A practical first-pass overview for customers, security consultants, and procurement teams: how ConfigSentry works, how sensitive data is handled, and where to ask for deeper evidence.
The short version
Configuration security
See how configuration data moves from your environment through secure transfer and analysis, and how temporary processing, retention and deletion are handled.
At a glance
ConfigSentry performs a read-only review of FortiGate configuration data and produces reports and findings from that review. Configuration files can contain sensitive operational information and may contain personal data depending on how an environment is configured.
For the normal hosted path, secret material such as passwords, private certificates, and keys is removed or minimised before temporary protected processing. That processing data is normally removed within a few minutes.
You can start with manual upload before using a collector. With "Do not save results on website" selected, the relevant configuration is processed without persistent hosted configuration storage.
Saved audits use a selectable 30, 90, 180 or 365-day retention period (365 days by default), or indefinite retention. Deletion removes live records; protected backups may retain deleted data for up to 30 days.
Collector-based collections can be configured so appliance credentials remain on the customer collector host rather than being stored in the website.
ConfigSentry is for audit, reporting, and review. It does not push changes to firewalls, does not perform automatic remediation, and leaves remediation under the customer’s own change control.
Handling flow
A FortiGate configuration is provided either by upload or by an approved collection workflow.
For the normal hosted audit path, passwords, private certificates, keys, and similar secret material are removed or minimised before temporary protected processing.
Temporary hosted processing data is generally removed within a few minutes. Manual audits using "Do not save results on website" process the relevant configuration without persistent hosted configuration storage.
Saved audits and reports are retained until the selected retention period expires or they are manually deleted. Available settings are 30, 90, 180 or 365 days (365 by default), with indefinite retention where selected. Protected backups may retain deleted data for up to 30 days.
Retention and deletion
See how temporary configuration processing, saved-audit retention, manual deletion and backup ageing fit together.
Direct answers
What should evaluators know before uploading?
ConfigSentry is currently being offered as an early free trial. A self-service Data Processing Agreement is not currently available. Firewall configuration files can contain sensitive operational information and may contain personal data depending on how an environment is configured. Please only upload configuration files that you are authorised to submit. If your organisation requires a Data Processing Agreement, supplier security review, subprocessor details, or specific data-handling terms before uploading production firewall configurations, contact Secdit before using the service.
Is ConfigSentry read-only?
Yes. It is designed for review, not change deployment.
Does it push changes to FortiGate?
No. Remediation remains under customer change control.
What data does it process?
Raw FortiGate configuration data for audit, plus the resulting findings, scores, reports, and related service metadata.
How are hosted audits handled?
For the normal hosted path, secret material is removed or minimised before temporary protected processing. Temporary processing data is generally removed within a few minutes.
What happens with the no-save manual option?
If a manual audit is run with "Do not save results on website" selected, the relevant configuration is processed without persistent hosted configuration storage.
What may be retained?
Saved audits use a selectable 30, 90, 180 or 365-day retention period (365 days by default), or indefinite retention. Deleting records removes the live data; protected backups may retain deleted data for up to 30 days.
Where is the service hosted?
Hosted with Hetzner in Nuremberg, Germany.
How are collector credentials handled?
Collector-based collections can be configured so appliance credentials remain local to the customer collector host.
How is access to the service protected?
Authenticated account access is required and MFA is supported. Resources are logically isolated by customer account, with role and account checks used to scope access to audits and reports. Public web traffic uses HTTPS/TLS, account passwords are stored as hashes, and stored appliance credentials are encrypted.
What staff access is stated publicly?
Support staff have minimal account access. They can see general account information, user email, account members and roles, submitted support messages, and account-related error logs. They cannot see audit report contents.
How can deeper review be discussed?
Contact Secdit at support@secdit.com or via the contact page for a legitimate security or procurement review. Additional architecture and control evidence can be discussed without making private operational material public.
Hosting and access context
ConfigSentry data is hosted with Hetzner in Nuremberg, Germany. Hetzner publishes information about its ISO 27001:2022 certified ISMS and the data-centre scope it says is covered. That is hosting-provider information, not a claim that Secdit or ConfigSentry is ISO 27001 certified.
Sensitive audit output should be treated as security-relevant data. ConfigSentry requires authenticated access to the service, MFA-supported access helps protect audit history, findings, and reports, public web traffic uses HTTPS with TLS 1.2, internal database connections use TLS with certificate authentication, account passwords are stored as hashes, and stored appliance credentials are encrypted.
Support staff can see general account information such as account name, ID, user email, account members and roles, submitted support messages, and account-related error logs. They cannot see audit report contents.
ConfigSentry can surface findings and support remediation planning, but customer teams still decide what to change, when to change it, and how those changes are approved and implemented.
Operational assurance
Protected backups support service recovery. Backup access is restricted, backup retention is limited, and recovery procedures are documented and reviewed. Deleted live data can remain in protected backups for up to 30 days.
The Collector runs in the customer environment for controlled configuration collection. Credentials marked for local use can remain there. Versioned releases and update checks protect package and update integrity; the Collector is not an arbitrary remote-administration tool.
Direct SSH and Collector workflows retrieve configuration read-only. Customers control appliance credentials and should grant only the access required. Stored service-side appliance credentials are encrypted; key or certificate authentication can be used where supported.
For change-triggered collection, the Collector validates events against the configured appliance source and only supported configuration-change events can request collection. Duplicate and burst protections reduce repeated attempts. Customers control network exposure to their Collector.
Customer-controlled collection
The Collector runs inside the customer environment, can keep appliance credentials local, and communicates with ConfigSentry over protected service connections.
Security operations
ConfigSentry uses documented secure-development and release practices, including controlled source changes, dependency/version control where applicable, security-sensitive coding guidance, focused regression checks, and versioned Collector releases with integrity verification. It does not claim a formal SDLC certification, SOC 2, ISO 27001 certification, independent source audit, or independent penetration-test programme.
Security and operational logging supports the detection and investigation of abnormal activity. Privileged and security-sensitive activity is restricted according to role and need, with appropriate controls and logging. Secdit maintains documented incident-response and vulnerability-handling processes to assess, contain, investigate, recover from, and review credible issues.
Reporting a suspected vulnerability: responsible reports are welcome through support@secdit.com or the contact page. Please include enough information to understand or reproduce the issue. Secdit investigates legitimate reports; do not send credentials, keys, or unnecessary customer data.
Read the Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and ConfigSentry Terms for privacy, cookie and service terms. Organisations needing a DPA or subprocessor review should contact Secdit; the current DPA remains a draft pending legal review.
Privacy and procurement
Secdit is controller for service operations and may process customer-submitted configuration content on the customer's behalf. Hosting is in Germany with Hetzner; Stripe Checkout and Cloudflare Turnstile are used where applicable. See the Privacy and Cookie Policies; a DPA draft is available for legal review on request.
MFA is supported. Customer accounts are logically isolated, and audit/report access is scoped through authenticated account and role checks. Passwords are hashed; appliance credentials stored by the service are encrypted.
Secdit and ConfigSentry are not currently ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI DSS, or GDPR certified, and no independent penetration test or source-code audit is claimed. Hetzner certification information relates to Hetzner, not ConfigSentry.
Contact Secdit for a legitimate buyer, security-consultant, or procurement review. We can discuss relevant private evidence while keeping implementation and customer-sensitive details confidential.
Account protection
Authenticated access, MFA, account roles and logical tenant isolation help restrict audit and report access to the correct customer account.
Important limits
ConfigSentry does not certify compliance, and this page should not be read as a statement that a reviewed firewall is compliant with any standard.
ConfigSentry helps structure technical review, but it does not replace engineer judgement, internal review procedures, or environment-specific validation.
ConfigSentry does not push configuration changes to firewalls and should not be treated as an automatic remediation system.
Information published by Hetzner about its own ISMS or data-centre certification scope should not be treated as product certification for Secdit or ConfigSentry.
Security review questions
This page states that live audit, report, and related account records are removed immediately when deleted, while periodic database backups may retain deleted data for up to 30 days. Ask Secdit directly if your review needs more backup-handling detail.
This page states that public web traffic uses HTTPS/TLS, account passwords are stored as hashes, stored appliance credentials are encrypted, and temporary audit-processing data is protected and short-lived. Ask separately if your review needs deeper implementation detail.
Publicly stated support access is limited to general account information, account members and roles, support messages, and account-related error logs. Audit report contents are not visible to support staff.
ConfigSentry is currently being offered as an early free trial. A self-service Data Processing Agreement is not currently available. Organisations that need a DPA, supplier security review, subprocessor detail, or specific data-handling terms before uploading production firewall configurations should contact Secdit before using the service.
Downloaded reports, exported files, collector hosts, and any local copies of configurations remain part of the customer’s own security scope and should be handled under the customer’s normal controls.
Next step
Run an audit when your review is comfortable with the handling approach, or check pricing if you still need commercial detail.