Fortinet Interview Questions

Introduction

With the growing importance of network security, Fortinet and its flagship product FortiGate firewall have become central to enterprise cybersecurity. As a result, Fortinet interview questions are a must-know for roles like:

• Network Security Engineer

• Firewall Administrator

• Security Analyst

• SOC Engineer

• IT Infrastructure Specialist

This detailed guide covers 60+ Fortinet interview questions, divided into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels, including scenario-based and real-time questions frequently asked in interviews.

Section 1: Fortinet Basic Interview Questions

1. What is Fortinet?

Answer: Fortinet is a global cybersecurity company that offers security-driven networking solutions. Its key product is FortiGate, a next-generation firewall used for traffic filtering, threat protection, and VPN setup.

2. What is FortiGate?

Answer: FortiGate is a Unified Threat Management (UTM) device that provides multiple security functions like firewall, VPN, antivirus, IPS, and web filtering, all in a single platform.

3. What are the main security features of FortiGate?

• Stateful inspection firewall

• Web filtering

• Intrusion prevention system (IPS)

• Application control

• SSL VPN and IPsec VPN

• Antivirus and anti-spam

• Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

4. What are the different modes in which FortiGate can operate?

• NAT/Route Mode (default)

• Transparent Mode (bridge mode)

5. What is UTM?

Answer: UTM (Unified Threat Management) refers to integrating multiple security services into a single device such as firewall, antivirus, web filtering, and intrusion detection.

6. How do you access the FortiGate firewall?

• Web UI (HTTPS)

• CLI via SSH or console

• FortiManager (central management)

7. What is the default IP address and login credentials of FortiGate?

• IP: 192.168.1.99

• Username: admin

• Password: (blank by default)

8. What is a policy in FortiGate?

Answer: A policy is a rule that defines which traffic is allowed or denied based on source, destination, service, and action.

9. What is a security profile?

Answer: Security profiles are additional filters (e.g., Antivirus, Web Filter, IPS) applied to firewall policies to scan and monitor traffic.

10. What is a VDOM?

Answer: A Virtual Domain (VDOM) allows one FortiGate device to operate as multiple virtual firewalls, each with its own configuration.

Section 2: Fortinet Intermediate Interview Questions

11. What is the difference between policy-based and profile-based mode in FortiGate?

• Policy-based: Apply security profiles to individual policies

• Profile-based: Security features are applied based on a set of predefined profiles

12. What is the purpose of the NAT feature?

Answer: NAT (Network Address Translation) is used to translate private IP addresses to a public IP address to enable Internet communication.

13. How do you configure a static route in FortiGate?

Go to: Network > Static Routes
Set the destination subnet, gateway IP, and interface.

14. What is Deep Packet Inspection (DPI)?

Answer: DPI is used to inspect the entire content of packets, not just headers, enabling FortiGate to detect threats embedded deep in traffic.

15. What are the log types available in FortiGate?

• Traffic Logs

• Event Logs

• Antivirus Logs

• Web Filter Logs

• IPS Logs

• Application Control Logs

16. How do you check CPU and memory usage in FortiGate?

Via CLI:

17. How do you create a VPN in FortiGate?

Navigate to: VPN > IPsec Wizard or SSL-VPN Settings
Follow step-by-step configuration including encryption settings and policies.

18. Difference between IPsec VPN and SSL VPN in Fortinet?

19. What is FortiAnalyzer?

Answer: A centralized logging and reporting tool that integrates with FortiGate to manage security data.

20. How do you back up the FortiGate configuration?

• Go to System > Configuration > Backup

• Choose Local, FTP, SFTP

• Save .conf file

Section 3: Fortinet Advanced Interview Questions

21. Explain session handling in FortiGate.

Answer: FortiGate creates sessions for each new connection. Each session is tracked with source/destination IP/port and protocol.

22. What is the difference between a flow-based and proxy-based inspection mode?

• Flow-based: Fast, inspects traffic as it flows

• Proxy-based: Deeper inspection, temporarily stores content

23. How do you troubleshoot connectivity in FortiGate?

• Ping/traceroute

• diagnose debug flow

• Logs and packet capture

• Policy lookup tool

24. How to configure SD-WAN in FortiGate?

Navigate to Network > SD-WAN

• Add WAN interfaces

• Define health checks

• Set performance SLAs

• Create SD-WAN rules

25. How does FortiGate integrate with Active Directory?

Through LDAP or RADIUS authentication. FortiGate uses this for user-based firewall policies and SSO.

26. What is High Availability (HA) in FortiGate?

Answer: A feature that enables failover and load balancing between two or more FortiGate units for uptime and redundancy.

27. What is Security Fabric?

Fortinet’s Security Fabric links FortiGate with other Fortinet and third-party tools for unified visibility and response.

28. What is the command to reboot FortiGate via CLI?

29. What is Application Control in FortiGate?

Answer: A UTM feature that identifies and controls application-level traffic like Skype, Facebook, BitTorrent.

30. How does FortiGate perform SSL inspection?

• Intercepts encrypted traffic

• Uses certificate to decrypt and inspect

• Re-encrypts before sending to destination

• Also Read: Fortinet Tutorial

Section 4: Real-Time Scenario-Based Questions

31. A user is unable to access a website, how do you troubleshoot?

• Check policy rule

• Check DNS resolution

• Use diag debug flow

• Inspect web filter logs

• Bypass security profiles temporarily

32. How do you allow only Gmail and block all other email services?

• Use Application Control

• Allow Gmail app signature

• Block email category or specific apps like Yahoo Mail, Outlook.com

33. How to configure bandwidth control in FortiGate?

Use Traffic Shaping policies

• Set max/min bandwidth per policy

• Apply per user/IP/application

34. How do you implement two-factor authentication?

• Enable 2FA in User & Authentication

• Use FortiToken or Google Authenticator

• Assign 2FA to specific users/groups

35. How do you block YouTube during work hours?

• Use Web Filter category block

• Schedule policy activation

• Use App Control to block YouTube service

Section 5: CLI-Based FortiGate Interview Questions

36. List interfaces and IP addresses:

37. Check current sessions:

38. Clear all sessions:

39. Ping a destination:

40. Check active policies:

41. What is the difference between implicit and explicit policies in FortiGate?

Fortinet Interview Tips

• Always explain configuration steps clearly

• Mention both GUI and CLI when possible

• Show understanding of security profiles

• Use scenarios to demonstrate applied knowledge

• Learn NSE 4 topics like VDOMs, UTM, VPNs, and SD-WAN

Conclusion

Fortinet remains one of the most trusted security platforms in the industry, making FortiGate firewall expertise highly desirable in today’s job market. Whether you’re appearing for a NOC, SOC, or Cybersecurity Engineer role, this guide provides an all-around preparation path.