Fortinet FortiOS 4.0 Demonstrates Future of Network Security Convergence, According to Leading Consulting Firm

Frost & Sullivan Report Touts FortiGate Firmware Upgrade as Next Evolution of UTM

MALAYSIA, 8 June 2009 – Fortinet - a market-leading network security provider and worldwide leader of unified threat management (UTM) solutions - today announced that Frost & Sullivan issued a report on the company’s FortiOS 4.0 technology, the latest firmware upgrade for its FortiGate multi-threat security appliances. The report touted the release as “bringing network security convergence to the next level” and “casting a spotlight on the evolution of UTM.”

Frost & Sullivan’s research supports the innovation found within FortiOS 4.0. The following highlights are from the report:
UTM brings an excellent value proposition to the security arena against the backdrop of an increasingly challenging business environment.
The events in the past six months in the global economy have made the advantages of deploying a UTM more pronounced, with the solution becoming a more acceptable security form factor among the large enterprises.
The introduction of the FortiOS 4.0 platform by Fortinet has cast the spotlight on the evolution of the UTM solution platform.
Fortinet has once again taken the bold step of expanding the definition of the UTM and incorporating its notion of technology convergence into it.
Fortinet’s foray into non-security related technologies is going to broaden customer perceptions towards the multitude of possibilities associated with an integrated solution platform.
Looking ahead, with this latest attempt at redefining the borders of the UTM solution, the future looks certain to move rapidly towards technology convergence.

“Innovation has always been one of Fortinet’s greatest strengths, and we’re pleased that Frost & Sullivan recognizes the innovation delivered in our latest FortiOS firmware,” said Michael Xie, founder, CTO and vice president of engineering. “We are focused more than ever on expanding our vision for consolidated and easily managed network security solutions, and we’re continuously updating our FortiOS firmware with innovative new features that meet the evolving needs of our customers.”

FortiOS 4.0 integrates hundreds of new features to significantly improve the value and functionality of FortiGate appliances. Following are four of the most notable features of Fortinet’s new OS:

· Application Control – to recognize traffic as the application which is generating it, instead of the port or protocol observed;
· Data Leakage Prevention – to help identify and prevent the communication of sensitive information outside of the network boundaries;
· WAN Optimization – to accelerate applications over WAN connections while ensuring multi-threat security enforcement;
· SSL Inspection – to increase security and policy control among encrypted traffic streams.

The combination of these features helps customers to secure their network by removing the malicious traffic that is reducing available bandwidth and, at the same time, accelerate the clean traffic for optimal network performance.

To read the full report, visit Frost & Sullivan at http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/market-insight-print.pag?docid=168284191. For more information on Fortinet’s FortiOS firmware, please visit: http://www.fortinet.com/products/fortios/