In the last few weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused many businesses to change their operations overnight and require remote work for the well-being of their employees. With more individuals working via home networks, there has been an increased need for cybersecurity professionals to ensure their companies are still operating securely.
GlobalProtect and VPN connectivity have been top of mind. We as a community want to say how much we appreciate the customer support and TAC teams at Palo Alto Networks, and the hard work they are putting in to help as we react to the evolving demands before us.
If you’re able, try one of the self-service or community options available (see point one below). Otherwise, the next time you get on a TAC support call, keep the following dos and don’ts in mind.
Do’s
- See if your issue can be resolved through self-service: Join a LIVEcommunity GlobalProtect or Prisma Access discussion, or visit the LIVEcommunity COVID-19 Response Center.
- Be kind and patient. This is your first TAC call of the day, but it could be the 10th call for the person on the other end. The people they are assisting throughout the day are likely under pressure and want to get something fixed, just like you.
- Have your tech support file of the firewall already loaded into the case notes. It’s a dump of the firewall configuration along with system and firewall logs, allowing support to get a head start on your case. For information on generating a Tech Support file, please see this article.
- If you have a new configuration and it has a security or NAT policy, have that info already filtered out, or have a search term in mind. This saves time and narrows down the area of concern. If you have 250 or so NAT rules then it’s helpful to cut that down.
Don’ts
- Don’t close your email. TAC usually emails you a link to a remote connection session via email. If you can’t get to email, have a web browser open.
- Don’t leave your phone on speaker in a loud server room. Mute your line while the person is looking at your configuration so they don’t get server noise in their ear.
- Unless you’ve found a way to share snacks through the screen, please refrain from eating while you talk with the other person on the line.
