Paloalto Networks Updated Practitioner Exam Questions and Answers by alisa

A knowledge-based system uses a database of known vulnerabilities and attack profiles

to identify intrusion attempts. These types of systems have lower false-alarm rates than

behavior-based systems but must be continually updated with new attack signatures to

be effective.

● A behavior-based system uses a baseline of normal network activity to identify unusual

patterns or levels of network activity that may be indicative of an intrusion attempt.

These types of systems are more adaptive than knowledge-based systems and therefore

may be more effective in detecting previously unknown vulnerabilities and attacks, but

they have a much higher false-positive rate than knowledge-based systems.

Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services combine incident impact analysis and proactive threat hunting to enhance organizational security posture. Incident impact analysis assesses the severity, scope, and potential damage of identified threats, helping prioritize responses. Proactive threat hunting involves skilled analysts searching for hidden threats that automated detection may miss, leveraging threat intelligence and behavioral analytics. Palo Alto Networks’ MDR integrates Cortex XDR and human expertise to detect, investigate, and remediate sophisticated threats early. Unlike routine firewall updates or development processes, MDR is focused on active threat discovery and comprehensive incident management.

 Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR is an extended detection and response platform that provides endpoint protection, threat detection, and incident response capabilities. When an endpoint is asked to run an executable, Cortex XDR does the following steps1:

First, it sends the executable to WildFire, a cloud-based malware analysis and prevention service, to determine if it is malicious or benign. WildFire uses static and dynamic analysis, machine learning, and threat intelligence to analyze the executable and provide a verdict in seconds2.

Next, it checks the execution policy, which is a set of rules that define what actions are allowed or blocked on the endpoint. The execution policy can be configured by the administrator to enforce granular control over the endpoint behavior3.

Then, it runs a static analysis, which is a technique that examines the executable without executing it. Static analysis can identify malicious indicators, such as file signatures, hashes, strings, and embedded resources4.

Finally, it runs a dynamic analysis, which is a technique that executes the executable in a sandboxed environment and monitors its behavior. Dynamic analysis can detect malicious activities, such as network connections, registry changes, file modifications, and process injections4.

Cortex XDR Endpoint Protection Overview

WildFire Overview

[Execution Policy]

[Static and Dynamic Analysis]

According to the NIST definition of cloud computing, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a cloud service model that provides “the capability to provision processing, storage, networks, and other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating systems and applications” 1. The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage, and deployed applications; and possibly limited control of select networking components (e.g., host firewalls) 1. In other words, IaaS gives the user access to cloud-hosted physical and virtual servers, storage, and networking, as stated in the question. References: 1: SP 800-145, The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing | CSRC 2