B. ECDHE
D. DHE

Explanation:
The resource consumption during SSL/TLS decryption is primarily driven by the key exchange process. The firewall, acting as a SSL Forward Proxy, must perform the cryptographic computations for both the client and server sides of the connection.

The key differentiator is whether the key exchange uses Ephemeral keys. Ephemeral key exchange methods generate a temporary, unique key for each session, which provides Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS). This enhanced security comes at the cost of significantly higher computational overhead.

D. DHE (Diffie-Hellman Ephemeral):
This is the classic ephemeral key exchange algorithm. It is very computationally intensive for both the client and the server (in this case, the firewall performing decryption) because it involves complex modular exponentiation calculations for every single new session.

B. ECDHE (Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman Ephemeral):
This is the elliptic curve variant of DHE. While ECDHE is more efficient than DHE for the same level of security (it uses smaller key sizes), it is still significantly more resource-intensive than non-ephemeral methods like RSA. The elliptic curve operations, though efficient, must still be performed for every new session, leading to high CPU consumption on the firewall when decrypting a large volume of connections.

Why the other options are incorrect:
A. ECDSA (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm):
This is used for authentication (proving the server's identity), not for key exchange. While it does use CPU cycles, its impact is minor compared to the ongoing overhead of ephemeral key exchange algorithms. The question specifically asks about the key exchange process.

C. RSA:
In a key exchange context, RSA is a non-ephemeral method. The server's static RSA private key is used to encrypt the pre-master secret. This operation is computationally expensive, but it is only performed once per session during the handshake and is generally less CPU-intensive than the sustained calculations required by DHE and ECDHE, especially at scale. Modern firewalls often have hardware acceleration for RSA operations.

Reference:
Palo Alto Networks documentation and whitepapers on decryption performance consistently highlight that enabling Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS), which uses ephemeral key exchanges like DHE and ECDHE, will increase the firewall's CPU utilization and reduce the maximum decryption throughput compared to using non-ephemeral methods like RSA key exchange.

A. An SSL/TLS Service profile with a certificate assigned.

Explanation:
To ensure that management access to a Palo Alto Networks firewall via HTTPS is secure and uses a trusted certificate, you need to configure an SSL/TLS Service profile. This profile is the central object that ties a certificate to a service requiring encryption, such as the web interface for management, SSL Forward Proxy, or GlobalProtect.

SSL/TLS Service Profile:
This profile is where you specify the server certificate that the firewall will present to a web browser during the TLS handshake. This certificate must be signed by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA) or be a self-signed certificate that has been imported and trusted by the client. The profile also allows you to define the accepted SSL/TLS protocols and ciphers.
The configured SSL/TLS Service Profile is then assigned to the management interface.

Why the Other Options Are Incorrect
B. An Interface Management profile with HTTP and HTTPS enabled:
The Interface Management profile specifies which services (HTTP, HTTPS, SSH, etc.) are allowed on an interface. While you would enable HTTPS here, this profile does not contain the certificate. It simply permits the service to run on the interface. The security of the HTTPS connection is defined by the SSL/TLS Service profile.
C. A Certificate profile with a trusted root CA:
A Certificate profile is used to validate the certificates of other devices, not to assign a certificate for the firewall's own management. For example, it's used for validating certificates in SSL Inbound Inspection or for verifying the client certificates in a VPN connection. It defines the trusted CAs that the firewall will use to verify incoming certificates.
D. An Authentication profile with the allow list of users:
An Authentication profile defines the authentication method (e.g., LDAP, RADIUS, SAML) and user list for managing access to the firewall. It handles the who but not the how (the encryption method). While essential for secure management, it's a separate step from configuring the certificate for the HTTPS session.

B. Outside

Explanation:
For destination NAT (allowing internet traffic to an internal server), the firewall evaluates the NAT rule based on the pre-NAT (original) packet headers. The destination zone in the NAT rule must match the zone of the interface where the traffic enters the firewall.
The internet-sourced traffic arrives on the outside interface (e.g., ethernet1/3 in the routing table, which has the default route to 207.212.10.1).
The pre-NAT destination IP is 192.168.10.10 (the public IP), but the zone is determined by the ingress interface (outside), not the IP.
Thus, the NAT rule’s destination zone must be set to Outside to match the incoming traffic.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect:
A. None:
Using "None" disables zone matching, which is insecure and not recommended. The rule should explicitly match the ingress zone for predictability.
C. DMZ:
This would only apply if traffic entered a DMZ interface, but the routing table shows the default route (internet traffic) uses ethernet1/3 (outside zone).
D. Inside:
This is the zone for the internal network (post-NAT). NAT rules are evaluated based on pre-NAT traffic, which arrives from the outside.

Reference:
PAN-OS NAT rule processing:
Destination NAT rules are matched using original packet headers (pre-NAT destination IP and ingress zone). The destination zone must be the zone of the interface where external traffic is received (PAN-OS Administrator’s Guide, "NAT Rule Evaluation" section).

B. Authentication
D. WildFire

Explanation:
In PAN-OS, the Objects > Log Forwarding section is used to configure how specific log types are forwarded to external destinations such as syslog servers, Panorama, email, or SNMP traps. Among the available log types, the following are explicitly supported for forwarding via Log Forwarding Profiles:

Authentication Logs
These logs capture user login events, including successful and failed authentications. You can forward them by attaching a log forwarding profile to Authentication policy rules.
WildFire Logs
These logs record file submissions and verdicts from WildFire analysis. You can forward them by attaching a log forwarding profile to Security policy rules that include WildFire analysis profiles.

❌ Why the Other Options Are Incorrect:
A. GlobalProtect
GlobalProtect logs are not forwarded via Log Forwarding Profiles. They are handled separately under GlobalProtect configuration and monitoring.
C.User-ID User-ID
mappings and events are not part of the log types configurable under Objects > Log Forwarding. These are managed under User Identification settings.

📚 Reference:
Palo Alto Networks – Objects > Log Forwarding
Let me know if you want to simulate log forwarding to a SIEM or explore how to filter logs based on severity or threat type.

C. Resources Widget on the Dashboard

Explanation:
To view CPU utilization for both the management plane and data plane on a Palo Alto Networks firewall, the administrator should use the Resources widget on the Dashboard. This widget provides real-time visibility into system performance metrics, including:

Management Plane CPU:
Reflects usage by system processes such as routing daemons, authentication services, and the web interface.
Data Plane CPU:
Indicates how much processing power is being used to handle traffic, session management, and packet forwarding.

This widget is accessible via:
Web UI > Dashboard > Widgets > Resources
It offers a quick and centralized view of system health, helping administrators identify performance bottlenecks, excessive load, or potential hardware issues.

❌ Why Other Options Are Incorrect:
A. Support > Resources This section is used for support-related diagnostics and file generation, not for live CPU monitoring.
B. Application Command and Control Center (ACC) ACC provides visibility into traffic patterns, threats, and applications—not system resource usage.
D. Monitor > Utilization This tab shows interface and bandwidth statistics, not CPU metrics for management or data planes.

References:
Palo Alto Networks TechDocs:Dashboard Widgets Overview
LIVEcommunity Discussion: How Management CPU and Data Plane CPU Work Exam4Training PCNSE Practice: Where to View CPU Utilization

C. SMS
D. User certificate
E. One-time password

Explanation:
The Palo Alto Networks firewall supports several methods for multi-factor authentication (MFA) to enhance the security of administrative access (WebUI, SSH, etc.) and, in some cases, user-based policies. The key is that the MFA method must be integrated and validated by an external authentication server (like a RADIUS server) that the firewall can communicate with.

C. SMS:
This is a common MFA method. The firewall itself doesn't send the SMS. Instead, it forwards the authentication request to a RADIUS server, which is integrated with an SMS gateway service (e.g., Duo, Azure MFA). The server handles sending the code to the user's phone, validating the code entered by the user, and then sending an accept/reject response back to the firewall.

D. User certificate:
User certificates are a strong form of authentication based on public key infrastructure (PKI). The firewall can be configured to require a valid, trusted user certificate to be presented by the client (e.g., the administrator's browser) in addition to a username and password. This constitutes two factors: "something you have" (the private key of the certificate) and "something you know" (the password).

E. One-time password (OTP):
This is a standard and widely supported MFA factor. The firewall uses an authentication server (like RADIUS) that supports time-based one-time passwords (TOTP) or HMAC-based one-time passwords (HOTP). The user has an authenticator app (like Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, or a hardware token) that generates the code, which the authentication server validates.

Why the other options are incorrect:
A. Voice:
While some advanced MFA providers might offer a voice call-back feature as part of their service, this is not a standard, directly configurable MFA method on the firewall itself. The firewall's authentication mechanism does not have a built-in component to initiate and validate voice calls. The primary communication is with an authentication server using protocols like RADIUS.

B. Fingerprint:
Biometric authentication like a fingerprint is a form of "something you are." The firewall's operating system (PAN-OS) does not have built-in support for biometric readers or the software to validate fingerprints. This factor cannot be used directly to authenticate to the firewall's management interface.

Reference:
The Palo Alto Networks Administrator's Guide section on "Multi-Factor Authentication" explains that the firewall relies on external authentication servers (e.g., RADIUS) to perform the actual validation of the second factor. The supported methods are those that these standard servers can process, such as OTP, SMS via a gateway, and certificate-based authentication.

D. Install the Application and Threats updates first, then refresh the Dynamic Updates.

Explanation:

1: Recall how Antivirus (AV) updates work
Palo Alto Antivirus signatures (for malware, spyware, C2 traffic) are part of the Threat Prevention subscription.
They are not tied to a separate “Antivirus license” (that doesn’t exist as a standalone).
AV updates depend on Application & Threats content being installed first, because the engine relies on the App-ID/Threat framework to identify traffic.
👉 So if you install Applications and Threats updates, then refresh Dynamic Updates, the Antivirus section appears.

2: Analyze the options
A. An Antivirus license is needed first…
❌ Wrong. There is no separate Antivirus license. Antivirus is included in Threat Prevention.
B. An Antivirus license must be obtained…
❌ Same as A — no such license exists.
C. An Advanced Threat Prevention license is required…
❌ Wrong. ATP (formerly Threat Prevention Cloud/ML-based inline detection) is a different subscription. Antivirus signatures are still part of Threat Prevention.
D. Install the Application and Threats updates first, then refresh the Dynamic Updates.
✅ Correct. This is the required step to make the Antivirus option appear in Dynamic Updates.

🔹 Key Takeaway (for PCNSE)
Threat Prevention subscription includes Antivirus, Anti-Spyware, Vulnerability, and DNS signatures.
No standalone AV license.
Antivirus updates require App+Threats content installed first, otherwise they won’t show.

📖 Reference:
Palo Alto Networks — Content and Threat Signatures
“You must install Applications and Threats content before Antivirus updates can be downloaded.”