, Source Address, Destination Address, Application, and Action
Why this is correct
These are the minimum required fields in a security policy rule.
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JA
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.