Paloalto Networks Palo Alto Networks Certified Security Engineer (PCNSE) PAN-OS 11.0 PCNSE Exam Dumps: Updated Questions & Answers (October 2025)

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/10-2/pan-os-admin/certificate-management/configure-an-ssltls-service-profile

When sizing a decryption firewall deployment, two factors that should be considered are the encryption algorithm and the TLS protocol version. These factors affect the amount of resources and processing power that the firewall needs to decrypt and inspect SSL/TLS traffic.

The encryption algorithm is the method that the server and the client use to encrypt and decrypt the data exchanged in an SSL/TLS session. Different encryption algorithms have different levels of security and performance. For example, AES is a symmetric encryption algorithm that is faster and more efficient than RSA, which is an asymmetric encryption algorithm. However, RSA is more secure than AES because it uses public and private keys to encrypt and decrypt data, while AES uses a single shared key. The firewall must support the encryption algorithms that are used by the servers and clients that it decrypts, and it must have enough CPU and memory resources to handle the decryption workload12.

The TLS protocol version is the standard that defines how the server and the client establish and maintain an SSL/TLS session. Different TLS protocol versions have different features and requirements for encryption algorithms, cipher suites, certificates, handshake messages, etc. For example, TLS 1.3 is the latest and most secure version of TLS, which supports only strong encryption algorithms and cipher suites, such as AES-GCM and ChaCha20-Poly1305, and requires elliptic curve certificates. The firewall must support the TLS protocol versions that are used by the servers and clients that it decrypts, and it must have enough hardware acceleration resources to handle the decryption speed34.

The number of security zones in decryption policies and the number of blocked sessions are not relevant factors for sizing a decryption firewall deployment. The number of security zones in decryption policies only affects how the firewall matches traffic to decryption rules based on source and destination zones, but it does not affect the decryption performance or resource consumption. The number of blocked sessions only indicates how many sessions are denied by the firewall based on security policy or decryption policy rules, but it does not affect the decryption capacity or throughput56.

 Encryption Algorithms, TLS Protocol Versions, Decryption Policy, PCNSE Study Guide (page 60)

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/panorama/9-1/panorama-admin/manage-firewalls/manage-device-groups/manage-the-rule-hierarchy#idfb9e2593-a7f1-4e0d-aab5-a2903d654c99 https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/panorama/9-1/panorama-admin/panorama-overview/centralized-firewall-configuration-and-update-management/device-groups/device-group-policies#id671977ca-1041-4605-8a80-fbc10f3f5d7b

To generate email alerts when decryption rules are changed in a Palo Alto Networks firewall, you would configure email log forwarding based on specific system logs that capture changes to decryption policies. This is done by setting up log forwarding profiles with filters that match events related to decryption rule modifications. These profiles are then applied to the relevant log types within the firewall's log settings.

To specifically monitor for changes to decryption rules, you would navigate to the Device > Log Settings section of the firewall's web interface. Here, you can configure log forwarding for system logs, which capture configuration changes among other system-level events. By creating a filter that looks for logs associated with decryption rule changes, and associating this filter with an email server profile, the firewall can automatically send out email alerts whenever a decryption rule is modified.

This setup ensures that the security team is promptly notified of any changes to the decryption policies, allowing for quick review and action if the changes were unauthorized or unintended. It is an essential part of maintaining the security posture of the network and ensuring compliance with organizational policies on encrypted traffic inspection.

In Palo Alto Networks firewalls, when multiple static routes exist for the same destination, the firewall uses the administrative distance (AD) to determine route priority. The AD is a metric that indicates the trustworthiness of a route, with lower values indicating higher priority. For static routes, the default AD is 10, but this can be manually adjusted. The route with the lowest AD is preferred and added to the routing table. If AD values are equal, the firewall then considers the metric (default 10), but AD is the primary differentiator.

Option A (first route installed) is incorrect, as route installation order does not determine priority. Option C (Bidirectional Forwarding Detection) is a protocol for detecting link failures, not route priority. Option D (highest AD) is the opposite of the correct behavior. This aligns with standard routing principles and Palo Alto’s implementation.

Panorama’s device group hierarchy supports policy inheritance, but it does not support inheritance across groups with firewalls on different hypervisors (e.g., AWS and NSX-V) when managed by multiple plugins (Option D). AWS and NSX-V firewalls use distinct plugins (e.g., AWS Plugin, NSX Plugin), and Panorama restricts cross-hypervisor inheritance due to differing configurations and contexts, causing errors when pushing policies.

Option A (plugin versions) is unrelated to inheritance. Option B (object overrides) isn’t a requirement for this issue. Option C (command) is fictional. Documentation confirms this limitation.