Paloalto Networks XSIAM-Analyst Palo Alto Networks XSIAM Analyst Exam Practice Test

The correct answer isA – ${parentIncidentContext}.

This syntax is the correct variable for referencing the incident context within playbook and War Room tasks, enabling data to be accessed from the parent incident during alert investigation or automation steps.

“Use ${parentIncidentContext} in War Room and playbook tasks to reference the context of the parent incident.”

Document Reference:EDU-270c-10-lab-guide_02.docx (1).pdf

Page:Page 39 (Incident Handling and Playbook Automation section)

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The correct answer isD, a risk scoring policy for the critical asset.

In Cortex XSIAM, to consistently apply a high score (e.g., 100) to any alert involving a particular asset, analysts should define and apply a risk scoring policy. Such policies allow organizations to specifically customize and enforce a scoring framework to reflect the critical nature of certain assets, ensuring they are always prioritized during incident response activities.

Asset criticality alone (option A) doesn't automatically assign a static high score to every alert.

SmartScore (option B) is AI-driven and dynamic; it cannot guarantee a fixed, always-maximized score.

User scoring rules (option C) target user entities, not specifically the assets themselves.

"Risk scoring policies are explicitly defined to consistently assign specific scores to incidents or alerts involving critical assets, ensuring prioritized visibility in the incident queue."

The correct answer isB. The malware scan action detects malicious files but does not generate alerts for them.

In Cortex XSIAM and XDR, an on-demand malware scan effectively identifies malicious files on an endpoint. However, such scans typically record their findings directly in the scan results without generating separate alerts. Alerts are generally created through real-time protection mechanisms or detection rules, not through manually triggered scans.

Exact Reference from Official Document:

"The on-demand malware scan capability is designed to detect and identify malicious files but does not automatically generate alerts for those files. Alerts are primarily generated through real-time endpoint protection policies and detection rules."

Therefore, the absence of alerts despite successful malware detection is due to the designed behavior of on-demand scans.

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The correct answer isB - Rare process execution in organization.

In Cortex XSIAM, when an incident is created, thefirst alert generatedwithin the incident’s timeline is considered the initiating event or the trigger responsible for the creation of the incident. Based on the provided timestamps, the earliest alert generated was the"Rare process execution in organization", at10:24:17 AM. Subsequent alerts within the same causality chain or event flow would be added to this already-created incident.

Hence, the initiating alert is always the earliest alert chronologically within an incident's timeline.

"Incidents are created based on the earliest alert in the causality chain. Subsequent related alerts are grouped under the same incident."

Document Reference:XSIAM Analyst ILT Lab Guide.pdf

Exact Page:Page 32 (Incident Handling and Response Section)

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

The correct answer isB – The artifact verdict has changed from a previous state to "Malware."

Thehexagon-shaped object with an exclamation markin Cortex XSIAM artifact analysis indicates achange or escalation in verdict—typically from "Unknown" or another previous state to "Malware." This symbol is a visual cue for analysts to pay attention to the updated status, as the system has reclassified the file/object to "Malware" based on new intelligence or analysis.

“The exclamation mark in a hexagon is used to signal that the verdict of the artifact has changed, most commonly to indicate a new classification as 'Malware.'”

Document Reference:XSIAM Analyst ILT Lab Guide.pdf

Page:Page 37 (Threat Intel Management section, Artifact verdict/status changes)

The correct answer isC – <name of field> != null or <field name> != "NA".

Filtering with != null removes records with null values, and != "NA" further removes records that explicitly have "NA" as the value, ensuring the table only displays meaningful results.

"Use filters like != null or != 'NA' in XQL queries to exclude empty or placeholder values from results."

Document Reference:XSIAM Analyst ILT Lab Guide.pdf

Page:Page 22 (XQL section)

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Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract:

D (Correct):The process cmd.exe is marked as theCausality Group Owner (GCO)in the image, meaning it is the root process responsible for spawning or causing the rest of the chain, including the execution of Malware.pdf.exe.

B (Correct):Thealert iconsshown next to Malware.pdf.exe are typical when the malware profile is set to "Report" mode, which allows detection and alerting on the behavior without actively blocking it (otherwise, the process would not execute fully, and you'd see prevention action).

A (Incorrect):While Malware.pdf.exe is shown as responsible for generating the alerts, the entire chain starts from cmd.exe, not Malware.pdf.exe.

C (Incorrect):The image shows two alert icons, not three, so this statement cannot be determined as true from the causality chain.

"The GCO (Causality Group Owner) in the causality chain visual indicates the parent/root process. If a prevention profile is set to Report, the process is logged and not blocked."

Document Reference:XSIAM Analyst ILT Lab Guide.pdf, Page 46 (Incident Handling – Causality Investigation)

The correct answer isB – Live Terminal.

In Cortex XSIAM, theLive Terminalfeature allows analysts to initiate an interactive command-line session with an endpoint directly from the management console. During an investigation, analysts can use Live Terminal to issue commands—including those that terminate suspicious or malicious processes running on the endpoint.

"Live Terminal provides analysts with a direct command line on the endpoint, enabling actions such as process termination during investigations."

Document Reference:XSIAM Analyst ILT Lab Guide.pdf

Exact Page:Page 15 (Endpoints section)

The correct answer isA – cytool security enable.

The commandcytool security enableis used tore-enableCortex XDR agent protection on an endpoint after it has been paused or disabled. This command restores all core security functions as per XDR agent configuration.

“Use the cytool security enable command to re-enable the Cortex XDR agent’s protection if it has been paused on an endpoint.”

Document Reference:EDU-270c-10-lab-guide_02.docx (1).pdf

Page:Page 13 (Agent Deployment and Configuration section)

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The correct answer isA – Remote Access.

TheRemote Accesshunt collection category in Cortex XSIAM is specifically designed to help incident responders identify endpoints where attackers have installed remote access tools (RATs) or backdoors, which are classic methods of attacker persistence. In this scenario, the attackers executedSystemBC RATon multiple systems to maintain remote access, making the "Remote Access" category the most relevant for finding all endpoints where persistence was established.

"Remote Access hunt collections in Cortex XSIAM identify the presence of remote access tools such as RATs and backdoors used by attackers to maintain persistence on endpoints. Analysts should review this collection category after incidents involving tools like SystemBC RAT."

Document Reference:XSIAM Analyst ILT Lab Guide.pdf, Page 28 (Alerting and Detection / Threat Intel Management sections)

The correct answer is C – Installation of the appropriate content pack was not completed.

If the relevant playbooks are not executed automatically—even though Cortex XSIAM suggests them—it is often due to the required content pack not being installed. Playbooks and their dependencies are delivered through content packs, and unless the content pack is fully installed and enabled, those playbooks cannot run automatically.

“Playbooks may not execute if the required content pack is not installed or enabled in Cortex XSIAM.”

Document Reference: XSIAM Analyst ILT Lab Guide.pdf

Page: Page 38 (Automation and Playbooks section)

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Correct answers areBandD.

In Cortex XSIAM/XSOAR, the playground provides a safe environment for testing commands without modifying the incident audit log or impacting live incidents.

Option B:Running commands from the "Command and Scripts" menu within the playground allows review and interpretation of command outputs safely and isolated from actual incidents.

Option D:Typing commands directly into the playground CLI similarly enables secure review and interpretation of results without affecting the incident audit or live data.

Options A and C are incorrect because:

Option A invites collaboration, potentially impacting visibility or causing accidental changes.

Option C creates playbooks that execute directly within the War Room, thus interacting with real incidents.

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The correct answer isC. This query correctly filters only the incoming traffic from the specific IP address "99.99.99.99":

datamodel dataset = * sets the scope to all XDM-mapped datasets.

fields fieldset.xdm_network explicitly limits the results to network events.

filter xdm.source.ipv4 = "99.99.99.99" specifically targets traffic coming from (incoming) this source IP.

This query adheres to XDM standard data modeling and accurately captures incoming traffic from the specified IP address.

Other provided queries either incorrectly specify fields, presets, or filtering methods.

Therefore,Option Cis the verified, accurate query.

The correct answer isA – The rule is configured with alert severity below Medium.

By default, in Cortex XSIAM,only alerts with a severity of Medium or higher will automatically generate incidents. If a correlation rule creates alerts with severity set below Medium (such as Low or Informational), these alerts willnotresult in the automatic creation of an incident. This ensures that incident queues are not filled with low-priority events.

"Incidents are generated only for alerts with severity of Medium or higher. Alerts below this threshold will not automatically create incidents."

Document Reference:XSIAM Analyst ILT Lab Guide.pdf

Page:Page 28 (Alerting and Detection section)

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The correct answer isC – An asset attributed to the organization because the Subject Organization field contains the company name.

When determining ownership of assets in the attack surface, attribution based solely on the Subject Organization field containing the company name is considered less reliable than evidence based on domain registration, authoritative DNS relationships, or manual analyst validation. This is because the Subject Organization field may contain non-unique or common names, leading to a higher rate of false associations, and is not as strong as direct registration records or explicit analyst verification.

“The confidence level is lowest when asset attribution is based on the Subject Organization field, since this field may not be unique to the organization and can result in inaccurate mapping.”

Document Reference:XSIAM Analyst ILT Lab Guide.pdf

Page:Page 42 (Attack Surface Management section)