Fortinet NSE Certification Changes: What Do These Updates Mean for Cybersecurity Pros?

Fortinet doesn’t just develop integrated and automated cybersecurity solutions, they also maintain a series of certifications for people who operate that technology. After all, who better than the company who manufactures the firewalls and SD-WANs to decide which cybersecurity administrators know how to configure a Fortinet firewall, or whether a network admin can properly manage an application delivery controller on Fortinet’s OS?

The Fortinet cybersecurity certification program has been a recognizable fixture in the IT world since about 2015 when it debuted. But on October 1, 2023, Fortinet changed their certification program, overhauling the entire system. The changes are significant, and can be a little confusing. 

Read on to understand Fortinet’s new certification program, figure out what to do with your old NSE 5, and how to prepare yourself for a career in cybersecurity.

New Changes to the Fortinet Certification Program

In October 2023, Fortinet changed their Network Security Expert (NSE) Certification program significantly. Fortinet replaced the eight numbered NSE certifications with 11 new certifications (which are now named, no longer numbered). These new certs are better categorized, making them well-suited for cybersecurity professionals with a wide range of different job responsibilities. 

Prior to the change, Fortinet’s NSE certification program consisted of eight numbered cybersecurity certifications. Although none of them had a formal prerequisite, it was largely understood they should be earned in order. For example, that meant in order to earn NSE 6, you should also have NSE 5 and NSE 4, 3, 2, and 1.

As of October 1, 2023, Fortinet’s certification program now includes 11 certifications in five categories which can be earned at any time, according to where you are in your career and what sort of work you do in your cybersecurity role. The five categories of Fortinet certifications are, from entry-level to expert-level:

• Fortinet Certified Fundamentals (FCF)

• Fortinet Certified Associate (FCA)

• Fortinet Certified Professional (FCP)

• Fortinet Certified Solution Specialist (FCSS)

• Fortinet Certified Expert (FCX)

Understanding Fortinet’s New Certification Program

Some of Fortinet's new cybersecurity certifications are similar to their previous versions, but some are entirely novel. Here’s the new Fortinet certification list (as of October 2023):

You can find more information about them on Fortinet’s certification guide.

How to Earn a New Fortinet Certification

Fortinet also simplified the process for earning all their certifications. As of October 1, 2023, all Fortinet certifications require either one core exam, or one core and one elective exam. Most of the Certified Solution Specialist (CSS) certs require one core exam, and the Professional-level certs each have two exams.

Fortinet standardized the pricing and expiration for their certifications, too. If a Fortinet certification has one exam, it costs $400. If it has two exams, each exam costs $200. All Fortinet certifications also now have an expiration date — and for the vast majority of them, it’s two years from the date you earned it. Renewing the cert almost always requires passing the same exam again, or earning a later cert.

Is Fortinet’s Old Certification Program Retiring?

Yes, the former certification program featuring the numbered levels is no longer in use. Under the now-retired system, Fortinet’s NSE program was numerical, linear, and fell into four categories ranging from entry-level to expert. Prior to October 1, 2023, Fortinet’s cert program looked like this:

• NSE 1 (Information Security Awareness) was an introduction to cyberthreats.

• NSE 2 (Evolution of Cybersecurity) introduced various threats and the security products that respond to them.

• NSE 3 (Fortinet Product Awareness) focused on key Fortinet products and the cybersecurity threats they addressed.

• NSE 4 (Network Security Professional) was the lowest rung on the career-oriented certification ladder and emphasized familiarity using FortiGate devices to secure infrastructure.

• NSE 5 (Network Security Analyst) developed skills managing, analyzing and reporting on Fortinet security devices.

• NSE 6 (Network Security Specialist) emphasized the skills and knowledge needed for supporting and managing specific Fortinet software products.

• NSE 7 (Network Security Architect) was meant for advanced cybersecurity professionals who designed and deployed whole security solutions.

• NSE 8 (Fortinet Network Security Expert) was the only cert in their top-most, expert category and represented a thorough familiarity with Fortinet hardware and software as well as architecting expertise.

Although each NSE certification wasn’t technically a prerequisite for the one that followed it, it seemed like Fortinet intended for cybersecurity professionals to treat the certification program like a ladder: you wouldn’t get to NSE 8 without earning NSE 1-7 first. 

Why Did Fortinet Change their Certifications?

According to an August 2023 blog post about the change, Fortinet changed their certification program to focus more on scalability, flexibility and modularity. These might sound like corporate buzzwords, but the new NSE certification program really is quite a lot more flexible and usable. 

Fortinet has joined a long list of certification providers who seem realize that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work well in modern IT. Cybersecurity professionals from one company to the next look completely different and often have vastly different job responsibilities and expectations. Certification providers are making more modular certifications that an IT professional can pick and choose from in order to make their career their own.

There’s a trend in IT of certification vendors moving toward role-specific certifications — certs that cover the skills and knowledge a person in a certain job would reasonably need to know, rather than all the minutiae of a certain vendor’s OS, hardware and software. Fortinet is moving in that direction with this certification program change.

RELATED: Here's Everything We Know About the New CCNP Updates in 2023

Can I Transition My Old Fortinet Certifications into the New Certifications?

For the most part, no, you cannot transfer your old Fortinet certifications to any of the new certifications automatically. The major exception to this is if you held a valid NSE 8 certification on October 1, 2023. If you did and you’ve completed a matching NSE 7 exam, you’ll automatically be awarded an FCSS (but the details of this can be messy. Check the Fortinet Cybersecurity Certification page for more information).

If you had active NSE 1 and NSE 2 certifications on October 1, 2023, you’ll automatically receive an FCF which expires the same date as the NSE 2. FCPs will also be awarded automatically to NSE 4, NSE 5 and NSE 6 holders according to the test you passed to earn it in the first place — but only if you also held a valid NSE 8 certification on October 1, 2023. Exactly what can transfer to what else is complicated, so if you’re hoping to transfer a Fortinet cert, check this detailed Fortinet page about cert transition opportunities.

In almost all other cases, if you already hold an NSE certification, you’ll have to earn one of the new ones from scratch once it expires. None of them have any prerequisites, however, so you’ll be able to jump to the one that’s useful for you.

How to Study for the New NSE Certifications

The new Fortinet certifications have all new exams, and they’ve split up many of the disciplines and skills of their eight old certifications into the 11 new ones. What Fortinet hasn’t done, however, is fundamentally change how their cybersecurity hardware, software and tools work.

Some of the things that have stayed the same throughout the transition to the new certification program:

• Advanced analytics

• Advanced threat protection

• Enterprise firewall

• FortiSOAR

• LAN Edge

• OT security

• Public cloud security

• SD-WAN

• FortiADC

• FortiAuthenticator

• FortiMail

• FortiSwitch

You get the point. Fortinet’s technologies are the same, it’s just under what certification they fall that has changed. While the dust settles from these new changes, CBT Nuggets trainers are hustling to get new and improved training that addresses individual exams for the new NSE certifications.

In the meanwhile, CBT Nuggets’ current Fortinet certification training remains valid for the new NSE certifications. Learners simply have to choose the right courses to make sure the material matches with the exam you’ll be taking for the new certification. For instance, the CBT Nuggets course on FortiAnalyzer 7.x will still prepare you for the Fortinet Certified Professional (FCP) in Network Security elective exam.