FortiSIEM records incidents even when no notification policy is defined.

If an incident in FortiSIEM has no notification policy defined, what happens to the incident?

• A. The incident is ignored entirely
• B. The incident will be cleared immediately
• C. The incident will be recorded
• D. The incident will escalate to management

Answer: (C)

In FortiSIEM, if an incident has no notification policy defined, it will still be recorded within the system. This means that the incident is logged and captured for future reference and analysis, despite the absence of a specific notification action. Recording incidents is essential for maintaining an audit trail and enables security teams to review and investigate the events at a later time. Having incidents recorded assists in generating reports, identifying trends, and conducting post-incident analyses, which are critical components of effective security operations. While there may not be immediate notifications or alerts generated for incidents without a defined policy, the ability to track and review such incidents remains a core function of FortiSIEM. This ensures that potential security issues can still be addressed, even if they are not escalated or alerted immediately. This functionality distinguishes it from situations where incidents might be ignored or cleared, as well as from those that automatically escalate to management, which are not processes applicable to incidents lacking a notification policy.

FortiSIEM and the curious case of silent incidents

If you’ve spent any time with FortiSIEM, you know it’s a hub for logs, events, and correlation rules. It’s designed to help security teams see the whole picture, not just bite-sized alerts. Here’s a simple, practical point to remember: even if an incident has no notification policy defined, FortiSIEM will still record it. That might feel a little anticlimactic at first glance, but it’s by design—and it matters a lot for what comes next in security operations.

What does “recorded” actually mean here?

Let me explain in plain terms. When an incident shows up in FortiSIEM without a matching notification policy, the system doesn’t pretend it never happened. It logs the incident—timestamp, source, involved devices, event types, severity, and the sequence of related events. The record sits in the database as an audit-ready entry. It’s discoverable later, searchable, and usable for analysis, reporting, and forensics.

You can think of it like keeping a detailed diary of security events. Some entries shout for attention right away; others stay quiet but remain retrievable for investigators or managers who want to understand trends, root causes, or the impact of a specific intrusion attempt. That “recorded” status is the backbone of accountability and learning from past incidents.

Why is recording incidents without a policy still valuable?

Because a finished incident log does more than tick a compliance box. It enables several crucial activities:

• Audit trails: If someone asks, “What happened on X date?” you’ve got a factual trace, not a hazy memory.

• Trend analysis: Over time, you can spot recurring patterns—phishing attempts tied to a certain hour, or repeated scans from the same IP range.

• Post-incident reviews: Analysts can reconstruct the sequence of events, identify gaps, and measure the effectiveness of your defenses even when no one was alerted in real time.

• Forensics readiness: If you suspect a breach, the recorded data helps you verify what evidence exists and how it might be analyzed later.

In short, recording ensures no incident disappears into the ether just because there wasn’t a formal notification setup for it.

What doesn’t happen when there’s no policy

It’s just as important to know what isn’t triggered in this scenario:

• No immediate notifications: There’s no automatic email, SMS, or dashboard alert sent to the right people.

• No automatic escalation to management: There isn’t a built-in push to higher levels of the chain.

• No enforced action path: The system isn’t forcing a response team to react in real time based on policy rules.

So while the incident is logged, your operations team isn’t getting the usual nudge to respond unless someone happens to notice the entry later on. That silence isn’t a flaw; it’s a reminder that a policy needs to be in place to drive timely awareness and action.

When and why you’d want a notification policy

Think of a notification policy as a bridge between what FortiSIEM records and how your people respond. A well-crafted policy answers questions like:

• Who should be alerted for what kind of incident?

• Through which channels should alerts be delivered (email, SMS, a ticketing system, or a collaboration tool like Slack or Teams)?

• What urgency level and frequency are appropriate for different severities?

• How often should the policy retry or escalate if there’s no acknowledgment?

Without such policies, you can still review data later, but you’ll miss the advantage of real-time visibility and coordinated response. A good policy makes the difference between watching a stream of events pass by and treating incidents as time-critical tasks.

A quick mental model: policies as the alarm you actually hear

Imagine FortiSIEM as a large building with many doors (the data sources) and a central security desk. Incident recording is like the notebook the desk officer keeps—every knock is logged. A notification policy, then, is the bell on the door and the pager in the supervisor’s pocket. If the bell isn’t wired to ring, the officer still writes down the knock, but the supervisor won’t hear about it immediately. That’s why you want properly configured bells and pagers—so important knocks don’t slip through the cracks.

How to configure notification policies (practically speaking)

If you’re in the thick of a security operations environment, you’ll want to set up at least one robust notification policy to pair with the recording feature. Here are practical steps you’d typically follow in FortiSIEM:

• Define incident criteria: Decide which events should count as incidents and what severities trigger notifications. This is about policy logic: “If incident severity is high and source is external, notify on-call engineer.”

• Choose recipients: List the people or groups who should receive alerts. This could be SOC analysts, on-call engineers, or a rotation team.

• Pick channels: Set up notification channels. Email is common, but many teams also use SMS, a ticketing system, or chat apps. Some environments route certain alerts to a centralized incident response platform.

• Set escalation rules: For critical incidents, define a path that increases urgency if there’s no acknowledgment within a set time.

• Test the policy: Run a test notification to ensure messages reach the right people and that the content is clear and actionable.

• Monitor and adjust: After a few cycles, you’ll learn what works and what doesn’t. Tweak thresholds, revise recipients, or change the escalation timing.

Relating it to everyday workflows

If you’ve ever managed a project with a multi-member team, you know that clear notifications keep everyone on the same page. It’s the same idea in a SOC. A well-tuned policy shortens the loop from detection to response. You don’t want a critical incident to sit in the logs while the clock ticks. On the flip side, you don’t want every trivial thing to ping the entire team, either. Balance is key, and FortiSIEM’s policies are where you tune that balance.

A few practical tips you’ll find handy

• Start simple: A single policy covering high-severity external incidents is a solid starting point. You can expand later.

• Use meaningful content: Messages should include enough context to prompt action—source, time, affected assets, and suggested next steps.

• Keep a record of policy changes: When you adjust thresholds or recipients, note why. This helps audits and future tuning.

• Review periodically: Threat landscapes shift. Revisit policies on a cadence that matches your risk appetite and regulatory needs.

• Tie into reports: Even if some incidents don’t generate real-time alerts, you can build dashboards and monthly reports that highlight recorded incidents and trends.

A couple of common pitfalls to avoid

• Assuming “recorded” equals “done.” Recording is essential, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Without a policy, you might miss the immediate reaction that reduces risk.

• Overloading teams with alerts. If a policy blasts every minor event, the important alerts can get buried. Fine-tune severities and recipients to stay signal-to-noise reasonable.

• Treating recording as a substitute for response. Logging helps post-incident analysis, but it shouldn’t be the only line of defense. Combine recording with timely notifications and playbooks.

Connecting the dots: from logging to learning

Let’s wrap it up with the big picture. FortiSIEM’s behavior—recording even when there’s no notification policy—ensures you don’t lose sight of events. Recording builds the foundation for analytics, audits, and long-term improvements. But if you want those insights to translate into faster, smarter action, you’ll want to pair recording with thoughtful, well-tested notification policies. That pairing turns raw data into a disciplined security workflow.

In the end, the system’s quiet behavior in the absence of a policy isn’t about neglect; it’s about leaving room for teams to design the exact response they need. Think of it as a safety net that catches every incident while you decide how loud to shout about it—and to whom. Properly tuned, FortiSIEM helps you transform recorded events into informed decisions, tighter defenses, and a clearer path forward for your security operations.

If you’re exploring FortiSIEM further, consider how your incident taxonomy, notification channels, and escalation paths fit together. The more coherent that setup is, the faster your team can move from detection to resolution—and that momentum is the heartbeat of effective security operations.