FORTINET-NSE123 Practice Test 2 — 25 Questions

Question 1

Which TWO practices represent fundamental cybersecurity hygiene guidelines for everyday end users? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Locking the workstation screen whenever walking away from the desk.. End users should maintain strong, unique passwords and lock their screens when leaving workstations unattended.

Answer

Clicking on unexpected email attachments immediately to verify their safety.

Answer

Sharing corporate passwords with trusted team members to ensure project continuity.

Answer

Disabling all endpoint antivirus software to speed up system performance.

Question 2

A remote worker is using a public Wi-Fi hotspot to access company resources. Which configuration provides the best protection for their traffic?

Accepted Answer

Utilize a secure VPN tunnel to the corporate network.. A VPN encrypts the traffic between the client and the corporate gateway, protecting data from interception on public networks.

Answer

Enable browser-based spell check.

Answer

Ensure the laptop firewall is turned off to allow easier connectivity.

Answer

Use an unencrypted FTP connection for file transfers.

Question 3

An administrator wants to ensure that administrative access to the FortiGate GUI is restricted to secure HTTPS connections only, while disabling insecure HTTP access. Where is this administrative access protocol configured on the FortiGate?

Accepted Answer

Under the physical or logical interface settings (Administrative Access). Administrative access protocols (HTTPS, SSH, PING) are enabled or disabled on individual physical or logical interface configurations under Network > Interfaces.

Answer

Inside the firewall policy table rules

Answer

Inside the static routing table configuration

Answer

Within the FortiGuard update subscription settings

Question 4

An administrator needs to ensure that critical administrative login events and firewall configuration changes generate an immediate real-time alert email. Where are email alert settings configured on the FortiGate?

Accepted Answer

Under System > Alert Email settings. Email alert settings (Alert Email) can be configured on the FortiGate to send notifications when specific log severity levels or events occur.

Answer

Inside the individual firewall policy rule settings

Answer

Inside the FortiGuard subscription server parameters

Answer

Within the static routing table configuration

Question 5

Which TWO of the following are core components of the Fortinet Security Fabric architecture? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

FortiAnalyzer. FortiGate (firewall) and FortiAnalyzer (logging/analytics) are core foundational pillars of the Fortinet Security Fabric.

Answer

VMware ESXi hypervisor

Answer

Microsoft Active Directory

Answer

Cisco Catalyst Switch

Question 6

Which TWO criteria can be used in a FortiGate firewall policy to match and control traffic? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Service objects (ports and protocols like HTTP or SSH). Firewall policies match traffic based on source/destination interfaces, source/destination addresses, services, schedules, and user identities.

Answer

FortiGuard signature version number

Answer

CPU utilization percentage of FortiASIC chips

Answer

Administrator GUI idle timeout threshold

Question 7

An enterprise network team notices that internal workstations are periodically querying known malicious command-and-control (C2) domains. However, direct external DNS queries are blocked. How might an advanced malware strain attempt to resolve these domains?

Accepted Answer

By leveraging alternative public DNS resolvers or DNS-over-HTTPS (DoH). Advanced malware often uses alternative lookup methods, such as utilizing hardcoded public DNS resolvers or tunneling protocols, to bypass internal DNS restrictions.

Answer

By relying exclusively on local ARP tables

Answer

By broadcasting requests via local Bluetooth signals

Answer

By converting domain names into physical print jobs

Question 8

An organization adopts the principle of least privilege (PoLP) across its server infrastructure. How should user accounts and service accounts be configured to adhere to this principle?

Accepted Answer

Users and services are granted only the bare minimum permissions required to perform their explicit functions.. Least privilege dictates that users and services should only be granted the minimum permissions necessary to perform their specific functions.

Answer

Service accounts are assigned domain administrator privileges to ensure background tasks never fail due to permissions.

Answer

Every user account is automatically granted local administrator rights on their assigned workstation by default.

Answer

All administrators share a single root account with full access to simplify password management.

Question 9

Which THREE common indicators suggest that an email message might be a phishing attempt? (Choose three.)

Accepted Answer

A generic salutation such as 'Dear Customer' instead of the recipient's actual name.. Phishing emails often feature generic greetings, mismatched sender domains, and urgent demands for sensitive information.

Answer

A standard company-wide newsletter detailing upcoming office cafeteria holiday hours.

Answer

A digital signature verifying the cryptographic integrity and authenticity of the sender.

Question 10

A user receives a phone call from someone claiming to be from the corporate IT helpdesk, urgently asking for their network password to resolve a critical security alert. What social engineering tactic is being used?

Accepted Answer

Voice phishing (Vishing). Vishing (voice phishing) uses phone calls and social manipulation to trick individuals into divulging confidential information.

Answer

Watering hole attack

Answer

Phishing via SMS (Smishing)

Answer

Credential stuffing

Question 11

A company's security policy requires that all software patches and operating system updates be evaluated in a test environment before being deployed to production endpoints. Which risk is this policy primarily designed to mitigate?

Accepted Answer

The risk of operational downtime caused by faulty updates. Testing updates prevents faulty patches from causing widespread system instability, crashes, or availability loss in production.

Answer

The risk of unauthorized physical entry to data centers

Answer

The risk of zero-day hardware manufacturing defects

Answer

The risk of social engineering attacks against helpdesk staff

Question 12

An IT administrator creates complex password policies requiring a mix of uppercase, lowercase, numbers, and special characters. Which security objective does this practice primarily support?

Accepted Answer

Mitigating brute-force and credential-guessing attacks.. Complex passwords increase entropy, making brute-force and dictionary attacks significantly harder to execute successfully.

Answer

Preventing structured SQL injection attacks against web databases.

Answer

Preventing physical theft of laptop hardware.

Answer

Ensuring high network bandwidth availability for video conferencing.

Question 13

Which action is a best practice for managing passwords to prevent credential stuffing attacks?

Accepted Answer

Use a password manager to generate and store unique, strong passwords for each site.. Using a unique, complex password for every service ensures that one breach does not lead to the compromise of other accounts.

Answer

Change passwords only when forced by the system administrator.

Answer

Write passwords on a physical sticky note hidden under the keyboard.

Answer

Use the same password for all work-related accounts to ensure memory efficiency.

Question 14

What is the primary purpose of defining zones (interface zones) in FortiOS firewall configurations?

Accepted Answer

To group multiple interfaces into a single entity for simplified firewall policy management. Interface zones group multiple physical or logical interfaces together, allowing administrators to apply a single firewall policy to multiple interfaces sharing the same security requirements.

Answer

To enforce static routing protocols across distinct subnets

Answer

To increase the physical bandwidth capacity of aggregated switch ports

Answer

To assign dynamic IP addresses to connected client workstations

Question 15

Which THREE of the following characteristics are typical of social engineering attacks? (Choose three)

Accepted Answer

They frequently manufacture a sense of false urgency or panic to prompt rushed mistakes. Social engineering often relies on manipulation of human emotions such as fear or urgency, impersonation of trusted entities, and bypassing technical controls by targeting users.

Answer

They always require advanced kernel-level debugging tools to execute

Answer

They are entirely preventable by installing a standard graphics card driver update

Question 16

Which TWO methods are effective ways to protect user accounts against credential-based attacks like credential stuffing and brute-forcing? (Choose two)

Accepted Answer

Implementing account lockout policies after a threshold of failed login attempts.. Multi-factor authentication and account lockout policies effectively mitigate credential stuffing and brute-forcing.

Answer

Permitting HTTP plaintext transmission for login forms to speed up authentication.

Answer

Allowing users to share identical passwords to reduce password fatigue.

Answer

Disabling logging mechanisms to prevent server storage bloat.

Question 17

Which THREE of the following scenarios describe common forms of cybersecurity attacks against end users? (Choose three)

Accepted Answer

An employee receives an email mimicking IT support asking them to verify their credentials on a fake login portal. Phishing, baiting with USB drives, and tech support scams are all classic threat types targeting end users.

Answer

An organization implements strict role-based access control and regular auditing

Answer

A network administrator configures automated offboarding checklists for departed employees

Question 18

An employee finds a USB flash drive labeled 'Q4 Salary Adjustments' left in the parking lot and plugs it into their corporate laptop to see whose pay increased. What attack vector does this situation demonstrate?

Accepted Answer

USB baiting exploiting human curiosity and physical media.. Leaving physical media in public spaces to entice curiosity is a social engineering tactic known as USB baiting.

Answer

Man-in-the-middle interception of wireless frames.

Answer

Cross-site scripting executed within a browser session.

Answer

Watering hole attack targeting web browsing habits.

Question 19

An organization implements a Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) model for remote workers. Unlike traditional remote access, how does ZTNA handle user authentication and resource authorization?

Accepted Answer

It verifies user identity and device health continuously, granting least-privilege access per application.. ZTNA continuously verifies user identity, device posture, and grants access strictly to specific applications rather than the entire network.

Answer

It trusts all devices once the initial corporate username and password are validated at the perimeter.

Answer

It automatically trusts all traffic originating from corporate-issued laptops without checking user credentials.

Answer

It relies entirely on physical network segmentation within the remote employee's home office.

Question 20

An employee receives an email stating their account will be deactivated within 24 hours unless they click an embedded link and verify their credentials immediately. What psychological manipulation tactic is the attacker primarily leveraging?

Accepted Answer

Creating a false sense of urgency and fear of loss.. Attackers create a sense of urgency and panic to bypass critical thinking and prompt immediate compliance.

Answer

Offering financial rewards for completing a corporate survey.

Answer

Establishing authority by impersonating a system administrator calmly.

Answer

Providing technical assistance for routine software patching.