SSE-Engineer Palo Alto Networks Security Service Edge Engineer Questions and Answers

When implementingAI Access Security,tagsare applied toGenerative AI applicationsto classify them assanctioned, tolerated, or unsanctioned. This allows organizations to enforcepolicy-based access controlover AI tools, ensuring that onlyapproved applicationsare accessible while restricting or monitoring usage ofuntrusted or high-risk AI platforms. This classification helps security teamsmanage AI-related risks and complianceeffectively.

InPrisma Access, security policies are evaluated based on theirconfiguration scope. If the engineer configured aSecurity policyunder theRemote Networks scope, but traffic from the branch locations is instead matching aSecurity policy under the Prisma Access configuration scope, the intended policy will not take effect. This happens becausePrisma Access evaluates security rules based on the highest-level applicable configuration first, which can override more specific Remote Networks policies.

Palo Alto Networks documentation explicitly states that the"Preview Changes"functionality within the Strata Cloud Manager (SCM) push dialogue allows engineers to review a detailed summary of all modifications that will be applied to the Prisma Access configuration before committing the changes. This is the primary and most reliable method to ensure only the intended changes are deployed.

Let's analyze why the other options are incorrect based on official documentation:

A. Review the SCM portal for blue circular indicators next to each configuration menu item and ensure only the intended areas of configuration have this indicator.While blue circular indicators might signify unsaved changes within a specific configuration section, they do not provide a comprehensive, consolidated view ofallpending changes across different policy areas. This method is insufficient for verifying the entirety of the intended modifications.

B. Compare the candidate configuration and the most recent version under "Config Version Snapshots".While comparing configuration snapshots is a valuable method for understanding historical changes and potentially identifying unintended deviationsaftera push, it does not provide a real-time preview of thependingchanges before they are applied during the current modification session

C. Select the most recent job under Operations > Push Status to view the pending changes that would apply to Prisma Access.The "Push Status" section primarily displays the status anddetails ofcompletedorin-progresspush operations. It does not offer a preview of the changesbeforea push is initiated.

Therefore, the "Preview Changes" feature within the push dialogue is the documented and recommended method for an engineer to verify that only the intended changes will be applied when modifying Prisma Access policy configuration in Strata Cloud Manager (SCM).

When onboarding a discovered application forZTNA Connector, configuring aTCP pingallows Prisma Access to accurately report the application'savailability.TCP ping(also known as aTCP connection check) verifies whether the application's service port isopen and responsive, ensuring that the application is reachable before allowing user connections. This method is more reliable thanICMP ping, as many cloud and SaaS applicationsblock ICMP trafficfor security reasons.

Embargo rules inPrisma Accessare designed toblock traffic from specific countriesthat are subject to regulatory or policy-based restrictions. These rules help organizations enforce compliance bypreventing inbound and outbound connectionsto or from regions that may pose security risks or arerestricted due to legal or geopolitical reasons. They are commonly used toalign with government sanctions and corporate security policies.

Selecting the“Disable Server Response Inspection”checkbox means that traffic flowingfrom the server to the clientwillnot be inspectedfor threats, even if a threat protection profile is applied to the Security policy rule. This setting can reduce processing overhead but may expose the network to threats embedded in server responses, such as malware or exploits.

In Prisma Access's default routing mode, the service connections establish BGP sessions with the customer premises equipment (CPE) in the data centers. To ensure traffic destined for mobile users in a specific region (e.g., North America) traverses the service connection in that same region, you need to control the route advertisements.

Filtering out the mobile user pool prefixes from the other region on each service connection achieves this by:

Preventing the data center in one region from learning the specific mobile user prefixes of the other region.For example, the North American service connection would filter out the mobile user pool prefixes allocated to European users.

Ensuring that when a data center needs to send traffic to a mobile user, it will only see and use the route advertised by the service connection in the appropriate geographical region.This forces the traffic to enter the Prisma Access infrastructure through the intended regional service connection.

Let's analyze why the other options are incorrect based on official documentation regarding default routing mode:

A. Configure BGP on the customer premises equipment (CPE) to prefer the assigned community string attribute on the mobile user prefixes in its respective Prisma Access region.While BGP communities can be used for influencing routing decisions, in the context ofdefault routing modeand ensuring regional traffic flow, relying solely on the CPE to prefer community strings might not be the most robust or direct method to guarantee traffic traverses the correct regional service connection. The service connection itself needs to control the advertisement of prefixes.

C. Configure BGP on the customer premises equipment (CPE) to prefer the MED attribute on the mobile user prefixes in its respective Prisma Access region.The BGP MED (Multi-Exit Discriminator) attribute is primarily used to influence the path selectionbetweenautonomous systems (AS) or within the same AS at different entry points. In this scenario, where serviceconnections are advertising prefixes, filtering at the source (service connection) is a more direct and reliable way to ensure regional traffic flow than relying on the MED attribute on the CPE.

D. Configure each service connection to prepend the BGP ASN five times for mobile user pool prefixes originating from the other region.BGP AS path prepending is a mechanism to make a path less desirable. While this could influence routing, it doesn't guarantee that traffic will always take the intended regional path. Filtering provides a more definitive control over which routes are advertised and learned.

Therefore, configuring each service connection to filter out the mobile user pool prefixes from the other region in the advertisements to the data center is the verified method to ensure traffic destined for mobile users traverses the service connection in the appropriate region when using Prisma Access in default routing mode.

When terminating aPartner Interconnect-based Colo-ConnectinPrisma Access, theCustomer Premises Equipment (CPE)must supportIPSecas the overlay protocol. Prisma Access establishes secureIPSec tunnelsbetween theColo-Connect infrastructure and the CPE, ensuringencrypted communicationand reliable connectivity.IPSecprovidessecure site-to-cloud integration, enabling customers to extend their private network securely over the Prisma Access infrastructure.

Strata Copilotenhances the capabilities ofPrisma Access security teamsby providingAI-powered insights and recommendationsto help resolve security issues efficiently. It analyzessecurity events, misconfigurations, and alertsand offerscontextual guidancewithrecommended next stepsfor troubleshooting and improving security posture. This assists teams inquickly identifying and addressing security challengeswithout requiring deep manual investigation.

For complete data visibility inPrisma Access (Managed by Panorama),log forwarding profilesmust be applied toall security policiesto ensure that traffic logs are correctly sent toStrata Logging Service. If log forwarding is missing or misconfigured, some traffic data may not appear in theApplication Command Center (ACC), leading to incomplete insights. Verifying and correctly assigning log forwarding ensures that all relevant network activity is captured and available for analysis.

TheStrata Logging Serviceallowslog replay, which enables resending logs that were not successfully forwarded to an external syslog server due to disruptions. By configuring areplay profilewith the affected time range and associating it with thesyslog server profile, Prisma Access will resend the missing logs, ensuring that all relevant data is restored in the external logging system. This approach is the most efficient and automated way to recover missing logs.

To enable App Acceleration for SaaS applications in Prisma Access, the following configurations must be enabled:

Trusted Root CA for the CA certificate ensures that Prisma Access can validate and trust the SaaS application's certificates, allowing seamless inspection and acceleration of traffic without security warnings.

Forward Trust Certificate for the CA certificate enables SSL decryption for SaaS applications, allowing Prisma Access to optimize traffic and apply acceleration techniques while maintaining security policies.