100-140 Question 238
Single answerA user at a company is unable to access an external website hosted on the Internet. Upon investigation, you suspect the company's firewall is blocking the connection. What is the most likely reason for this, and how can it be resolved?
- A
The firewall is configured to block outbound HTTP traffic, and the rule needs to be adjusted.
- B
The firewall is incorrectly routing DNS requests, requiring a DNS rule to be added.
- C
The firewall is configured to block all incoming traffic, which needs to be disabled.
- D
The firewall has a rule blocking the specific IP address of the website, which needs to be removed.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
Firewalls are designed to control network traffic based on predefined security rules. In this scenario, the most likely cause of the connectivity issue is a firewall rule blocking outbound HTTP traffic. Adjusting this rule to allow HTTP traffic would restore access to external websites. The other options either do not align with the described symptoms or are less likely given the context.
- A. Correct.
Firewalls can block specific types of outbound traffic, such as HTTP or HTTPS. If HTTP traffic is blocked, users cannot access websites. Adjusting the firewall rule to allow outbound HTTP traffic would resolve the issue.
- B. Incorrect.
DNS requests are typically handled by DNS servers, not the firewall. While a misconfiguration could potentially cause DNS issues, this is unrelated to the described problem of accessing an external website.
- C. Incorrect.
Firewalls commonly block incoming traffic to protect internal systems, but this does not affect outbound traffic to external websites. This explanation does not align with the scenario.
- D. Incorrect.
Blocking a specific IP address is possible, but this would only affect one particular website. The question does not indicate that the issue is specific to one site, making this explanation less likely.