Free Practice Questions for Fortinet NSE7_SSE_AD-25 Exam

The core of the issue shown in the exhibits is the lack of visibility into encrypted traffic.

HTTPS Encryption: The eicar.org website uses the HTTPS protocol for its downloads. This means the data payload, including the test malware file, is encrypted as it traverses the network.

SSL Inspection Modes: As seen in the Security profile group exhibit (image_5705fc.jpg), the SSL inspection mode is explicitly set to Certificate inspection mode.

Visibility Gap: Certificate inspection only analyzes the initial SSL handshake, such as the server certificate and SNI (Server Name Indication). It does not decrypt the traffic payload. Consequently, the antivirus engine in FortiSASE cannot "see" or scan the eicar.com-zip file hidden within the encrypted session.

Resolution Requirement: To detect and block malicious files over HTTPS, SSL Deep Inspection must be enabled. Deep inspection allows FortiSASE to act as a proxy, decrypting the traffic for full content scanning by the antivirus and IPS engines before re-encrypting it for the endpoint.

Log Analysis: While the web filtering logs (image_5704e5.jpg) show the traffic is "Allowed" because the URL is not blocked by a web filter category, this is only the first step of inspection. The antivirus engine is present but ineffective because it is blind to the encrypted content due to the lack of deep inspection.

Based on the provided exhibits and the logic of FortiSASE On/off-net detection, the endpoint's behavior is determined by its network environment relative to the configured rules.

Subnet Matching and Detection: The On-net rule set (named "On-Premises") is configured to identify a trusted location when the endpoint "Connects from a known local subnet". The administrator has defined the known subnet as $192.168.13.0/24$. Since the endpoint's IP address is $192.168.13.101$, it falls within this range. Consequently, FortiClient detects the endpoint as being on-net (on-fabric).

Action Logic (Exemption): In a FortiSASE Endpoint Profile, when On/off-net detection is enabled and an endpoint matches an "On-net" rule, the standard behavior is to exempt the endpoint from auto-connecting to the FortiSASE VPN tunnel. This design assumes the endpoint is already in a secured office environment where the corporate firewall (FortiGate) provides the necessary protection, making the SASE tunnel redundant.

Comparison of Other Options: * Option B: Incorrect, because the IP matches the defined "known local subnet" rule for on-net detection.

Option D: Incorrect, as auto-connect only triggers when the endpoint is detected as off-net to ensure remote security.

If the daily summary report generated by FortiSASE contains very little data, one possible explanation is that the "Log allowed traffic" setting is configured to log only "Security Events" for all policies. This configuration limits the amount of data logged, as it only includes security events and excludes normal allowed traffic.

Log Allowed Traffic Setting:

The "Log allowed traffic" setting determines which types of traffic are logged.

When set to "Security Events," only traffic that triggers a security event (such as a threat detection or policy violation) is logged.

Impact on Report Data:

If the log setting excludes regular allowed traffic, the amount of data captured and reported is significantly reduced.

This results in reports with minimal data, as only security-related events are included.

To implement Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) where a FortiGate hub enforces device posture and processes traffic directly, specific architectural and configuration steps are required on the FortiGate appliance.

ZTNA Access Proxy (B): The FortiGate must be configured as a ZTNA access proxy. In this role, the FortiGate acts as a secure gateway that mediates connections between remote users and internal applications. This setup ensures that all TCP traffic is intercepted and processed by the FortiGate, providing a direct, shortest-path connection that bypasses the FortiSASE cloud PoPs for the data plane.

ZTNA Servers and Policies (C): Within the FortiGate configuration, administrators must define ZTNA servers (which identify the protected applications or resources) and ZTNA policies. ZTNA policies are the enforcement rules that check for valid client certificates and specific ZTNA tags (synchronized from FortiSASE) before allowing access to a resource. This configuration allows the FortiGate to perform continuous posture checks on every session.

Posture Check Mechanism: While ZTNA tags are used, they are generally synchronized from the FortiSASE Endpoint Management Service (EMS) rather than manually configured on the FortiGate itself. This synchronization ensures the FortiGate has real-time visibility into the security posture (e.g., AV compliance, OS version) of the endpoints as reported by FortiClient.

Analysis of Incorrect Options:

Option A: Creating ZTNA tags manually on a FortiGate is technically possible but is not the recommended "setup" in a FortiSASE deployment, as tags are meant to be dynamically assigned by EMS and synced to the fabric.

Option D: "Private access policies on FortiSASE" refers to the SD-WAN Secure Private Access (SPA) use case. In the SD-WAN SPA model, traffic is steered through the FortiSASE PoP first, whereas the requirement specifically asks for TCP traffic to be processed by the FortiGate using ZTNA.

To block all video and audio application traffic while granting access to videos from CNN, you need to configure an application override action in the Application Control with Inline-CASB. Here is the step-by-step detailed explanation:

Application Control Configuration:

Application Control is used to identify and manage application traffic based on predefined or custom application signatures.

Inline-CASB (Cloud Access Security Broker) extends these capabilities by allowing more granular control over cloud applications.

Blocking Video and Audio Applications:

To block all video and audio application traffic, you can create a policy within Application Control to deny all categories related to video and audio streaming.

Granting Access to Specific Videos (CNN):

To allow access to videos from CNN specifically, you must create an override rule within the same Application Control profile.

The override action "Exempt" ensures that traffic to specified URLs (such as those from CNN) is not subjected to the blocking rules set for other video and audio traffic.

Configuration Steps:

Navigate to the Application Control profile in the FortiSASE interface.

Set the application categories related to video and audio streaming to "Block."

Add a new override entry for CNN video traffic and set the action to "Exempt."

In recent versions of FortiSASE (starting from version 24.4 and later), the platform has increased its scalability to support larger enterprise environments.

Maximum Hub Support: According to the FortiSASE Mature Administration Guide and the FortiSASE 25.3.148 Feature Release Notes, administrators can now configure a maximum of 12 SPA Service Connections (SPA hubs). Previously, this limit was restricted to 4 hubs.

Scalability for Large Enterprises: This enhancement allows organizations with complex, geographically dispersed networks—such as those with multiple regional datacenters or cloud hubs—to integrate up to 12 distinct FortiGate SD-WAN hubs into their SASE infrastructure.

Service Connection Licensing: Each SPA hub requires a dedicated FortiGate SPA Service Connection license. In MSSP environments using FortiCloud Organizations, a single FortiSASE instance can inherit these licenses from a root OU, supporting up to the same cumulative maximum of 12 service connections.

Routing and Performance: These 12 hubs form the "Private Access" backbone, where FortiSASE security PoPs act as spokes. The use of BGP (either per-overlay or on loopback) ensures that traffic is dynamically routed to the optimal hub based on the destination network and defined SLA priorities.

In the user connection monitor, the random characters shown for the username indicate that log anonymization is enabled. Log anonymization is a feature that hides the actual user information in the logs for privacy and security reasons. To display proper user information, you need to disable log anonymization.

Log Anonymization:

When log anonymization is turned on, the actual usernames are replaced with random characters to protect user privacy.

This feature can be beneficial in certain environments but can cause issues when detailed user monitoring is required.

Disabling Log Anonymization:

Navigate to the FortiSASE settings.

Locate the log settings section.

Disable the log anonymization feature to ensure that actual usernames are displayed in the logs and user connection monitors.

FortiSASE Secure Private Access (SPA) provides flexible connectivity to internal corporate resources using a hub-and-spoke architecture where FortiSASE PoPs act as spokes to an organization's FortiGate hub.

Flow from Agent-based users to Private Resources (C): This is the core functionality of SPA. Remote users running FortiClient (agent-based) connect to the nearest FortiSASE PoP. The PoP, integrated into the corporate SD-WAN fabric, uses IPsec and BGP to route traffic to the private applications located behind the FortiGate hub or associated spokes.

Flow from Thin Branches/Branch On-ramp to Private Resources (E): FortiSASE extends its security and connectivity to physical locations through "Thin Edge" (e.g., FortiExtender, FortiAP) or "Branch On-ramp" (e.g., branch FortiGates). These sites form tunnels to the FortiSASE PoP, which then provides them with access to the same private resources in the SD-WAN network as the remote agent-based users.

Flow from Private Resources to Agent-based users (A): The SPA architecture is designed for bidirectional communication. Documentation confirms that traffic can be initiated from the FortiGate hub (or local networks behind it) to the remote VPN agents. This "Server-to-Client" flow is essential for administrative tasks, log forwarding, or real-time communication applications like VoIP.

Incorrect Options:

Option B: Traffic from private resources to the internet is handled via Secure Internet Access (SIA) or local gateway policies, not the SPA use case, which is dedicated to internal private application access.

Option D: While FortiSASE can facilitate branch-to-branch communication via ADVPN shortcuts, the term "SPA" specifically refers to the access layer for users and is not used to describe resource-to-resource or hub-to-hub traffic.

The integration of FortiGuard SOCaaS with FortiSASE significantly strengthens an organization's security posture by offloading complex security operations to Fortinet's expert analysts.4

Continuous Threat Monitoring (B): FortiGuard SOCaaS provides 24x7x365 threat monitoring for all endpoints connected to the FortiSASE environment. This service eliminates the need for organizations to hire and maintain their own round-the-clock security operations staff while ensuring that threats are detected and verified in as little as 15 minutes.

Centralized Visibility (C): By forwarding FortiSASE logs to the SOCaaS cloud, administrators gain centralized visibility of all security events through a single, user-friendly portal. This portal allows security teams to track threats, review expert-led incident escalations, and communicate directly with Fortinet SOC analysts to streamline the incident response process.

Operational Efficiency: The integration uses AI-driven alert triage and automated correlation to distill data from the Fortinet Security Fabric, focusing on legitimate threats and reducing the alert fatigue often experienced by internal IT teams.