PCNSA Policy Evaluation and Management Practice Question
Which THREE actions can be taken based on hit counts in security rules? (Select 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
✓
Identify unused rules for cleanup
Hit counts in security rules show how many times a rule has been matched. This data can be used to identify unused rules (A) for cleanup, prioritize rule optimization efforts (C) by focusing on heavily hit rules, and troubleshoot traffic mismatches (D) by analyzing which rules are matched by specific traffic patterns. Dynamic updates to rules (B) are not based on hit counts, and rule shadowing (E) is determined by rule ordering and overlap analysis, not hit counts.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Identify unused rules for cleanup
Why this is correct
Correct. Rules with zero or very low hit counts are candidates for removal.
- ✗
Create dynamic updates to rules
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Hit counts do not trigger dynamic changes; they are diagnostic.
- ✓
Prioritize rule optimization efforts
Why this is correct
Correct. Rules with low hit counts can be optimized or removed to improve performance.
- ✓
Troubleshoot traffic mis-matches
Why this is correct
Correct. If expected traffic does not hit a rule, hit counts help identify the issue.
- ✗
Determine rule shadowing
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Shadowing is determined by rule analysis, not hit counts.
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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.