Fortinet Announces Carrier-Specific Multi-Threat Security Platform, Supports Cloud-Based Security Services

New FortiCarrier Operating System and Hardware Platform Bring Unique Carrier-Grade Capabilities for VOIP, Mobile Content Security

MALAYSIA, 7 May 2009 – Fortinet - a market-leading network security provider and worldwide leader of unified threat management (UTM) solutions - today announced the release of a carrier-grade version of its FortiGate multi-threat security platform. The new FortiCarrier family integrates many new functionalities to help carriers, service providers, managed security service providers and enterprises better protect their own networks as well as the networks of their customers through cloud-based security delivered as a service. Fortinet’s FortiCarrier platform includes all the capabilities of the FortiGate line plus a specialized “superset” of carrier-class features: securing voice-over-IP infrastructures and mobile operator content, and enabling automated provisioning and management of security policies on a per-user basis. In addition, FortiCarrier provides the intelligent infrastructure to help service providers more easily deliver security as a service to their customers through, among other things, the industry’s only fully virtualized offering to support nine consolidated security features.

The new FortiCarrier features are driven by three key trends: the convergence of content types including data, voice, video and mobile content onto a single network; the proliferation of mobile threats; and the growing popularity of the security-as-a-service business model. The security implications of these trends are addressed through new enhancements to the FortiOS Carrier 4.0 operating system and supported by the FortiCarrier-3810A and -5001A-DW hardware platforms.

“A carrier-specific offering for consolidated security would be timely to take advantage of the market’s current propensity toward managed security services, especially under the budgetary pressures of the current economic climate,” said Lee Doyle, group vice president and general manager of IDC’s Network Infrastructure and Security Products and Services groups. “There are strong indicators to suggest that this is a business model that is attractive to more than just carriers; large enterprises and small- to mid-MSSPs are also seeing the services opportunity in security and would also benefit from a carrier-grade consolidated security platform.”

Carrier-Grade Capable
FortiCarrier is a powerful solution in its ability to offer dual benefits – helping customers with CAPEX and OPEX savings for securing their own networks and enabling a business model for a recurring revenue stream with managed security services. This is enabled by the numerous carrier-specific capabilities Fortinet has added to the FortiCarrier product line, including the following key features:
· Dynamic Security Profiles – Service providers now have the ability to apply automated security policies on a per-user basis and reduce manual configurations, which lowers operational expense. This becomes increasingly valuable for service providers as the growing popularity of managed security services could mean a significant increase in management complexities to support thousands of customers, all with differing security policies.
· Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Security – With the convergence of voice networks onto IP networks, SIP Security protects voice calls exposed to the Internet. FortiOS Carrier contains a SIP firewall which integrates seamlessly with Fortinet’s intrusion prevention service to protect voice infrastructure from rogue traffic and malicious threats.
· Mobile Provider Security – The growing precedence of mobile threats is requiring specific attention to securing mobile content on the millions of handsets in operation today. FortiOS Carrier features three capabilities specific to mobile providers: (1) Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) antivirus and antispam engine to help eliminate malware and spam in messages that use the MMS standard, (2) mobile content filtering to enforce appropriate use policies and (3) a GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) firewall that is designed for compatibility with 3GPP specifications. The combination of these features offers protection for both the mobile provider’s infrastructure and for end-user devices.

“The carrier and service provider segments are our fastest-growing customer segments and have a unique set of requirements that are addressed with the FortiCarrier platform,” said Michael Xie, CTO and co-founder of Fortinet. “The new features of FortiCarrier, combined with powerful virtualization capabilities, mean that MSSPs, carriers, service providers and enterprises can simultaneously replace their stand-alone security equipment and have a consolidated platform for seamlessly rolling out and managing a security services business.”

FortiCarrier Product Family
The following three products make up the FortiCarrier family of carrier-grade solutions:
· FortiOS Carrier 4.0 is the software component for FortiCarrier specialized security hardware. In addition to a full suite of security services, FortiOS Carrier 4.0 extends the security operating system with features designed specifically for service provider environments.
· FortiCarrier-3810A platform integrates specialized security into an expandable appliance ideal for many service provider implementations. It supports up to four FortiASIC-accelerated 10GigE interfaces and offers four Advanced Mezzanine Card (AMC) expansion bays.
· FortiCarrier-5001A-DW platform is part of a chassis-based security platform and offers the ultimate in performance, flexibility, reliability, and scalability for the largest of service provider implementations. Support for high-density GigE and 10GigE interfaces provides tremendous flexibility and throughput scalability.

FortiOS Carrier 4.0 and the FortiCarrier-3810A and -5001A-DW hardware platforms are all generally available and shipping. Hardware pricing varies based on system configuration.
There is no additional charge for FortiOS Carrier software when the applicable hardware platform has an active FortiCare support contract in effect. Additional information on the FortiCarrier product line can be found at http://www.fortinet.com/products/forticarrier/.