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

Which type of system cannot identify zero-day vulnerabilities?

1. Intrusion detection

2. Intrusion prevention

3. Signature based

4. Behavior based

The correct answer is: Signature based

Signature-based systems rely on known patterns and signatures of malware or vulnerabilities to identify threats. Since zero-day vulnerabilities are new and have not yet been documented or signatured, these systems cannot recognize them. They depend on existing signatures to detect threats, meaning if a vulnerability has not been previously identified and added to their database, it will go undetected. This limitation makes signature-based systems ineffective for catching zero-day exploits. In contrast, behavior-based systems can identify anomalies and suspicious activities based on behavior rather than known signatures. Similarly, intrusion detection and prevention systems can also potentially detect zero-day vulnerabilities by analyzing traffic patterns and system behaviors, thus allowing them to identify new threats that do not yet have defined signatures.