PCNSE Practice Question: Securing Users and Applications with Authentication
Which TWO are prerequisites for using Authentication Policy? (Choose two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse prerequisites with features that enhance security (like SSL decryption) or confuse the order of configuration steps, thinking a security rule with user attributes must exist before the authentication policy can be used.
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
✓
User-ID is configured
User-ID must be configured because Authentication Policy relies on user identity information to enforce access controls based on who the user is, not just IP addresses. Without User-ID, the firewall cannot map users to traffic, making authentication policies ineffective. This prerequisite ensures the firewall can identify users via agents, captive portal, or other methods.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
User-ID is configured
Why this is correct
User-ID is required to map users to IP addresses and use user attributes in policies.
- ✗
The firewall is in transparent mode
Why it's wrong here
Authentication Policy works in any mode.
- ✗
SSL decryption is enabled
Why it's wrong here
Authentication Policy works without SSL decryption.
- ✗
A security policy rule exists with user attributes
Why it's wrong here
Authentication Policy is independent of security policies.
- ✓
An authentication profile is configured
Why this is correct
The authentication profile defines the method (e.g., SAML, LDAP) used to authenticate.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PCNSE 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 PCNSE exam.