Tata Communications Deploys Fortinet Virtualized Security Appliances for vUTM Service

Fortinet Enables Tata Communications Managed Security Service through Integrated and Virtual Network Security

MALAYSIA, 1 December 2008 - Fortinet - the pioneer and leading provider of unified threat management (UTM) solutions - today announced that Tata Communications, a leading provider of a new world of communications, has selected Fortinet’s FortiGate carrier-class systems as the backbone for Tata Communications’ new virtualized UTM (vUTM) service. vUTM is the first of its kind in India and is exclusively powered by Fortinet’s multi-threat security appliances for a comprehensive and integrated approach to managed security services.

“Our customers were looking for an alternate and trustworthy way to protect their networks without the need to have appliances at their site, so a virtualized integrated security service, with its related capital- and operational-expenditure savings, is the right solution for many companies,” said Adam Rice, vice president SSOC, Tata Communications. “Fortinet has one of the richest security virtualization offering in the industry, so we knew that, with Fortinet, we were partnering with the pre-eminent technology leader in the field.”

Using Fortinet’s virtualization functionality, Tata Communications’ vUTM customers can look forward to increased network security without having to invest in dedicated security hardware. vUTM delivers the security features of a fully integrated multi-threat security appliance, enabling tremendous savings in recurring operational costs related to equipment maintenance and reducing administration complexities, which help customers focus on their core businesses.

Tata Communications’ vUTM service is powered by four Fortinet FortiGate-5140 carrier-class security systems, which provide a complete suite of security functions at multi-gigabit performance. Each FortiGate-5140 chassis-based system provides virtual domains (VDOMs), allowing Tata Communications to manage hundreds of customers from one hardware platform and isolate the security services offered to each customer. The FortiGate appliances will be providing firewall, intrusion prevention, antivirus, anti-spam and Web content filtering protection as part of the managed security services offering.

Tata Communications also selected Fortinet’s FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer to monitor its four FortiGate chassis and associated VDOMs. Through those appliances, the telco provider will be able to provide its customers with detailed reports on network usage and attempted attacks as well as configure security parameters based on user policies and profiles.

“Fortinet has once again been selected as the technology backbone by a world-class service provider, which is a strong testament for the integrity of our security capabilities,” said Patrice Perche, vice president of EMEA at Fortinet. “Fortinet’s virtualized security technology is allowing Tata Communications to offer a flexible and viable business model for outsourced security services that can scale to the growing needs of its customers.”