FortiOS 6.2 Explicit proxy Best Practices

Explicit proxy

  • For explicit proxies, when configuring limits on the number of concurrent users, you need to allow for the number of users based on their authentication method. Otherwise you may run out of user resources prematurely.
  • Each session-based authenticated user is counted as a single user using their authentication membership (RADIUS, LDAP, FSSO, local database etc.) to match users in other sessions. So one authenticated user in multiple sessions is still one user.
  • For all other situations, the source IP address is used to determine a user. All sessions from a single source address are assumed to be from the same user.
  • Set the explicit web proxy and explicit FTP proxy Default Firewall Policy Action to Deny. This means that a firewall policy is required to use these explicit proxies, allowing you to control access and impose security features.

Do not enable the explicit web or FTP proxy on an interface connected to the Internet. This is a security risk because anyone on the Internet who finds the proxy could use it to hide their source address. If you must enable the proxy on such an interface make sure authentication is required to use the proxy.


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This entry was posted in Administration Guides, FortiOS 6.2 on by .

About Mike

Michael Pruett, CISSP has a wide range of cyber-security and network engineering expertise. The plethora of vendors that resell hardware but have zero engineering knowledge resulting in the wrong hardware or configuration being deployed is a major pet peeve of Michael's. This site was started in an effort to spread information while providing the option of quality consulting services at a much lower price than Fortinet Professional Services. Owns PacketLlama.Com (Fortinet Hardware Sales) and Office Of The CISO, LLC (Cybersecurity consulting firm).

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