Palo Alto Networks (PANW) Certified Cybersecurity Entry-level Technician (PCCET) Practice Exam

Which element is an essential cybersecurity control to separate networks and enforce communication restrictions between networks?

1. Firewall

2. Web Application Firewall

3. Web Proxy

4. Intrusion Prevention and Detection

The correct answer is: Firewall

The essential cybersecurity control that separates networks and enforces communication restrictions is the firewall. A firewall acts as a barrier between trusted internal networks and untrusted external networks, such as the internet. It monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules, establishing a set of criteria for what network communications are permitted or denied. By defining rules that dictate how data packets are allowed to flow between different network segments, firewalls effectively segment networks, providing a crucial layer of security. This segmentation mitigates risks by reducing the attack surface and preventing unauthorized access to sensitive information. Other options, while important components of a comprehensive security strategy, do not primarily focus on separating networks. A web application firewall, for example, specifically protects web applications by filtering and monitoring HTTP traffic to and from a web application, but it does not provide the broad network segmentation that a standard firewall does. A web proxy serves as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers, mainly focusing on web traffic filtering and caching. Intrusion Prevention and Detection systems (IDPS) are designed to monitor network traffic for suspicious activity and policy violations, but they do not create the separation or enforce the communication restrictions that a firewall does.