Paloalto Networks PSE-Strata - Palo Alto Networks System Engineer Professional - Strata

For a Fortune 500 customer concerned about sending discovered malware outside of their network, the WildFire Private Cloud is the appropriate solution. The WildFire Private Cloud allows the organization to retain all malware analysis within their own data center, ensuring that sensitive information and discovered threats are not transmitted to external servers. This version of WildFire is designed for organizations with stringent data privacy and security policies, offering the same advanced threat detection and prevention capabilities as the public cloud version, but hosted entirely within the customer's infrastructure.

Deploying Panorama in a High Availability (HA) configuration provides significant advantages, especially for maintaining the management layer and ensuring robust log collection. Here are the key reasons:

Ensure Management Continuity: By deploying a second Panorama appliance in an HA setup, you can ensure continuous management of your firewall environment. In the event that the primary Panorama appliance fails, the secondary appliance can take over, ensuring that there is no interruption in management capabilities. This is crucial for maintaining operational stability and uninterrupted administrative functions​ (Palo Alto Networks)​​ (Palo Alto Networks)​.

Improve Log Collection Redundancy: An HA setup improves the redundancy and reliability of log collection. If the primary Panorama appliance that is collecting logs from various firewalls becomes unavailable, the secondary appliance can continue the log collection process. This ensures that all security events and network activities are recorded without gaps, which is essential for effective monitoring and incident response​ (Palo Alto Networks)​​ (Palo Alto Networks Knowledge Base)​.

Expedition is a tool provided by Palo Alto Networks to help streamline the migration and optimization of security policies. Two key presales selling advantages of using Expedition are:

Streamline & Migrate to Layer7 Policies Using Policy Optimizer: Policy Optimizer helps in converting traditional Layer 3/4 policies into more granular Layer 7 application-based policies. This migration ensures more precise control and better security by focusing on the actual applications rather than just IP addresses and ports.

Reduce Effort to Implement Policies Based on App-ID and User-ID: Expedition facilitates the implementation of security policies based on Palo Alto Networks' App-ID and User-ID technologies. This reduces the complexity and effort required to manage security policies, as policies can be applied based on specific applications and user identities, leading to more effective and efficient security management.

The customer currently lacks visibility into the Layer 7 application traffic on port 53, which is typically used for DNS. Palo Alto Networks' App-ID technology can identify applications traversing the network irrespective of the port, protocol, or encryption (SSL or SSH). By using App-ID, the customer can gain visibility into the specific applications being used, even if they are running over standard ports such as 53. This capability not only identifies the applications but also allows for granular control over them, enabling the customer to block unsanctioned applications if necessary.

Prisma SaaS and VM-300 firewalls can send logs to the Cortex Data Lake (now called Strata Logging Service). Prisma SaaS logs user activity and data access within SaaS applications and forwards these logs to the Strata Logging Service for centralized analysis and monitoring. Similarly, VM-300 firewalls deployed in AWS can send various types of logs, including traffic and threat logs, to the Strata Logging Service through Panorama or directly​ (Palo Alto Networks)​​ (Palo Alto Networks)​.

The Best Practice Assessment (BPA) tool by Palo Alto Networks identifies tasks related to improving device management access. This includes evaluating the current state of management access configurations and providing recommendations to enhance security, such as implementing multi-factor authentication, using secure management interfaces, and restricting access based on roles.

References: Palo Alto Networks Best Practice Assessment tool documentation.

To activate or retrieve a Device Management License on the M-100 Appliance after the authorization codes have been activated on the Palo Alto Networks Support Site, you need to navigate to Panorama > Licenses. From there, you can click on "Activate feature using authorization code". This option allows you to input the necessary authorization code to activate the desired license feature directly through the Panorama interface. This process is designed to streamline license management and ensure that all activated features are correctly applied to your device.

References:

Palo Alto Networks Administrator's Guide

Palo Alto Networks Licensing Documentation

In Panorama, the centralized management tool for Palo Alto Networks firewalls, WildFire analysis reports, threat logs, and botnet reports are essential for identifying the inclusion of a host source in a command-and-control (C2) incident. WildFire analysis reports provide detailed insights into malware behavior and characteristics. Threat logs record events related to security threats, such as attempted intrusions or malware detections. Botnet reports specifically track botnet activity, identifying compromised hosts that communicate with known botnet servers. By reviewing these reports and logs, administrators can accurately identify and mitigate C2 incidents.

When a packet associated with an existing session arrives at the firewall, it is processed through the fast path because the session establishment has already occurred, so the session lookup can be quickly determined. If the packet is subject to content inspection, it will then be processed through a single stream-based content inspection engine before it is allowed to egress. This approach ensures efficient packet handling and minimizes latency while maintaining necessary security inspections.

For a price-sensitive customer needing to secure a Windows Virtual Server with a maximum throughput of 100Mbps and requiring up to 45,000 sessions, the VM-200 instance is the appropriate choice. The VM-200 is designed to handle up to 100Mbps of throughput and supports a sufficient number of sessions to meet the customer's requirements, making it a cost-effective and suitable option for this use case​ (Palo Alto Networks)​​ (Palo Alto Networks)​.