Free Checkpoint 156-315.81 Practice Exam with Questions & Answers

 In a Standalone deployment, a Check Point computer runs both the Security Gateway and Security Management Server products. This means that the same appliance performs both network security functions and security policy management functions. A Standalone deployment is suitable for small or branch offices that do not require a separate management server. References: Check Point R81 Installation and Upgrade Guide, page 10

NAT Templates are generated to achieve high session rate for NAT. These templates store the NAT attributes of connections matched by rulebase so that similar new connections can take advantage of this information and do NAT without the expensive rulebase lookup. These are enabled by default and work only if Accept Templates are enabled1. According to the web search results, NAT Templates are a feature of SecureXL that accelerates the performance of the Security Gateway by offloading CPU-intensive operations to the SecureXL device2. NAT Templates are supported for Static NAT and Hide NAT using the existing SecureXL Templates mechanism1. NAT Templates are disabled by default on Check Point Security Gateway R80.10 and below, but they are not relevant to SecureXL in versions R80.20 and above, as all template handling has moved to the Firewall1. NAT Templates can be enabled or disabled by setting the relevant kernel parameters in $FWDIR/boot/modules/fwkern.conf file1.

References: SecureXL NAT Templates in R80.20 and lower - Check Point Software, SecureXL - Check Point Software

 SecureXL does not use the TCP acknowledgment number as an attribute for identifying connections. SecureXL is a technology that accelerates the performance of the firewall by offloading some of the traffic processing from the firewall kernel to a more efficient path. SecureXL identifies connections by five attributes: source address, destination address, source port, destination port, and protocol1. These attributes are also known as the 5-tuple or the connection key. SecureXL uses these attributes to match packets to existing connections and apply the appropriate security policy and actions. SecureXL does not need to inspect the TCP sequence or acknowledgment numbers, as they are irrelevant for the connection identification and security enforcement2. The TCP sequence and acknowledgment numbers are used by the TCP protocol to ensure reliable and ordered delivery of data between endpoints

 The CPU load on a Secure Network Distributor (SND) indicates how much processing power is available for distributing traffic among cluster members. If the CPU load is high, it means that the SND is overloaded and cannot handle more traffic efficiently. A good indicator of SND overload is when the Idle CPU percentage is less than 20%. In this case, you may need to add another SND to balance the load or optimize your cluster configuration. References: Getting Started - Check Point Software, section “Monitoring ClusterXL Status”

The correct answer is C. CPM (19009), CPMI (18190) https (443).

SmartConsole is a client application that connects to the Security Management Server to manage and configure the security policy and objects. SmartConsole uses three ports to communicate with the Security Management Server1:

• CPM (19009): This port is used for the communication between the SmartConsole client and the Check Point Management (CPM) process on the Security Management Server. The CPM process handles the database operations and the policy installation.
• CPMI (18190): This port is used for the communication between the SmartConsole client and the Check Point Management Interface (CPMI) process on the Security Management Server. The CPMI process handles the authentication and encryption of the SmartConsole sessions.
• https (443): This port is used for the communication between the SmartConsole client and the web server on the Security Management Server. The web server provides the SmartConsole GUI and the SmartConsole extensions.

The other options are incorrect because they either include ports that are not used by SmartConsole or omit ports that are used by SmartConsole.

References:

• SmartConsole R81.20 - Check Point Software1

The lowest gateway version supported by R81.20 management server is R77.30. According to the Check Point Release Map1, you can upgrade to R81.20 from R77.30, R80, R80.10, R80.20.M1, R80.20, R80.20SP, R80.20.M2, R80.20 3.10, R80.30, R80.30 3.10, R80.30SP, R80.40, R81 and R81.20. However, to upgrade from R77.30, R80 and R80.10, you first need to upgrade to R80.40. For more information, you can refer to the Check Point R81.20 (Titan) Release Home page2 or the Certified Security Expert (CCSE) R81.20 Course Overview3.

The cpprod_util command is a utility that provides information about the installed Check Point products and their versions. The cpprod_util MgmtIsPrimary option checks if the Security Management Server is installed as a primary or a secondary server in a High Availability cluster2. If the server is primary, the command returns “yes”. If the server is secondary, the command returns “no”. Therefore, Bob can use this command to verify the provisioning of the secondary Security Management Server.

References: 2: cpprod_util

The component that is not required to communicate with the Web Services API is the API key. The Web Services API uses a session ID token for authentication, which is obtained by sending a login request with a valid username and password. The other components are required for sending requests and receiving responses from the Web Services API. The content-type specifies the format of the data being sent or received, such as JSON or XML. The request payload contains the data and parameters for the API call, such as command name, object name, etc. References: [Web Services API Reference Guide]

The Check Point installation history feature provides the following:

• Policy Installation Date: The date and time when the policy was installed on the Security Gateway.
• View install changes: The ability to view the differences between two policy versions that were installed on the Security Gateway.
• Install specific version: The ability to install a specific policy version from the installation history on the Security Gateway3. References: Check Point R81 SmartConsole Guide

 The best method to upgrade a Security Management Server to R81.x when it is not connected to the Internet is either Advanced upgrade or CPUSE offline upgrade. Advanced upgrade is a manual procedure that involves backing up the current configuration, installing the new version from an ISO image, and restoring the configuration. CPUSE offline upgrade is an automated procedure that involves downloading the upgrade package from the Check Point User Center, transferring it to the Security Management Server, and installing it using CPUSE. SmartUpdate offline upgrade is not a valid option, as SmartUpdate is a tool for managing licenses and software packages on multiple gateways and servers1. References: 1: Check Point Software, Getting Started, Upgrading Security Management Servers.

 The benefit of Manual NAT over Automatic NAT is that you have full control over the priority of the NAT rules. Manual NAT allows you to create NAT rules that are independent of the security policy and specify the order in which they are applied. Automatic NAT creates NAT rules based on the objects’ NAT properties and places them according to predefined criteria. The other options are not benefits of Manual NAT over Automatic NAT. References: : Check Point Software, Getting Started, NAT Rule Base.

When Identity Awareness is enabled, AD Query and Browser-based Authentication are used as identity sources for Application Control. AD Query allows the Security Gateway to query Active Directory servers for identity information based on IP addresses. Browser-based Authentication allows the Security Gateway to redirect unidentified users to a captive portal where they can authenticate with their credentials. These identity sources provide accurate and up-to-date identity information for Application Control, which can enforce granular policies based on user, group, machine, and domain objects. References: R81 Identity Awareness Administration Guide, page 9.

The Log “Views” tab shows the details of a selected log when SmartEvent is correlating events. You can select a log from the Logs tab and click on the Views tab to see more information about the log, such as source, destination, service, action, blade, rule number, etc. You can also customize the columns and filters in the Views tab to display only the relevant fields for your analysis. References: [SmartEvent User Guide]

 An identity server uses a token for user authentication. A token is a piece of data that contains information about the user’s identity, such as their username, email, roles, and claims. A token is digitally signed by the identity server and can be verified by the relying party (the application or service that needs to authenticate the user). A token can be issued in different formats, such as JSON Web Token (JWT) or Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML). A token can also have different lifetimes, such as short-lived access tokens or long-lived refresh tokens. 

 The biggest benefit of policy layers is that they enable flexible control over the security policy. Policy layers and sub-policies allow administrators to break one policy into several virtual policies, each with its own set of rules and actions. Policy layers can be ordered, shared, and reused across different policies. Policy layers can also include Threat Prevention as a sub-policy for the firewall policy. References: [Check Point R81 Security Management Guide]