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Question 121.

Which security principle recommends verifying every access request instead of assuming that an internal user or device is trustworthy?

1. Zero trust
   2. Open access
   3. Shared administration
   4. Flat networking

Correct Answer: 1

Explanation:

Zero trust requires access to be evaluated according to identity, device condition, requested resource, policy, and other relevant context rather than automatically trusting users because they are on an internal network. This approach supports least privilege and continuous verification. Open access and flat networking increase unnecessary exposure, while shared administration can weaken accountability. Zero trust is useful in modern environments because users, applications, and workloads may operate across offices, cloud platforms, mobile devices, and remote locations. Trust should be established according to policy instead of being assumed from network location alone.

Question 122.

Which Palo Alto Networks capability can help identify the actual application generating network traffic?

1. VLAN tagging
   2. Static routing
   3. DHCP relay
   4. Application identification

Correct Answer: 4

Explanation:

Application identification provides visibility into the applications using network connections instead of relying only on port numbers or protocols. This is important because many modern applications use common ports, dynamic ports, or encrypted sessions. Application-aware visibility allows security rules to be aligned more closely with business requirements. VLAN tagging identifies Layer 2 network membership, static routing determines packet paths, and DHCP relay forwards DHCP messages between networks. Application identification is a core part of next-generation firewall policy because it gives administrators more context about the traffic they are allowing or blocking.

Question 123.

Which term describes a malicious attempt to trick a user into entering credentials on a fake login page?

1. Data compression
   2. Link aggregation
   3. Phishing
   4. Load balancing

Correct Answer: 3

Explanation:

Phishing uses deceptive messages, websites, or other communication to trick users into revealing credentials or performing unsafe actions. Fake login pages often imitate trusted services to make the request appear legitimate. Data compression reduces the size of information, link aggregation combines network connections, and load balancing distributes traffic across multiple systems. Security awareness, URL filtering, email protection, multi-factor authentication, and user reporting processes can help reduce phishing risk. Phishing remains effective because it targets human trust as well as technical systems.

Question 124.

Which protocol is most commonly associated with secure web browsing?

1. Telnet
   2. HTTPS
   3. TFTP
   4. SNMP

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation:

HTTPS protects web communication using TLS, helping preserve confidentiality and integrity between a browser and server. It is commonly used for web applications, portals, online services, and administrative interfaces. Telnet provides remote terminal access without comparable encryption, TFTP is a lightweight file-transfer protocol, and SNMP is commonly used for network monitoring and management. Secure web communication is important because web sessions may carry credentials, session tokens, payment details, and other sensitive information. Proper certificate validation and secure TLS configuration are also important for maintaining trust.

Question 125.

Which firewall function is most directly responsible for permitting or denying communication according to configured security rules?

1. Security policy enforcement
   2. Disk mirroring
   3. File compression
   4. Printer management

Correct Answer: 1

Explanation:

Security policy enforcement is a primary firewall function. The firewall evaluates traffic against configured rules and determines whether the session should be allowed, denied, inspected, logged, or handled in another defined way. Rules may consider source, destination, user, application, service, zone, and other context. Disk mirroring, file compression, and printer management are unrelated functions. Good firewall policy should permit only required communication, restrict unnecessary access, and include logging and security inspection where appropriate. Periodic policy review also helps remove obsolete or overly broad rules.

Question 126.

Which protocol is commonly used for secure remote command-line access to a server?

1. HTTP
   2. FTP
   3. Telnet
   4. SSH

Correct Answer: 4

Explanation:

SSH provides encrypted remote command-line access and is commonly used to administer servers and network devices securely. It typically uses TCP port 22. Telnet also provides terminal access but normally transmits traffic without strong encryption. HTTP is designed for web communication, while FTP is used for file transfer. Secure administration should use encrypted protocols together with strong authentication, restricted management access, individual administrator accounts, and logging. Protecting management traffic is especially important because compromised administrative credentials can result in broad control over systems and security settings.

Question 127.

Which security technology most directly monitors processes, files, and suspicious behavior on a workstation?

1. DNS resolver
   2. Layer 2 switch
   3. Endpoint detection and response
   4. DHCP relay

Correct Answer: 3

Explanation:

Endpoint detection and response monitors host activity such as running processes, file changes, network connections, and other behavioral indicators. It can help detect malware, suspicious execution, credential abuse, or other malicious activity directly on laptops, desktops, and servers. A DNS resolver performs name resolution, a Layer 2 switch forwards Ethernet frames, and a DHCP relay forwards address-assignment traffic. EDR complements network security because some attacks take place directly on endpoints and may not be fully visible from network traffic alone.

Question 128.

Which statement best describes authorization?

1. Verifying a user’s identity
   2. Determining what an authenticated user is permitted to access or do
   3. Assigning an IP address to a device
   4. Encrypting a backup file

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation:

Authorization determines which resources or actions an authenticated identity is allowed to use. Authentication occurs first and verifies who the user or device is. Authorization then applies permissions based on role, policy, group membership, or other criteria. Assigning IP addresses is a networking function commonly associated with DHCP, while encrypting backups protects data confidentiality. Effective authorization follows least-privilege principles so users receive only the permissions required for legitimate work. Poor authorization can expose sensitive systems even when authentication itself is strong.

Question 129.

Which cybersecurity objective is primarily concerned with keeping systems accessible when authorized users need them?

1. Availability
   2. Confidentiality
   3. Integrity
   4. Obfuscation

Correct Answer: 1

Explanation:

Availability ensures that authorized users can access systems, applications, and data when required. Organizations support availability through redundancy, failover, backups, resilient network design, monitoring, capacity planning, and disaster recovery. Confidentiality protects information from unauthorized disclosure, while integrity protects against unauthorized modification. Obfuscation makes information or code harder to understand but is not one of the core CIA objectives. Availability is especially important for business-critical services because outages can interrupt operations, revenue, customer service, or security functions.

Question 130.

Which type of attack attempts to overwhelm a service so legitimate users cannot access it?

1. Credential hashing
   2. File compression
   3. Data classification
   4. Denial-of-service attack

Correct Answer: 4

Explanation:

A denial-of-service attack attempts to exhaust resources, bandwidth, connection capacity, or processing capability so legitimate users cannot access a service. Distributed denial-of-service attacks use multiple systems to generate the traffic or requests. Credential hashing protects stored password representations, file compression reduces file size, and data classification organizes information according to sensitivity or importance. Organizations can reduce denial-of-service risk through resilient architecture, filtering, rate controls, traffic analysis, capacity planning, and upstream mitigation services.

Question 131.

Which security practice helps reduce risk by disabling unused services and removing unnecessary software?

1. Load balancing
   2. Packet replication
   3. System hardening
   4. Open authorization

Correct Answer: 3

Explanation:

System hardening reduces the attack surface by disabling unnecessary services, removing unused software, changing insecure defaults, restricting permissions, and applying secure configuration settings. Fewer unnecessary components mean fewer opportunities for attackers to exploit weaknesses. Load balancing distributes workload, packet replication copies traffic, and open authorization increases rather than reduces risk. Hardening should be combined with patch management, endpoint protection, monitoring, least privilege, and configuration baselines. Standardized hardening guidance can help organizations maintain consistent security across many systems.

Question 132.

What is the main purpose of centralized security logging?

1. To eliminate the need for authentication
   2. To collect and correlate events from multiple systems for monitoring and investigation
   3. To increase physical network speed
   4. To automatically patch every endpoint

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation:

Centralized logging brings events from multiple sources into one monitoring environment. Security teams can correlate firewall logs, endpoint alerts, authentication events, cloud activity, application records, and other telemetry. This helps identify suspicious patterns and reconstruct incident timelines. Centralized logging does not replace authentication, increase physical bandwidth, or automatically patch systems. Effective logging also requires accurate timestamps, appropriate retention, access controls, and protection against unauthorized modification. Centralized visibility is especially valuable when an incident affects several systems or security layers.

Question 133.

Which action most directly supports least privilege for firewall administrators?

1. Give every employee full firewall access.
   2. Use one shared administrator account.
   3. Assign only the administrative permissions required for each role.
   4. Disable authentication for management access.

Correct Answer: 3

Explanation:

Least privilege means granting administrators only the permissions needed for their assigned responsibilities. Role-based administration can separate tasks such as monitoring, policy management, and full system configuration. Giving everyone broad access increases risk, while shared accounts reduce accountability. Disabling authentication removes a critical security control. Administrative access should also use strong authentication, individual accounts, logging, restricted management paths, and periodic access reviews. Privileged accounts are high-value targets, so reducing unnecessary permissions helps limit the impact of compromise or mistakes.

Question 134.

Which Palo Alto Networks security feature can help control web access according to categories or destination reputation?

1. Static routing
   2. URL filtering
   3. Link aggregation
   4. Port mirroring

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation:

URL filtering allows administrators to control access to web destinations according to categories, reputation, organizational policy, and security requirements. It can help block phishing sites, malicious destinations, risky categories, or inappropriate content while allowing approved business browsing. Static routing determines network paths, link aggregation combines interfaces, and port mirroring copies traffic for monitoring. URL filtering can be combined with user identification, threat prevention, malware analysis, DNS security, and application-aware policy for stronger web protection.

Question 135.

Which control most directly helps protect sensitive data stored on a stolen laptop?

1. Full-disk encryption
   2. Load balancing
   3. DNS forwarding
   4. Packet capture

Correct Answer: 1

Explanation:

Full-disk encryption protects data stored on a device by making the contents unreadable without the appropriate cryptographic key or authentication mechanism. If a laptop is lost or stolen, encryption can reduce the risk that an unauthorized person will access the stored information directly. Load balancing distributes traffic, DNS forwarding processes name-resolution requests, and packet capture records network traffic. Encryption should be combined with strong login controls, device management, remote response capabilities, backups, and secure key management to provide broader endpoint protection.

Question 136.

Which protocol is commonly used to synchronize system clocks across a network?

1. FTP
   2. SMTP
   3. DNS
   4. NTP

Correct Answer: 4

Explanation:

NTP is commonly used to synchronize clocks across network devices and systems. Accurate time is important for security because logs from different sources must be correlated during monitoring and incident investigations. If clocks differ significantly, reconstructing the order of events becomes difficult. FTP transfers files, SMTP is commonly used for email delivery, and DNS performs name resolution. Organizations should configure trusted time sources and ensure critical systems maintain consistent timestamps for auditing, authentication, troubleshooting, and forensic analysis.

Question 137.

Which threat involves attempting many different passwords against an account until one works?

1. Network segmentation
   2. Data replication
   3. Brute-force attack
   4. Certificate renewal

Correct Answer: 3

Explanation:

A brute-force attack repeatedly tries password possibilities in an attempt to discover valid credentials. Security controls such as multi-factor authentication, strong password policies, rate limiting, account lockout strategies, monitoring, and compromised-credential detection can reduce this risk. Network segmentation separates network areas, data replication creates additional copies of information, and certificate renewal maintains digital certificates. Authentication logs showing many repeated failures against one account over a short period may indicate brute-force activity, although analysts should also consider legitimate misconfigurations before concluding an attack is occurring.

Question 138.

Which action is most appropriate after confirming that malware is active on an employee endpoint?

1. Ignore the endpoint until the next maintenance period.
   2. Isolate or contain the endpoint according to incident-response procedures.
   3. Share its credentials with other employees.
   4. Disable all backups.

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation:

Containment helps limit the spread and impact of confirmed malicious activity. Isolating the endpoint can prevent malware from communicating with other systems, reaching attacker infrastructure, or spreading laterally. Incident-response procedures should guide the exact action and consider evidence preservation, business impact, and coordination with other teams. Ignoring the endpoint may allow the incident to worsen. Sharing credentials creates additional exposure, while disabling backups reduces recovery capability. After containment, teams can continue investigation, eradication, recovery, and lessons learned.

Question 139.

Which cloud-security concept explains why customers still have security obligations even when using a cloud provider?

1. Shared responsibility model
   2. Anonymous administration
   3. Flat authorization
   4. Open trust

Correct Answer: 1

Explanation:

The shared responsibility model divides security obligations between the cloud provider and the customer. The provider may protect physical facilities, hardware, and foundational services, while the customer may remain responsible for identities, data, configurations, applications, operating systems, or other components depending on the service model. Moving workloads to the cloud does not mean the provider handles every security task. Organizations must understand which controls remain their responsibility so that important areas such as access, data protection, logging, and configuration are not overlooked.

Question 140.

Which approach provides the strongest cybersecurity posture for an enterprise?

1. Depend entirely on one perimeter firewall.
   2. Combine identity controls, segmentation, application-aware policy, endpoint protection, threat prevention, monitoring, and recovery.
   3. Disable updates to avoid service interruptions.
   4. Trust all internal users and devices automatically.

Correct Answer: 2

Explanation:

A strong enterprise security strategy combines multiple complementary controls. Identity protection limits unauthorized access, segmentation restricts movement, application-aware policy controls network use, endpoint protection monitors hosts, threat prevention blocks malicious activity, and monitoring supports investigation. Backups and recovery capabilities help restore operations when prevention fails. Depending on one firewall, disabling updates, or automatically trusting internal systems creates unnecessary risk. A layered approach is more resilient because attackers may bypass one control, but other safeguards can still prevent, detect, contain, or reduce the impact of the attack.