NSE7_SSE_AD-25 Fortinet NSE 7 - FortiSASE 25 Enterprise Administrator Questions and Answers

There are two deployment methods used to connect a FortiExtender as a FortiSASE LAN extension:

Connect FortiExtender to FortiSASE using FortiZTP:

FortiZero Touch Provisioning (FortiZTP) simplifies the deployment process by allowing FortiExtender to automatically connect and configure itself with FortiSASE.

This method requires minimal manual configuration, making it efficient for large-scale deployments.

Enter the FortiSASE domain name in the FortiExtender GUI as a static discovery server:

Manually configuring the FortiSASE domain name in the FortiExtender GUI allows the extender to discover and connect to the FortiSASE infrastructure.

This static discovery method ensures that FortiExtender can establish a connection with FortiSASE using the provided domain name.

To configure a Secure Private Access (SPA) solution to share endpoint information between FortiSASE and a corporate FortiGate, you need to take the following steps:

Add the FortiGate IP address in the secure private access configuration on FortiSASE:

This step allows FortiSASE to recognize and establish a connection with the corporate FortiGate.

Use the FortiClient EMS cloud connector on the corporate FortiGate to connect to FortiSASE:

The EMS (Endpoint Management Server) cloud connector facilitates the integration between FortiClient endpoints and FortiSASE, enabling seamless sharing of endpoint information.

Register FortiGate and FortiSASE under the same FortiCloud account:

By registering both FortiGate and FortiSASE under the same FortiCloud account, you ensure centralized management and synchronization of configurations and policies.

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.

The Digital Experience Monitor (DEM) feature in FortiSASE is a specialized monitoring tool integrated into the SASE cloud to ensure optimal application performance and user satisfaction.2

Purpose and Visibility: DEM is designed to provide end-to-end network visibility by monitoring the health and performance of the connections between the global FortiSASE security Points of Presence (PoPs) and specific SaaS applications (such as Microsoft 365, WebEx, or Dropbox).

Performance Metrics: It identifies and helps troubleshoot issues related to latency, jitter, and packet loss. By leveraging vantage points within the SASE infrastructure, administrators can determine if a performance bottleneck resides within the local network, the SASE backbone, or the SaaS provider's environment.

Integration: This feature is often powered by FortiMonitor, allowing for synthetic transaction monitoring (STM) to simulate user interactions and proactively spot performance issues before they impact the hybrid workforce.

Operational Efficiency: By providing comprehensive insights across users and PoPs, DEM reduces the time required to resolve "slowness" complaints, which are common in remote work scenarios.

Comparison of Other Features:

Option A: While FortiSASE monitors PoP health, DEM's primary value is the end-to-end path to the application.

Option B: Compliance checks are a function of Endpoint Profiles and ZTNA tagging rules, not the monitoring dashboard.

Option D: Vulnerability management is handled by the Vulnerability Scan feature within the managed FortiClient settings.

To restrict endpoints from certain countries from connecting to FortiSASE, the administrator should configure Geofencing. This feature provides granular control over which geographic locations are permitted or denied access to the SASE infrastructure.

Geofencing in FortiSASE

Geofencing is the primary mechanism for controlling remote user connectivity based on their origin.

Functionality: It uses a geography-to-IP mapping database to identify the location of incoming connection requests.

Access Modes: Administrators can choose between two main modes:

Allow: Only users from specified countries can connect; all others are blocked.

Deny: Users from specified countries are blocked; all others are allowed.

Configuration Path: In the FortiSASE GUI, navigate to Configuration > Geofencing to enable the feature and add the relevant countries.

Enforcement: Once enabled, the system automatically creates "local-in" policies to drop or permit traffic at the edge of the SASE PoPs before it can consume resources or attempt authentication.

For a customer looking to upgrade their legacy on-premises proxy to a cloud-based proxy for a hybrid network, the combination of Secure Web Gateway (SWG) and Inline Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) features in FortiSASE will provide the necessary capabilities.

Secure Web Gateway (SWG):

SWG provides comprehensive web security by inspecting and filtering web traffic to protect against web-based threats.

It ensures that all web traffic, whether originating from on-premises or remote locations, is inspected and secured by the cloud-based proxy.

Inline Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB):

CASB enhances security by providing visibility and control over cloud applications and services.

Inline CASB integrates with SWG to enforce security policies for cloud application usage, preventing unauthorized access and data leakage.

To enable remote users to access internal applications located behind an existing FortiGate SD-WAN hub, the customer must license the FortiSASE Secure Private Access (SPA) add-on.

Secure Private Access (SPA) Use Case: This specific add-on is designed to extend the Fortinet Security Fabric into the SASE cloud, allowing for a hub-and-spoke architecture where the FortiSASE PoPs act as spokes and the customer's on-premises FortiGate acts as the hub.

Licensing Requirements: The SPA add-on is a per-hub (per service connection) license. It provides the necessary entitlements to establish IPsec tunnels and BGP peering between the SASE infrastructure and the corporate FortiGate.

Feature Enablement: Once the SPA license is applied, the Configuration > Private Access menu becomes available in the FortiSASE portal. This allows administrators to define "Service Connections" to their private data centers or cloud VPCs.

Analysis of Other Options:

Option A: The Global add-on is typically related to expanding the geographic reach or performance of the SASE PoPs, not specifically for private resource routing.

Option B: The Branch On-Ramp refers to connecting physical office locations (Thin Edge) to SASE, rather than the specific licensing for private application access for remote users.

Option D: Dedicated Public IP Address is used for source IP anchoring (SIA) to ensure remote users egress with a consistent IP for third-party SaaS IP-whitelisting.

In the context of Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), security posture tagging is the fundamental mechanism used to enforce compliance and security standards before granting access to protected resources.

Granular Access Control: The primary purpose of tagging is to provide granular access control.3 Instead of relying solely on static credentials, ZTNA uses these dynamic tags to determine if a device or user meets specific security requirements at the moment of the connection request.

Compliance-Based Enforcement: Tags are assigned based on the compliance status of the endpoint. For example, the FortiSASE Endpoint Management Service (EMS) can verify if a device has an active antivirus, is running a specific OS version, or is joined to the corporate domain.5 If the device fails any of these checks, the "Compliant" tag is removed, and access is automatically revoked.

Dynamic and Continuous Assessment: Unlike traditional VPNs that check posture only at login, ZTNA posture tagging allows for continuous assessment. If a device's security posture changes—for instance, if the user disables their firewall—the tag is updated in real-time across the Security Fabric, and the ZTNA policy will immediately deny further access.8

Integration with Policies: On the FortiGate (acting as a ZTNA proxy) or within FortiSASE, these tags are used as source criteria in ZTNA policies.9 Only traffic originating from endpoints with the required tags (e.g., "EMS-Tag: Corporate-Managed") is permitted to reach the protected application.

FortiSASE Secure Private Access (SPA) is designed to provide remote users with seamless and secure access to private applications hosted behind an organization's FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) or SD-WAN hubs.2

Hub-and-Spoke Architecture: In this deployment model, the organization’s FortiGate (either a standalone NGFW or an SD-WAN hub) acts as the hub, while the global FortiSASE Security Points of Presence (PoPs) act as spokes.3

IPsec and BGP Integration: The connectivity between the FortiSASE PoPs and the corporate hub is established via IPsec VPN tunnels. To manage routing and ensure that remote users can reach the correct internal subnets, Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is used for dynamic route exchange.4 This allows the hub to advertise internal prefixes to FortiSASE, enabling the PoPs to route user traffic effectively without requiring complex static route management.

Simplified Configuration: To reduce administrative overhead and prevent manual configuration errors on the FortiOS side, Fortinet introduced the SPA easy configuration key (also known as an invitation code or simplified SPA setup). An administrator generates this key in the FortiSASE portal and enters it on the FortiGate hub. This triggers the Fabric Overlay Orchestrator to automatically provision the necessary IPsec tunnels, BGP peerings, and firewall policies required for SPA connectivity.

According to the FortiSASE 25 Architecture Guide, this method is preferred over legacy VPNs because it supports both TCP and UDP traffic, integrates natively with existing SD-WAN deployments, and automatically finds the shortest path to applications using ADVPN (Auto-Discovery VPN) shortcuts where applicable.

FortiSASE utilizes Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) to provide a seamless Single Sign-On (SSO) experience for remote users connecting to the cloud infrastructure.

Role Identification: In a SAML exchange, FortiSASE functions as the Service Provider (SP). It relies on an external Identity Provider (IdP)—such as Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD), Okta, or FortiAuthenticator—to authenticate the user's identity and provide security assertions.2

SAML Group Matching: One of the core features of the FortiSASE SAML implementation is the ability to perform group matching. During the authentication process, the IdP sends a SAML assertion that typically includes an "Attribute Statement" containing the user's group memberships.3 FortiSASE captures this attribute and matches it against locally defined SAML user groups.

Policy Enforcement: This group matching capability is critical because it allows administrators to apply different Security Internet Access (SIA) or Secure Private Access (SPA) policies based on the user's role (e.g., "Marketing" vs. "Finance") rather than managing individual users manually.

Analysis of Incorrect Options: * Options C and D are incorrect because FortiSASE does not natively act as a SAML IdP; it is designed to consume assertions from professional identity management platforms.

Option B is incorrect because FortiSASE fully supports and relies upon group matching for enterprise-scale policy management.

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 VPN tunnel between the FortiSASE spoke and the FortiGate hub is not establishing due to the configuration of mode config, which is not supported by FortiSASE spoke devices. Mode config is used to assign IP addresses to VPN clients dynamically, but this feature is not applicable to FortiSASE spokes.

Mode Config in IPsec:

The configuration snippet shows that mode config is enabled in the IPsec phase 1 settings.

Mode config is typically used for VPN clients to dynamically receive an IP address from the VPN server, but it is not suitable for site-to-site VPN configurations involving FortiSASE spokes.

Configuration Adjustment:

To establish the VPN tunnel, you need to disable mode config in the IPsec phase 1 settings.

This adjustment will allow the FortiSASE spoke to properly establish the VPN tunnel with the FortiGate hub.

Steps to Disable Mode Config:

Access the VPN configuration on the FortiSASE spoke.

Edit the IPsec phase 1 settings to disable mode config.

Ensure other settings such as pre-shared key, remote gateway, and BGP configurations are correct and consistent with the FortiGate hub.

Based on the settings shown in the provided exhibits, the vulnerability remediation workflow is determined by the Endpoint Profile and the Vulnerability Dashboard.

Endpoint Profile Evaluation: The top exhibit displays the Scan for Vulnerabilities settings. The toggle for Automatically patch vulnerabilities is explicitly set to Disabled. Consequently, the system will not perform automated remediation when a scan completes.

Manual Patching Requirement: The Vulnerability Dashboard (bottom exhibit) lists several application vulnerabilities with a Patching status of Manual patching required. In a FortiSASE environment, "Manual" indicates that the vulnerability cannot be handled by the client's autonomous update process and requires a direct instruction from the management plane.

Administrative Intervention: The dashboard includes a Patch endpoints action button. Since auto-patching is disabled in the profile, an administrator must manually select the vulnerabilities and click the "Patch endpoints" button to remotely trigger the patching sequence on the managed endpoints via the FortiSASE cloud service.

Workflow Logic: While FortiClient acts as the "conductor" on the local machine to facilitate the download and installation, the trigger for this specific scenario is the administrator's remote action within the portal. This differentiates it from Option D (which is disabled) and Option C (which would involve a user manually browsing a website outside the managed SASE workflow).

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.

The exhibit (image_6361c9.jpg) displays a standard SASE onboarding email sent from the FortiSASE platform to an end user to facilitate the enrollment of their device.

Communication Source (D): This email is generated by the FortiSASE administrator through the Onboard Users menu in the FortiSASE portal. It provides the user with direct download links for the FortiClient application and a unique Invitation Code required for telemetry connection.

Installer Types and Automation (B): FortiSASE provides two primary methods for deploying the client agent:

Pre-configured Installer: This version is pre-packaged with the organization's unique invitation code built-in. When a user runs this installer, the invitation code step is skipped as the client automatically registers to the correct FortiSASE instance upon installation.

Manual Installer: This version requires the user to manually copy and paste the invitation code from the onboarding email into the FortiClient "Zero Trust Telemetry" menu to complete enrollment.

Analysis of Incorrect Options:

Option A: FortiSASE utilizes a unified agent (FortiClient). The components (VPN, ZTNA, Web Filter, etc.) are managed via Endpoint Profiles assigned in the SASE portal and pushed to the client automatically; they are not manually selected by the user during installation.

Option C: As noted above, if the administrator provides a pre-configured installer, the manual entry of the code is not required, making the statement that it must "always" be entered manually false.

Based on the provided exhibits, the reason why the Win7-Pro endpoint can no longer access the internet through FortiSASE is due to exceeding the total vulnerability detected threshold. This threshold is used to determine if a device is compliant with the security requirements to access the network.

Endpoint Compliance:

FortiSASE monitors endpoint compliance by assessing various security parameters, including the number of vulnerabilities detected on the device.

The compliance status is indicated by the ZTNA tags and the vulnerabilities detected.

Vulnerability Threshold:

The exhibit shows that Win7-Pro has 176 vulnerabilities detected, whereas Win10-Pro has 140 vulnerabilities.

If the endpoint exceeds a predefined vulnerability threshold, it may be restricted from accessing the network to ensure overall network security.

Impact on Network Access:

Since Win7-Pro has exceeded the vulnerability threshold, it is marked as non-compliant and subsequently loses internet access through FortiSASE.

The FortiSASE endpoint profile enforces this compliance check to prevent potentially vulnerable devices from accessing the internet.

In FortiSASE, Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) tags—also known as security posture tags—are used to dynamically grant or deny access based on the real-time security state of an endpoint. This mechanism ensures that only devices meeting specific compliance requirements can access protected resources or the internet.

Endpoint Analysis: The Managed Endpoints exhibit shows that while Jumpbox only has the FortiSASE-Compliant tag, the Windows-AD endpoint has been assigned both FortiSASE-Compliant and FortiSASE-Non-Compliant tags. This indicates that a security posture check on the Windows-AD device has failed, triggering a rule that applies the non-compliant tag.

Policy Evaluation: The Secure Internet Access Policy table shows two custom policies. The first policy, named Non-compliant, uses the FortiSASE-Non-Compliant tag as its source and has the action set to Deny. The second policy, Web Traffic, allows access for FortiSASE-Compliant users.

Root Cause of Outage: Because FortiSASE (powered by FortiOS) processes security policies in a top-down sequence, the "Non-compliant" policy is evaluated first. Since Windows-AD matches the source criteria for this "Deny" policy, its traffic is blocked before it can reach the "Accept" policy.

Although the exhibit shows a warning icon for the FortiClient version on Windows-AD, the direct cause of the internet outage is the explicit Deny policy triggered by the change in the device's security posture (the application of the Non-Compliant tag).

The exhibit (image_595357.jpg) illustrates the Sandbox configuration tab within a FortiSASE Endpoint Profile. This profile dictates how the managed FortiClient agent handles suspicious files and interacts with the sandbox service.

Profile-Based Enforcement: In the FortiSASE architecture, security features are not applied globally by default; they are enabled through specific profiles assigned to endpoints. Therefore, the sandbox inspection and remediation logic will only be active for endpoints that have been assigned a profile where the Sandbox feature is enabled.

Removable Media Protection: Under the File Submission Options in the exhibit, the setting All Files Executed from Removable Media is toggled on. This ensures that any file executed from a USB drive or other external storage is sent to the FortiSandbox for analysis before being permitted to run on the endpoint.

Sandbox Mode: The Sandbox Mode is set to FortiSASE, indicating that files are sent to the integrated cloud-native sandbox rather than an on-premises appliance. This makes Option A incorrect.

Quarantine Threshold: The Remediation Actions show that the Action is set to Quarantine for files meeting the Sandbox Detection Verdict Level of Medium. This acts as a minimum threshold; FortiClient will quarantine files identified as Medium, High, or Malicious. Option B is incorrect because it implies only medium-level files are quarantined, whereas higher-risk levels would also be blocked.

When providing Secure Private Access (SPA) to external contractors who may not be using managed corporate devices, FortiSASE offers specific methods to ensure security while maintaining ease of use.

Bookmark Portal (Clientless Access): For web-based resources like a web server, the recommended and most efficient method for contractors is to use the ZTNA portal (bookmark portal). This allows for clientless access, meaning the contractor does not need to install the FortiClient agent or any specific software on their personal machine.

Workflow: The administrator publishes the web server URL as a bookmark within the FortiSASE portal. Contractors simply log into the secure SASE web portal via their browser, authenticate, and click the bookmark to access the internal server.

Security Benefits: This method leverages the FortiSASE ZTNA access proxy to mediate the connection. It ensures that the contractor is authenticated and that the traffic is inspected without exposing the internal network directly to the contractor's device.

Analysis of Incorrect Options:

Option A: TCP forwarding rules require the FortiClient agent to be installed and managed on the endpoint. Contractors often use unmanaged devices where installing agents is restricted or undesirable.

Option C: Updating a PAC (Proxy Auto-Configuration) file is part of a Secure Web Gateway (SWG) deployment for internet access, not for routing traffic to private internal web servers via an SPA hub.1

Option D: Manually updating DNS records on a contractor's endpoint is an unscalable, insecure, and administratively heavy task that does not provide the session-level security required by ZTNA.

In a FortiSASE deployment, Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) is the primary diagnostic tool used to troubleshoot connectivity and performance issues specifically for a single user or endpoint.

End-to-End Visibility: DEM provides real-time, end-to-end visibility into the network path between the end-user's device and the application they are trying to reach. This is critical when only one user reports an issue, as it allows administrators to pinpoint whether the problem resides on the local device, the local ISP, the SASE backbone, or the destination application.

Performance Metrics: The DEM agent (often integrated with the FortiMonitor agent on the endpoint) collects granular performance metrics such as latency, jitter, packet loss, and RTT (Round Trip Time). It also provides device-specific health data, including CPU and memory usage, to determine if the connectivity issue is actually caused by the remote computer's performance.

Hop-by-Hop Analysis: Unlike standard monitoring, DEM offers End-to-End Continuous Hop Analytics. This path monitoring visualizes every "hop" in the traffic route and highlights exactly where degraded service is occurring. For a single user experiencing issues while everyone else is fine, this tool immediately triangulates if a specific "problem hop" in their unique connection path is the cause.

Operational Comparison: * MDM (A) is used for managing device configurations and software distribution, not for real-time network performance troubleshooting.

Forensics (C) is a security-focused service used for investigating malware incidents or data breaches, not for measuring network latency.

SOCaaS (D) is a managed security service for threat monitoring and event triage; while it handles "security" connectivity issues (like a blocked IP), it is not a tool for performance metric evaluation.

In the FortiSASE architecture, Network Lockdown is a security feature designed to prevent off-net (off-fabric) endpoints from accessing the internet or local network without the protection of the SASE security stack.

Triggering Lockdown: When an endpoint is determined to be "off-net"—meaning it does not satisfy the on-net rule sets defined in its endpoint profile—a timer starts for a configurable grace period.

Function of the Grace Period: During this period, the endpoint maintains full access to the LAN and the internet.4 The specific purpose of this grace period is to provide the user with a window of time to attempt a connection to the FortiSASE VPN tunnel or an alternate corporate tunnel.5 This ensures that users can authenticate and regain a secure "on-net" status before any connectivity restrictions are enforced.

Enforcement: If the grace period expires and the endpoint has failed to establish a VPN connection, FortiClient enforces a strict lockdown.7 In this state, the device cannot reach the LAN or the internet, except for specifically defined "Exempt Destinations" (such as captive portal login pages or the FortiSASE portal itself).

Resetting the Timer: Any attempt to connect to the tunnel during the grace period resets the timer, providing additional opportunities for the user to remediate their connection status.8

According to the FortiSASE 25 Administrator Study Guide, the grace period is an essential user-experience setting that balances strict "zero-trust" security with the practical need for users to access the network briefly to establish their secure tunnel.