Palo Alto Networks PSE-Cortex Exam Dumps & Practice Test Questions
Question No 1:
When investigating a security event in Cortex XDR, which feature allows the immediate termination of a process or an entire process tree upon detection of an anomaly?
A. File Explorer
B. Log Stitching
C. Live Sensors
D. Live Terminal
Answer: D. Live Terminal
Explanation:
Cortex XDR is designed to provide advanced security features for detecting and responding to threats across multiple environments. One of its key capabilities is the ability to quickly contain threats during an ongoing investigation. When a security event is triggered, the platform allows security teams to take immediate action to stop any potentially harmful processes.
The Live Terminal feature is integral to this process, enabling security professionals to terminate suspicious processes or an entire process tree in real time. This capability is particularly critical when dealing with threats such as malware or ransomware that might be executing in the background. By using the Live Terminal, security analysts can quickly neutralize the threat and prevent further damage or compromise.
When a threat is identified, the Live Terminal provides an interactive command-line interface, allowing security teams to issue commands directly to the affected endpoint. This can include halting not just the identified malicious process, but also any associated processes that may have been spawned as part of a malicious chain of execution. This immediate action helps to minimize the impact of the attack.
While other features like File Explorer and Log Stitching play important roles in forensics and incident investigation, they do not provide direct control over process termination. Live Sensors monitor real-time endpoint activity but do not allow for direct intervention in the process. Therefore, Live Terminal stands out as the critical tool for taking swift, decisive action against suspected malicious processes.
Question No 2:
If a customer activates a Threat Management System (TMS) tenant but does not purchase a dedicated Cortex Data Lake instance, what is the size of the default, free Cortex Data Lake instance provided?
A. 50 GB
B. 100 GB
C. 250 GB
D. 500 GB
Answer: B. 100 GB
Explanation:
Cortex Data Lake is a cloud-based solution designed to store and analyze vast amounts of security data, integrating seamlessly with other Palo Alto Networks products. It plays a critical role in security monitoring, analysis, and incident response. When a customer activates a Threat Management System (TMS) tenant, they are provided with the option to purchase a dedicated instance of Cortex Data Lake to store their data.
However, if the customer does not opt for a dedicated instance, Palo Alto Networks provides a free default instance. This default instance is limited in terms of storage capacity, offering up to 100 GB of free data storage. This allows customers to get started with Cortex Data Lake without immediate additional costs, providing enough capacity for small-scale environments or testing purposes.
For larger organizations or those with significant data storage requirements, this 100 GB free instance may quickly become insufficient. In such cases, customers would need to upgrade to a paid version of Cortex Data Lake, which offers larger capacities ranging from 1 TB to 10 TB or more.
It’s important to recognize that while the free 100 GB instance provides a basic starting point, it is intended as a temporary solution. As the customer’s data storage and analytics needs grow, the customer would be encouraged to purchase a larger instance to avoid any operational disruptions.
Thus, the correct answer to this question is B. 100 GB, reflecting the size of the free default instance offered with TMS tenant activation.
Question No 3:
In the event of a phishing incident, how does Cortex XSOAR improve the efficiency of incident response and reduce manual work for security teams?
A. It sends automated emails to all employees warning them of the phishing attempt and includes a copy of the malicious email.
B. It replies to the phishing email, requesting to unsubscribe from further communications.
C. It detects the phishing email in user inboxes and removes it from mailboxes where it has not yet been opened.
D. It identifies all mailboxes that received the phishing email and generates individual incident cases for each, enabling structured and automated triage.
Answer:
D. It identifies all mailboxes that received the phishing email and generates individual incident cases for each, enabling structured and automated triage.
Explanation:
Cortex XSOAR (Extended Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response) is a platform that enables security teams to respond quickly and efficiently to incidents like phishing attacks. The goal is to automate as much of the response as possible, reducing the manual workload and accelerating the response time to contain the threat.
When a phishing email is detected, Cortex XSOAR automates key steps in the response process. The platform integrates with email systems like Microsoft Exchange or Google Workspace, allowing it to identify which mailboxes received the phishing email. After identifying these mailboxes, Cortex XSOAR generates individual incident cases for each affected user. These cases typically contain vital information such as the sender's address, email content, attachments, and any embedded links. This allows security analysts to quickly assess the severity of the phishing attempt for each affected mailbox.
By generating these structured incident cases, Cortex XSOAR automates the triage process, helping analysts prioritize which incidents to address first. It also automates actions like isolating affected users, removing phishing emails from mailboxes, and blocking malicious senders at the email gateway. This significantly reduces the mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to respond (MTTR), which is critical in minimizing the potential damage caused by phishing attacks.
In comparison, other options such as sending automated emails (Option A) or replying to the phishing email (Option B) are either ineffective or not security best practices. Removing emails from mailboxes where they haven't been opened (Option C) is useful but not as comprehensive as generating incident cases for all affected users.
Therefore, D is the best option as it allows Cortex XSOAR to handle phishing incidents in a structured, automated, and scalable manner. This leads to faster and more effective responses, reducing the need for manual intervention.
Question No 4:
In Cortex XDR, which two types of Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) can be created to aid in detection and response? (Select two correct options.)
A. Registry Entry
B. Internet Protocol (IP) Address
C. Domain
D. Endpoint Hostname
Correct Answer:
B. Internet Protocol (IP) Address
C. Domain
Explanation:
Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) are critical artifacts used by cybersecurity teams to identify and investigate malicious activities within a network. In Cortex XDR, IOCs can be created to help track and respond to potential threats. The two primary IOCs that can be established within Cortex XDR for detection and response are IP addresses and domains.
Internet Protocol (IP) Address:
IP addresses are essential for tracking suspicious network activity. Malicious actors often use compromised or known malicious IP addresses to carry out cyberattacks, including data exfiltration, malware distribution, or unauthorized access. By creating an IP address IOC, security teams can monitor network traffic for connections to or from these malicious IPs, facilitating the identification of potential threats and enabling proactive response actions.Domain:
A domain IOC is crucial for identifying websites or servers linked to malicious activities, such as hosting command-and-control servers, phishing sites, or distributing malware. By flagging malicious domains, Cortex XDR can prevent interactions with these dangerous resources, helping protect the network from web-based threats and ensuring that any communication with these sites is immediately blocked.
On the other hand, the other options, such as Registry Entries and Endpoint Hostname, are not typically used as IOCs in Cortex XDR. While registry entries may help identify malicious changes to a system's configuration, and endpoint hostnames assist in identifying affected devices, these are not part of the IOC creation process for direct detection and response in the Cortex XDR platform.
By using IP addresses and domains as IOCs, security teams can better monitor for external threats, trace the origin of attacks, and respond to incidents in real time, enhancing overall security posture.
Question No 5:
Which of the following is a primary benefit provided by Cortex XSOAR, and how does it enhance business operations?
A. The ability to customize the extensible platform to scale according to business needs.
B. The capability to consolidate multiple point products into a single integrated service.
C. The provision of holistic protection across hosts and containers throughout the application lifecycle.
D. The enablement of an end-to-end view of all factors in the customer environment that affect digital employee productivity.
Correct Answer:
B. The capability to consolidate multiple point products into a single integrated service.
Explanation:
Cortex XSOAR is a comprehensive Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) platform from Palo Alto Networks, designed to streamline and improve the efficiency of security operations. One of its key benefits is the ability to consolidate multiple point security tools into a single, integrated platform. Many organizations use a range of point security solutions, each handling a different aspect of security. Managing these disparate tools can lead to inefficiencies, complexities, and delays in responding to threats. Cortex XSOAR solves this challenge by integrating these point products into one cohesive platform.
The integration allows for the automation of workflows, which reduces the reliance on manual processes. This automation speeds up incident response times and improves overall operational efficiency. With all security tools functioning together in one platform, security teams can better coordinate their efforts, share threat intelligence, and respond to security incidents more effectively.
By consolidating these various tools into a unified platform, organizations also minimize the risk of data silos. Security teams can view and manage all security data from a single dashboard, ensuring better visibility and control over the organization's security posture. Additionally, the customizability of Cortex XSOAR allows businesses to scale their security operations in line with their growth, adapting to new threats and evolving business requirements.
While options like holistic protection across hosts and containers or end-to-end views of digital productivity are valuable in their own right, they do not focus directly on improving the integration of security tools across multiple systems. In contrast, Cortex XSOAR’s consolidation of security products enhances operational efficiency and threat response, making it a critical asset for organizations facing an increasingly complex security landscape.
Question No 6:
What action is required to enable Cortex XSOAR to access Docker in an air-gapped environment, where Docker was manually installed after the installation of Cortex XSOAR?
A. Create a "docker" group and add the "Cortex XSOAR" or "demisto" user to this group.
B. Create a "Cortex XSOAR" or "demisto" group and add the "docker" user to this group.
C. Enable the Docker service.
D. Disable the Cortex XSOAR service.
Correct Answer:
A. Create a "docker" group and add the "Cortex XSOAR" or "demisto" user to this group.
Explanation:
In an air-gapped environment, where systems are isolated from external networks for security reasons, integrating external services like Docker with Cortex XSOAR requires specific configuration steps. After installing Docker in such an environment, ensuring that Cortex XSOAR can interact with Docker involves granting the correct permissions to the platform's user.
Cortex XSOAR, also known as "demisto", needs permission to access Docker in order to deploy and manage containers for automation tasks. Docker operates under a user group called the "docker" group, which controls access to Docker’s resources and permissions to run commands related to container management.
Option A is the correct solution because adding the Cortex XSOAR or demisto user to the docker group grants the necessary permissions for interacting with Docker. This action ensures that the platform has the access required to execute Docker commands and manage containers without additional access control issues.
The other options are less effective:
Option B, which involves adding the docker user to the Cortex XSOAR group, is not the right approach. The docker user is not typically responsible for managing container resources, and this configuration does not resolve the access issue.
Option C, enabling the Docker service, is necessary for Docker to function but does not address the permission issue related to accessing Docker from Cortex XSOAR.
Option D, disabling the Cortex XSOAR service, would only disrupt the functioning of the platform and is not a relevant action for resolving Docker access issues.
By ensuring that the Cortex XSOAR user has the proper group membership, the platform can effectively interact with Docker, even in an air-gapped setup.
Question No 7:
Cortex XDR, a comprehensive solution for advanced threat detection and response by Palo Alto Networks, relies on integration with other Palo Alto Networks products to function optimally.
Which of the following products is crucial for the effective operation of Cortex XDR management service?
A. Directory Sync
B. Cortex Data Lake
C. Panorama
D. Cortex XSOAR
Answer: B. Cortex Data Lake
Explanation:
Cortex XDR is a powerful extended detection and response platform designed to prevent, detect, and respond to threats across various environments. For Cortex XDR to function effectively and provide actionable security insights, integration with other products within the Palo Alto Networks ecosystem is essential. Among the options listed, Cortex Data Lake is the most crucial component for the operation of Cortex XDR.
The Cortex Data Lake serves as a centralized cloud-based repository that consolidates and stores telemetry data from multiple Palo Alto Networks products. It provides the scalability and performance necessary to store vast amounts of data, enabling advanced threat detection, forensics, and incident response capabilities. Cortex XDR uses the data stored in the Cortex Data Lake to conduct accurate threat analysis, correlating data from endpoints, networks, and cloud environments. By aggregating information in a unified system, it enhances the security team’s ability to detect threats more effectively and improve incident response times.
On the other hand, Panorama (Option C) is a management platform for Palo Alto Networks firewalls and does not directly impact the functionality of Cortex XDR. Directory Sync (Option A) is used for synchronizing directory data and does not integrate with the core operational requirements of Cortex XDR. Cortex XSOAR (Option D), while beneficial for automating responses to security incidents, is not a mandatory integration for Cortex XDR’s operation.
In conclusion, Cortex Data Lake is the pivotal product that supports Cortex XDR’s ability to analyze and correlate data from diverse sources, providing critical insights that improve the platform’s detection and response capabilities.
Question No 8:
You are working with Splunk, a tool designed for searching, monitoring, and analyzing machine-generated data. If you want to retrieve the last three events from a Splunk instance using the command-line interface (CLI),
Which query should you use?
A) !search using=splunk_instance_1 query=" | last 3"*
B) !search using=splunk_instance_1 query=" | 3"*
C) !query using=splunk_instance_1 query=" | last 3"*
D) !search using=splunk_instance_1 query=" | head 3"*
Answer: D) !search using=splunk_instance_1 query=" | head 3"*
Explanation:
In Splunk, users interact with data primarily through the command-line interface (CLI), where queries are executed to retrieve specific events. To retrieve the last three events from a Splunk instance, the correct query uses the head command.
Option A is incorrect because the last operator is not a valid function in Splunk's search language. While it may seem intuitive, Splunk does not recognize last in this context for limiting results.
Option B is also invalid. The query | 3 has no defined function in Splunk's syntax, and it does not achieve the desired outcome of fetching the last three events.
Option C is incorrect for two reasons: it incorrectly uses !query instead of !search and continues to use the invalid last operator.
Option D is the correct choice. In Splunk, the head command is used to limit the number of events returned by a query. Specifically, the query | head 3 retrieves the first three events from the search result, which, assuming the data is time-ordered, corresponds to the most recent events.
By using the head 3 command, you can limit the result set to only the top three events, which is commonly interpreted as retrieving the "last three" events. This ensures that the query behaves as expected by fetching the most recent entries based on the default sorting order.
In summary, Option D is the correct choice because it uses the appropriate command to limit the output to the first three events from the search results in Splunk.
Question No 9:
In an isolated, air-gapped environment, what Linux command would you use to manually load Docker images onto a Cortex XSOAR server that has no internet connection?
A) sudo repoquery -a --installed
B) sudo demistoserver-x.x-xxxx.sh -- -tools=load
C) sudo docker ps load
D) sudo docker load -i YOUR_DOCKER_FILE.tar
Answer: D) sudo docker load -i YOUR_DOCKER_FILE.tar
Explanation:
In air-gapped environments where there is no internet connection, Docker images cannot be pulled from external repositories such as Docker Hub. Therefore, organizations must find alternative methods to manually load Docker images onto their servers. The correct command for this scenario is sudo docker load -i YOUR_DOCKER_FILE.tar.
The docker load command is used to load a Docker image from a tarball (.tar) file. The -i option specifies the input file, which in this case is the Docker image stored as a tar file. The image file can be transferred to the air-gapped environment via secure means, such as physical media (USB drives) or other local transfer methods. After transferring the image to the server, the command sudo docker load -i YOUR_DOCKER_FILE.tar loads the image into the local Docker repository, making it available for use.
Let's examine why the other options are incorrect:
Option A: sudo repoquery -a --installed is a command used in Red Hat-based Linux distributions for querying installed packages, not Docker images. It is unrelated to Docker image management.
Option B: The sudo demistoserver-x.x-xxxx.sh -- -tools=load command is used for deploying components of the Cortex XSOAR platform and is not intended for Docker image loading.
Option C: sudo docker ps load is not a valid command. docker ps is used to list running containers, not for loading Docker images.
In conclusion, Option D is the correct choice because the docker load command allows users to load Docker images from tarball files, making it ideal for air-gapped environments where internet access is unavailable.
Question No 10:
You are configuring Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR for your organization. Your goal is to enhance endpoint security by integrating the solution with existing systems for seamless threat detection and response.
Which of the following actions should you take to optimize Cortex XDR in terms of detection and automation?
A) Configure Cortex XDR to only monitor network traffic without integrating with endpoint devices.
B) Enable automated playbooks for responding to specific incidents, ensuring consistent and timely actions.
C) Limit data collection to only critical systems, excluding non-critical devices from monitoring.
D) Disable Cortex XDR's machine learning capabilities to prevent false positives and over-alerting.
Correct Answer: B
Explanation:
The goal of Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR is to provide comprehensive protection across the network and endpoint devices by combining endpoint detection and response (EDR), network traffic analysis, and machine learning to deliver proactive and automated security operations. Let's break down each option to understand why B is the correct answer:
A) Configure Cortex XDR to only monitor network traffic without integrating with endpoint devices:
While monitoring network traffic is crucial, Cortex XDR is designed to provide more comprehensive protection by integrating both network traffic analysis (NTA) and endpoint monitoring (EDR). By only monitoring network traffic and excluding endpoint devices from the solution, you limit Cortex XDR's ability to identify threats that originate from compromised endpoints or lateral movement across the network. The full effectiveness of Cortex XDR comes from its integrated approach to both network and endpoint monitoring, which allows for more accurate threat detection and faster response.B) Enable automated playbooks for responding to specific incidents, ensuring consistent and timely actions:
This is the correct answer. Automated playbooks are a core feature of Cortex XDR that allow for predefined, consistent, and timely responses to security incidents. Playbooks automate incident investigation, remediation, and response actions based on predefined criteria, reducing the time it takes to contain and mitigate threats. This level of automation ensures that responses to security incidents are both swift and consistent, improving operational efficiency and reducing the likelihood of human error. Moreover, automated responses can handle repetitive tasks, freeing up security teams to focus on more complex threats.C) Limit data collection to only critical systems, excluding non-critical devices from monitoring:
This approach would be counterproductive for maximizing the capabilities of Cortex XDR. While it might seem logical to focus resources on monitoring critical systems, the strength of Cortex XDR lies in its holistic approach to endpoint and network security. Excluding non-critical devices could leave gaps in the overall security posture and allow threats to slip through undetected, especially if attackers target less-observed devices. Comprehensive monitoring across all devices ensures that threats are detected and mitigated before they can escalate, regardless of the system's perceived criticality.D) Disable Cortex XDR's machine learning capabilities to prevent false positives and over-alerting:
Machine learning is a crucial feature of Cortex XDR, as it helps the platform identify anomalous behavior, detect advanced threats, and reduce false positives by learning from historical data and patterns. Disabling machine learning would undermine the solution's ability to detect and respond to sophisticated attacks, including those that may bypass traditional signature-based defenses. While false positives are a challenge, Cortex XDR's machine learning capabilities are designed to minimize them, and disabling this feature would reduce the overall effectiveness of the solution.
In conclusion, the best approach to optimize Cortex XDR for detection and automation is to enable automated playbooks (B) for responding to specific incidents. This ensures that security incidents are handled efficiently, consistently, and promptly, improving the overall effectiveness of your security operations.
