What is a potential consequence of not allowing PING service in the SPA policy?

Not allowing PING service in the Secure Private Access (SPA) policy can indeed lead to the prevention of successful ping responses to resources behind the FortiGate hub. The PING service is integral for network diagnostics and monitoring processes, specifically using ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) packets. When PING is disabled, devices behind the firewall will not respond to ICMP echo requests, resulting in a lack of visibility and response from those resources. This can hinder troubleshooting efforts and affect network management effectiveness.

Ping functionality is vital for ensuring connectivity and diagnosing network issues. When PING is disallowed, while this helps enhance security by limiting the attack surface, it also means that legitimate monitoring tools may not be able to assess the health and availability of network resources, leading to potential oversight in network management.