Within a Palo Alto Networks Anti-Spyware profile, administrators configure actions to be taken when a threat is detected. The "Default" action instructs the firewall to use the predefined action recommended by Palo Alto Networks for the specific threat signature, which varies based on severity. The "Drop" action is a specific instruction to silently discard the packet(s) identified as malicious, effectively preventing the threat from reaching its destination without notifying the source. Both "Default" and "Drop" are standard, configurable action choices within the rules of an Anti-Spyware profile.

B. Deny: "Deny" is a terminal action for a Security Policy rule that stops traffic matching the rule, but it is not an available action within an Anti-Spyware Security Profile itself.

C. Random early drop: This is a Quality of Service (QoS) congestion-avoidance mechanism used to manage network traffic queues; it is not a security action for threat prevention.

1. Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS® Administrator’s Guide 10.2 (2021). In the section "Anti-Spyware Profile Actions

" the guide lists the available actions for threats. It explicitly includes "default" and "drop." The "default" action uses the predefined action for each signature. The "drop" action is defined as dropping the traffic. (Reference: Chapter: "Objects > Security Profiles > Anti-Spyware"

Section: "Anti-Spyware Profile Actions").

2. Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS® Administrator’s Guide 10.2 (2021). The section on "Security Policy" describes the available actions for policy rules

which include "allow" and "deny." This confirms that "Deny" is an action at the policy level

not within the Anti-Spyware profile. (Reference: Chapter: "Policies > Security"

Section: "Security Policy Actions").

3. Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS® Administrator’s Guide 10.2 (2021). The section on Quality of Service (QoS) details congestion avoidance mechanisms. It describes Random Early Detection (RED) and Weighted Random Early Detection (WRED)

which aligns with the concept of "Random early drop

" confirming it is a QoS feature

not a threat profile action. (Reference: Chapter: "Network > QoS"

Section: "QoS Concepts").