Network Security Engineer

What success looks like in this role: Skill Set: Firewall Security Engineer (Basic Troubleshooting, Fortinet and Palo Alto, Any Firewall Experience) 1. Core Firewall Skills Fortinet FortiGate Understanding of FortiOS CLI and GUI navigation Interface, zone, and VDOM configuration (including HA pairs such as FGT-A/B) Firewall policy creation, review, and troubleshooting (source, destination, service, NAT, security profiles) Routing: static routes, BGP, OSPF, and policy-based routing Basic VPN troubleshooting (IPsec site-to-site, SSL VPN) HA status checks (get system ha status), failover validation, and config sync Session and traffic troubleshooting: diagnose sniffer packet, diagnose debug flow, get router info bgp, session table review Log review and threat/event analysis via FortiAnalyzer or FortiGate logs Firmware upgrade planning and config backup/restore Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS navigation (web UI and CLI) Security policy, NAT policy, and Zone-based configuration Security profiles (Antivirus, Anti-Spyware, URL Filtering, File Blocking, WildFire) Routing: static, BGP, and OSPF on virtual routers VPN: IPsec tunnels and GlobalProtect basics HA (active/passive, active/active) status and failover checks Troubleshooting tools: show session all, test security-policy-match, packet-capture, show routing route, debug dataplane, system and traffic logs Panorama basics for centralized management Content and PAN-OS upgrade planning Vendor-Neutral Firewall Concepts Stateful inspection, NAT (SNAT, DNAT, PAT), and zone-based design OSI layer troubleshooting approach (ping, traceroute, packet capture, logs) Routing protocols: BGP fundamentals (peering, AS-path, local preference, route advertisement) IPsec and TLS basics Asymmetric routing and how it causes dropped sessions Change management and rollback practices 2. Cloud and Network Platform Skills Microsoft Azure networking: VNets, peering, Route Server, ExpressRoute, VPN Gateway, Network Security Groups, and route tables (UDR) Azure NVA deployment: Understanding of firewall appliances deployed as virtual machines in hub-spoke topologies Route Server and BGP: Peer status, learned and advertised routes, and route preference ExpressRoute and Global Reach: Basic understanding of circuit and peering behavior Azure permissions and tools: Azure Portal, Azure CLI, and Network Watcher (connection troubleshoot, NSG flow logs, IP flow verify) Routing and switching fundamentals: VLANs, subnetting, ARP, and L2 extension concepts 3. Security Operations Skills These map to the role’s responsibility to work with senior security engineers on protection, detection, and response. Security policy hardening and least-privilege rule design Threat log analysis and incident triage (IPS, malware, malicious URL, and blocked-traffic events) Basic SIEM familiarity (Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, or FortiAnalyzer) Vulnerability and patch awareness for firewall OS and platform software