NSE7 Advanced Threat Protection Practice Question
A FortiGate administrator is troubleshooting why a custom IPS signature is not triggering on traffic matching the pattern. Which TWO checks should be performed?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates often focus on signature configuration details (severity, decoder, mode) and overlook the policy attachment step, which is the most common root cause for a custom signature not triggering.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Confirm the IPS sensor is applied to the correct firewall policy
An IPS sensor must be explicitly attached to a firewall policy via the 'inspection-mode' or 'ips-sensor' configuration to inspect traffic. Even if a custom signature is correctly defined and enabled, it will never trigger if the sensor containing it is not applied to the policy that matches the target traffic. This is a fundamental prerequisite for any IPS signature to process packets.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Check the signature's severity level in the IPS sensor
Why it's wrong here
Severity affects logging, not triggering.
- ✗
Ensure the FortiGate is in proxy-based inspection mode
Why it's wrong here
IPS works in both flow and proxy modes.
- ✓
Confirm the IPS sensor is applied to the correct firewall policy
Why this is correct
Without policy attachment, no inspection occurs.
- ✗
Verify the signature uses correct protocol decoder
Why it's wrong here
Protocol decoder is part of signature definition, but if it's wrong, it's a design issue, not a check.
- ✓
Verify that the custom signature is enabled in the IPS sensor
Why this is correct
If disabled, it will not trigger.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This NSE7 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Fortinet certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the NSE7 exam.