FCSS_EFW_AD-7.6 FCSS - Enterprise Firewall 7.6 Administrator Questions and Answers

The diagram shows a FortiGate connected to two FortiSwitches, which suggests the use of FortiLink, Fortinet's protocol for managing switches directly from a FortiGate. Since multiple connections are being used, the LAN interface must be set to 802.3ad (LAG) mode to aggregate the links for redundancy and load balancing.

This setup allows FortiGate to handle VLAN assignments dynamically, as seen with VLAN 10 (192.168.15.1/24). FortiLink ensures seamless integration between FortiGate and FortiSwitches, making STP unnecessary because Fortinet's MCLAG prevents loops at Layer 2. SD-WAN, on the other hand, is used for WAN interfaces and does not apply to switch connectivity in this scenario.

The excessive DNS log requests with random subdomains suggest a DNS exfiltration attack, where attackers encode and transmit data via DNS queries. Since this technique can use both UDP and TLS (DoH - DNS over HTTPS), a comprehensive security approach is needed.

Using an IPS profile with DNS exfiltration-specific signatures allows FortiGate to:

● Detect and block abnormal DNS query patterns often used in exfiltration.

● Inspect encrypted DNS (DoH, DoT) traffic if SSL inspection is enabled.

● Identify known exfiltration domains and techniques based on FortiGuard threat intelligence.

To minimize CPU and RAM usage while still enforcing security features like web filtering and application control, SSL certificate inspection mode is the best choice.

● SSL certificate inspection allows FortiGate to inspect only the SSL/TLS handshake, including the Server Name Indication (SNI) and certificate details, without decrypting the full encrypted payload.

● This enables features like web filtering and application control because FortiGate can determine the destination website or application based on SNI and certificate information.

● It significantly reduces system load compared to full SSL inspection, which requires full decryption and re-encryption of traffic.

The Configuration Revision History window in FortiManager shows that the most recent configuration change (ID 10) was created by script_manager with the action Retrieved.

Since script_manager is a system-level script execution user, the IT team needs to find who actually triggered this script. This can be done by:

● Checking the FortiManager system logs for script execution events.

● Using the type=script filter to locate the administrator associated with the script execution.

When designing an ADVPN (Auto-Discovery VPN) network for a large enterprise with spokes that have varying numbers of internet links, the main challenge is to minimize the number of peer connections and routes at the hub while maintaining scalability and efficiency.

Using a dynamic routing protocol (such as BGP or OSPF) with loopback interfaces helps in several ways:

● Reduces the number of peer connections at the hub by using a single loopback address per spoke instead of individual physical interfaces.

● Enables simplified route advertisement by dynamically learning and propagating routes instead of manually configuring static routes.

● Supports multiple internet links per spoke efficiently, as dynamic routing can automatically adjust to the best available path.

● Allows seamless failover if a spoke’s internet link fails, ensuring continuous connectivity.

FortiGate's IPS protocol decoders analyze network transmission patterns and application signatures to identify and block malicious traffic. Application Control is the feature that allows FortiGate to detect, classify, and block applications based on their behavior and signatures, even when they do not rely on traditional URLs.

● Application Control works alongside IPS protocol decoders to inspect packet payloads and enforce security policies based on recognized application behaviors.

● It enables granular control over non-URL-based applications such as P2P traffic, VoIP, messaging apps, and other non-web-based protocols that IPS can identify through protocol decoders.

● IPS and Application Control together can detect evasive or encrypted applications that might bypass traditional firewall rules.

In a hub-and-spoke topology using OSPF over IPsec VPNs, the point-to-multipoint network type is necessary to establish neighbor adjacencies between the hub and spokes. This network type ensures that OSPF operates correctly without requiring a designated router (DR) and allows dynamic routing updates across the IPsec tunnels.

The Multi-Exit Discriminator (MED) is a BGP attribute used to influence the preferred path for incoming traffic from an external autonomous system (AS). The diagram shows that FortiGate_1 advertises MED 200, while FortiGate_2 advertises MED 300, meaning the ISP will prefer the route through FortiGate_1 because a lower MED is preferred in BGP.

To modify the MED value on FortiGate_1 for routes advertised to AS 30, the administrator must configure a route-map-out. A route map can match specific routes and set the MED value before sending them to the BGP neighbor.

Unlike IPS or antivirus databases, FortiGate does not store a full web filter database locally. Instead, FortiGate queries FortiGuard (or FortiManager, if configured) dynamically to classify and filter web content in real time.

Key points:

● Web filtering works on a cloud-based model:

● When a user requests a website, FortiGate queries FortiGuard servers to check its category and reputation.

● The response is then cached locally for faster lookups on repeated requests.

● No local web filter database version:

● Unlike IPS and antivirus, which download and store signature updates locally, web filtering relies on cloud-based queries.

● This is why no database version appears in the GUI.

● Flow mode vs Proxy mode:

● In proxy mode, FortiGate can cache some web filter data, improving performance.

● In flow mode, all queries happen dynamically, with no locally stored database.

neighbor-group:

● This command is used to group multiple BGP neighbors with the same configuration, reducing redundant configuration.

● Instead of defining individual BGP settings for each spoke, the administrator can create a neighbor-group and apply the same policies, reducing manual work.

neighbor-range:

● This command allows the configuration of a range of neighbor IPs dynamically, reducing the need to manually define each spoke neighbor.

● It automatically adds BGP neighbors that match a given prefix, simplifying deployment.

In ADVPN (Auto-Discovery VPN) configurations, security concerns include protecting peer IDs during VPN establishment. Peer IDs are exchanged in the IKE (Internet Key Exchange) negotiation phase, and their exposure could lead to privacy risks or targeted attacks.

● IKEv2 encrypts peer IDs, making it more secure compared to IKEv1, where peer IDs can be exposed in plaintext in aggressive mode.

● IKEv2 also provides better performance and flexibility while supporting dynamic tunnel establishment in ADVPN.

The output of the get router info ospf status command provides key information about the OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) configuration on the FortiGate device.

The FortiGate device is connected to multiple areas

● The output states: "This router is an ABR"

● ABR (Area Border Router) means the device is connected to multiple OSPF areas and maintains routing information between them.

● This confirms that the FortiGate is not just in one area, but at least one backbone area (Area 0) and another OSPF area.

The FortiGate device injects external routing information

● The output states: "Supports opaque LSA"

● Opaque LSAs (Type 9, 10, and 11) are used in OSPF extensions, including those that support external route injection.

● Typically, ABRs or ASBRs (Autonomous System Boundary Routers) inject external routes, allowing routes from other routing protocols (such as BGP or static routes) to be advertised into OSPF.

When FortiGate is operating in proxy mode with full SSL inspection enabled, it inspects encrypted HTTPS traffic by default on port 443. However, some websites may use non-standard HTTPS ports (such as 8443), which FortiGate does not inspect unless explicitly configured.

To ensure that FortiGate inspects HTTPS traffic on port 8443, administrators must manually add port 8443 in the Protocol Port Mapping section of the SSL/SSH Inspection Profile. This allows FortiGate to treat HTTPS traffic on port 8443 the same as traffic on port 443, enabling proper inspection and enforcement of FortiGuard category-based web filtering.

From the Root FortiGate - System Administrator Configuration exhibit:

● The AdminSSO account has the super_admin_readonly role.

From the Downstream FortiGate - Security Fabric Settings exhibit:

● The Security Fabric role is set to Join Existing Fabric, meaning it will authenticate with the root FortiGate.

● SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) is enabled, and the default admin profile is set to super_admin_readonly.

When the AdminSSO user logs into the downstream FortiGate using SSO, the authentication request is sent to the root FortiGate, where AdminSSO has super_admin_readonly permissions. Since the downstream FortiGate inherits this permission through the Security Fabric configuration, the user will be granted super_admin_readonly access.