PSE-SoftwareFirewall Palo Alto Networks Systems Engineer (PSE): Software Firewall Professional Questions and Answers

User IP mappings:

Panorama can push user-to-IP mapping information to the NSX manager, enabling dynamic security policy enforcement based on user identity.

Independent Upgrade:

The VM-Series plugin can be upgraded independently of the PAN-OS version. This allows for flexibility in maintaining and enhancing the plugin without the need for a complete PAN-OS upgrade.

Visibility into application-level cluster traffic:

VM-Series firewalls and hardware firewalls that are external to the Kubernetes cluster lack the necessary visibility into the traffic and communications occurring at the application level within the cluster. This limitation impedes their ability to effectively protect containerized workloads.

For a customer deploying VM-Series firewalls in a private data center and concerned about protecting resources from malware and lateral movement, the following subscriptions are recommended:

Threat Prevention:This subscription provides comprehensive threat detection and prevention capabilities, including IPS, anti-virus, anti-spyware, and vulnerability protection.

WildFire:This advanced threat intelligence service analyzes suspicious files and identifies new malware, providing protection against zero-day exploits and threats.

References:

Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention: Threat Prevention

Palo Alto Networks WildFire: WildFire

Zero Trust implementation revolves around the principle that no entity, inside or outside the network, should be trusted by default. The primary methods that benefit an organization are:

Security automation is seamlessly integrated: Zero Trust requires continuous monitoring and verification of every device and user attempting to access resources. Automation helps in efficiently managing these processes, ensuring that security policies are consistently enforced without human error. Automated tools can quickly detect anomalies, respond to threats, and update access controls dynamically.

Transit Gateway and Security VPC:

Using a transit gateway in conjunction with a Security VPC is a recommended design for outbound high availability (HA) in AWS. This configuration ensures that traffic can be routed efficiently and securely through the VM-Series firewalls deployed in the Security VPC.

The CN-Series firewalls are specifically designed to secure Kubernetes and containerized environments, making them ideal for protecting microservices-based applications. They provide network security by integrating directly with the container orchestration platform.

Consistent Security Across the Environment:

CN-Series firewalls are designed to provide security for containerized environments by protecting traffic between pods and other workload types. This ensures that security policies are consistently enforced across all elements of the environment, maintaining a unified security posture.

Intrusion Prevention System (IPS):The CN-Series firewalls incorporate an Intrusion Prevention System to detect and prevent exploits and attacks on applications and systems. This feature is essential for securing east-west traffic, as it can identify and block threats within the data center traffic between pods in different trust zones.

Layer 7 Visibility:CN-Series firewalls provide Layer 7 (application layer) visibility, enabling deep inspection of application traffic. This allows the firewall to understand and enforce policies based on the application and its behavior, rather than just ports and protocols, ensuring comprehensive security for east-west traffic within a Kubernetes environment.

References:

Palo Alto Networks CN-Series Datasheet: CN-Series Datasheet

Palo Alto Networks CN-Series Documentation: CN-Series Documentation

The Cloud NGFW by Palo Alto Networks is a managed cloud service designed to provide advanced network security capabilities within AWS deployments. This service leverages Palo Alto Networks’ technology to deliver scalable and comprehensive security without the need for users to manage the infrastructure themselves. It is ideal for organizations looking to integrate robust security within their cloud environments efficiently.

References:

Palo Alto Networks Cloud NGFW for AWS: Cloud NGFW for AWS

AWS Marketplace:Cloud NGFW for AWS

For automating the deployment of VM-Series firewalls from NSX Manager, Panorama must be configured to recognize and communicate with both the NSX Manager and vCenter. This ensures that Panorama can manage the firewall policies and orchestration efficiently.

CN-Series for DevOps deployments:

The CN-Series firewall is specifically designed to secure containerized environments and is ideal for protecting extensive DevOps deployments. It integrates seamlessly with Kubernetes and other container orchestration platforms, providing the necessary security controls for DevOps processes.

Allow-list Security Model:

Prisma Cloud Compute provides runtime security by automatically creating an allow-list security model for each container and service. This model ensures that only expected and authorized behaviors are allowed, effectively preventing unauthorized activities.

NAT (Network Address Translation) protects and hides an internal network in an outbound flow by translating internal private IP addresses to a public IP address. This process masks the internal IP addresses from external networks, providing security and privacy for the internal network. NAT is commonly used in outbound traffic to allow multiple devices on a local network to communicate with external networks while appearing as a single IP address.

References:

Palo Alto Networks NAT Configuration Guide: NAT Configuration

Palo Alto Networks Concepts: NAT

In Cisco ACI, traffic is directed to a Palo Alto Networks firewall by creating contracts between endpoint groups (EPGs) that send traffic to the firewall. These contracts define the policy for communication between EPGs, ensuring that traffic is inspected and secured by the firewall before reaching its destination.

References:

Cisco ACI and Palo Alto Networks Integration Guide: Contracts and Policies

Cisco ACI Fundamentals: ACI Contracts

To configure a default route to an internet router, you need to perform the following steps:

Select Network > Virtual Router, then select the default link to open the Virtual Router dialog.

Select the Static Routes tab, then click Add to create a new static route.

These steps ensure that the default route is correctly added to the virtual router configuration, allowing traffic to be directed to the appropriate internet gateway.

References:

Palo Alto Networks Configuration Guide: Configuring Default Route

Palo Alto Networks Virtual Router Configuration: Virtual Router