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

Which type of traffic flows between the public internet and private DMZ?

1. North-south

2. East-west

3. Up-down

4. Egress traffic

The correct answer is: North-south

The correct answer identifies the type of traffic that flows between the public internet and a private DMZ as north-south traffic. This term refers to the data transmission vertically in terms of the network architecture: north signifies upward movement toward the internet, while south indicates downward movement toward private networks, including a DMZ. In a network topology, the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) serves as a buffer zone between the public internet and the internal private network, and this is where north-south traffic comes into play when external users need to access services hosted in the DMZ securely. This flow is critical for operations such as web hosting, email, and other services that need to interface with external users. East-west traffic, on the other hand, refers to data flow between devices within the same internal network or between servers in the DMZ itself, rather than the interaction between the DMZ and the internet. Up-down is not a standard term used in networking to describe traffic patterns, and egress traffic describes packets leaving a network rather than defining the directional flow between the internet and a DMZ. Thus, north-south traffic is the most appropriate term to describe this type of communication in the given context.