Palo Alto Networks Certified Detection and Remediation Analyst Exam

To pivot within a row to Causality view and Timeline views for further investigation, you can use the Open Card and Open Timeline actions respectively. The Open Card action will open a new tab with the Causality view of the selected row, showing the causal chain of events that led to the alert. The Open Timeline action will open a new tab with the Timeline view of the selected row, showing the chronological sequence of events that occurred on the affected endpoint. These actions allow you to drill down into the details of each alert and understand the root cause and impact of the incident.Reference:

Cortex XDR User Guide, Chapter 9: Investigate Alerts, Section: Pivot to Causality View and Timeline View

PCDRA Study Guide, Section 3: Investigate and Respond to Alerts, Objective 3.1: Investigate alerts using the Causality view and Timeline view

An example of an attack vector for ransomware is phishing emails containing malicious attachments. Phishing is a technique that involves sending fraudulent emails that appear to come from a legitimate source, such as a bank, a company, or a government agency. The emails typically contain a malicious attachment, such as a PDF document, a ZIP archive, or a Microsoft Office document, that contains ransomware or a ransomware downloader. When the recipient opens or downloads the attachment, the ransomware is executed and encrypts the files or data on the victim's system. The attacker then demands a ransom for the decryption key, usually in cryptocurrency.

Phishing emails are one of the most common and effective ways of delivering ransomware, as they can bypass security measures such as firewalls, antivirus software, or URL filtering. Phishing emails can also exploit the human factor, as they can trick the recipient into opening the attachment by using social engineering techniques, such as impersonating a trusted sender, creating a sense of urgency, or appealing to curiosity or greed. Phishing emails can also target specific individuals or organizations, such as executives, employees, or customers, in a technique called spear phishing, which increases the chances of success.

According to various sources, phishing emails are the main vector of ransomware attacks, accounting for more than 90% of all ransomware infections12.Some of the most notorious ransomware campaigns, such as CryptoLocker, Locky, and WannaCry, have used phishing emails as their primary delivery method3. Therefore, it is essential to educate users on how to recognize and avoid phishing emails, as well as to implement security solutions that can detect and block malicious attachments.Reference:

Top 7 Ransomware Attack Vectors & How to Avoid Becoming a Victim - Bitsight

What Is the Main Vector of Ransomware Attacks? A Definitive Guide

CryptoLocker Ransomware Information Guide and FAQ

[Locky Ransomware Information, Help Guide, and FAQ]

[WannaCry ransomware attack]

The Wildfire analysis file size limit for Windows PE files is 100MB. Windows PE files are executable files that run on the Windows operating system, such as .exe, .dll, .sys, or .scr files. Wildfire is a cloud-based service that analyzes files and URLs for malicious behavior and generates signatures and protections for them. Wildfire can analyze various file types, such as PE, APK, PDF, MS Office, and others, but each file type has a different file size limit. The file size limit determines the maximum size of the file that can be uploaded or forwarded to Wildfire for analysis. If the file size exceeds the limit, Wildfire will not analyze the file and will return an error message.

According to the Wildfire documentation1, the file size limit for Windows PE files is 100MB. This means that any PE file that is larger than 100MB will not be analyzed by Wildfire. However, the firewall can still apply other security features, such as antivirus, anti-spyware, vulnerability protection, and file blocking, to the PE file based on the security policy settings.The firewall can also perform local analysis on the PE file using the Cortex XDR agent, which uses machine learning models to assess the file and assign it a verdict2.

WildFire File Size Limits: This document provides the file size limits for different file types that can be analyzed by Wildfire.

Local Analysis: This document explains how the Cortex XDR agent performs local analysis on files that cannot be sent to Wildfire for analysis.

The difference between presets and datasets in XQL is that a dataset is a built-in or third-party data source, while a preset is a group of XDR data fields. A dataset is a collection of data that you can query and analyze using XQL. A dataset can be a Cortex data lake data source, such as endpoints, alerts, incidents, or network flows, or a third-party data source, such as AWS CloudTrail, Azure Activity Logs, or Google Cloud Audit Logs. A preset is a predefined set of XDR data fields that are relevant for a specific use case, such as process execution, file operations, or network activity. A preset can help you simplify and standardize your XQL queries by selecting the most important fields for your analysis. You can use presets with any Cortex data lake data source, but not with third-party data sources.Reference:

Datasets and Presets

XQL Language Reference

Cortex XDR allows you to schedule reports and forward them to Slack, a cloud-based collaboration platform. You can configure the Slack channel, frequency, and recipients of the scheduled reports. You can also view the report history and status in the Cortex XDR management console.Reference:

Scheduled Queries: This document explains how to create, edit, and manage scheduled queries and reports in Cortex XDR.

Forward Scheduled Reports to Slack: This document provides the steps to configure Slack integration and forward scheduled reports to a Slack channel.