XDR-Analyst Exam Dumps - Palo Alto Networks XDR Analyst

 Ransomware attackers have a motivation to return access to systems once their victims have paid because they want to maintain their reputation and credibility. If they fail to restore access to systems, they risk losing the trust of future victims who may not believe that paying the ransom will result in getting their data back. This would reduce the effectiveness and profitability of their scheme. Therefore, ransomware attackers have an incentive to honor their promises and decrypt the data after receiving the ransom. References:

What is the motivation behind ransomware? | Foresite

As Ransomware Attackers’ Motives Change, So Should Your Defense - Forbes

 If all alerts contained in a Cortex XDR incident have exclusions, the Cortex XDR console will automatically mark the incident as Resolved – False Positive. This means that the incident was not a real threat, but a benign or legitimate activity that triggered an alert. By marking the incident as Resolved – False Positive, the Cortex XDR console removes the incident from the list of unresolved incidents and does not count it towards the incident statistics. This helps the analyst to focus on the true positive incidents that require further investigation and response1.

An exclusion is a rule that hides an alert from the Cortex XDR console, based on certain criteria, such as the alert source, type, severity, or description. An exclusion does not change the security policy or prevent the alert from firing, it only suppresses the alert from the console. An exclusion is useful when the analyst wants to reduce the noise of false positive alerts that are not relevant or important2.

An exception, on the other hand, is a rule that overrides the security policy and allows or blocks a process or file from running on an endpoint, based on certain attributes, such as the file hash, path, name, or signer. An exception is useful when the analyst wants to prevent false negative alerts that are caused by malicious or unwanted files or processes that are not detected by the security policy3.

A BIOC rule is a rule that creates an alert based on a custom XQL query that defines a specific behavior of interest or concern. A BIOC rule is useful when the analyst wants to detect and alert on anomalous or suspicious activities that are not covered by the default Cortex XDR rules4.

The type of BIOC rule that is currently available in Cortex XDR is Discovery. A Discovery BIOC rule is a rule that detects suspicious or malicious behavior on endpoints based on the Cortex XDR data. A Discovery BIOC rule can use various event types, such as file, injection, load image, network, process, registry, or user, to define the criteria for the rule. A Discovery BIOC rule can also use operators, functions, and variables to create complex logic and conditions for the rule. A Discovery BIOC rule can generate alerts when the rule is triggered, and these alerts can be grouped into incidents for further investigation and response12.

Let’s briefly discuss the other options to provide a comprehensive explanation:

A. Threat Actor: This is not the correct answer. Threat Actor is not a type of BIOC rule that is currently available in Cortex XDR. Threat Actor is a term that refers to an individual or a group that is responsible for a cyberattack or a threat campaign. Cortex XDR does not support creating BIOC rules based on threat actors, but it can provide threat intelligence and context from various sources, such as Unit 42, AutoFocus, or Cortex XSOAR3.

C. Network: This is not the correct answer. Network is not a type of BIOC rule that is currently available in Cortex XDR. Network is an event type that can be used in a Discovery BIOC rule to define the criteria based on network attributes, such as source IP, destination IP, source port, destination port, protocol, or domain. Network is not a standalone type of BIOC rule, but a part of the Discovery BIOC rule2.

D. Dropper: This is not the correct answer. Dropper is not a type of BIOC rule that is currently available in Cortex XDR. Dropper is a term that refers to a type of malware that is designed to download and install other malicious files or programs on a compromised system. Cortex XDR does not support creating BIOC rules based on droppers, but it can detect and prevent droppers using various methods, such as behavioral threat protection, exploit prevention, or WildFire analysis4.

In conclusion, the type of BIOC rule that is currently available in Cortex XDR is Discovery. By using Discovery BIOC rules, you can create custom detection rules that match your specific use cases and scenarios.

 A global exception is a rule that allows you to exclude specific files, processes, or behaviors from being blocked or detected by Cortex XDR. A global exception applies to all endpoints in your organization that are protected by Cortex XDR. Creating a global exception for a vitally important piece of software that is known to be benign would prevent Cortex XDR from blocking this software in the future, for all endpoints in your organization.

To create a global exception, you need to follow these steps:

In the Cortex XDR management console, go to Policy Management > Exceptions and click Add Exception.

Select the Global Exception option and click Next.

Enter a name and description for the exception and click Next.

Select the type of exception you want to create, such as file, process, or behavior, and click Next.

Specify the criteria for the exception, such as file name, hash, path, process name, command line, or behavior name, and click Next.

Review the summary of the exception and click Finish.

 WildFire is a cloud-based service that accepts and analyses samples from various sources, including Cortex XDR, to provide a verdict of malware, benign, or grayware. WildFire also generates detailed analysis reports that show the behaviour and characteristics of the samples. Cortex XDR uses WildFire verdicts and reports to enhance its detection and prevention capabilities, as well as to provide more visibility and context into the threats. References:

WildFire Analysis Concepts

WildFire Overview

The Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores settings for the operating system and for applications that run on Windows. The registry contains information, settings, options, and other values for programs and hardware installed on all versions of Microsoft Windows operating systems. The registry is organized into five main sections, called hives, each of which contains keys, subkeys, and values. The Cortex XDR agent uses the registry to store its configuration, status, and logs, as well as to monitor and control the endpoint’s security features. The Cortex XDR agent also allows you to run scripts that can read, write, or delete registry keys and values on the endpoint. References:

Windows Registry - Wikipedia

Registry Operations

Cortex XDR allows you to define IOC rules based on various types of indicators of compromise (IOC) that you can use to detect and respond to threats in your network. One of the types of IOC that you can define in Cortex XDR is destination IP address, which is the IP address of the remote host that a local endpoint is communicating with. You can use this type of IOC to identify malicious network activity, such as connections to command and control servers, phishing sites, or malware distribution hosts. You can also specify the direction of the network traffic (inbound or outbound) and the protocol (TCP or UDP) for the destination IP address IOC. References:

Cortex XDR documentation portal

Is there a possibility to create an IOC list to employ it in a query?

Cortex XDR Datasheet

If you have an isolated network that is prevented from connecting to the Cortex Data Lake, you can use the Local Agent Proxy setup to facilitate the communication. The Local Agent Proxy is a type of Broker VM that acts as a proxy server for the Cortex XDR agents that are deployed on the isolated network. The Local Agent Proxy enables the Cortex XDR agents to communicate securely with the Cortex Data Lake and the Cortex XDR management console over the internet, without requiring direct access to the internet from the isolated network. The Local Agent Proxy also allows the Cortex XDR agents to download installation packages and content updates from the Cortex XDR management console. To use the Local Agent Proxy setup, you need to deploy a Broker VM on the isolated network and configure it as a Local Agent Proxy. You also need to deploy another Broker VM on a network that has internet access and configure it as a Remote Agent Proxy. The Remote Agent Proxy acts as a relay between the Local Agent Proxy and the Cortex Data Lake. You also need to install a strong cipher SHA256-based SSL certificate on both the Local Agent Proxy and the Remote Agent Proxy to ensure secure communication. You can read more about the Local Agent Proxy setup and how to configure it here1 and here2. References:

Local Agent Proxy

Configure the Local Agent Proxy Setup