Tech-2 Security

The new release of FortiOS has been around for several weeks now, however many users are realising that they cannot continue to use their FortiAnalyzer running the 5.4 code.  It needs to be upgraded to 5.6 on the Analyzer as well. One problem is that we are still waiting for 5.6 for FAZ.  Therefore people are downgrading. In all fairness the FAZ compatibility guide is quite clear but why release one without the other.

I was lucky enough to attend the Fortinet Global Partner Conference in Miami this month. The conference took place on a cruise ship which traveled around the Bahamas from Monday-Friday. There was a good mixture of Fortinet presentations and technical training which took place on the ship as well as off ship excursions to several Islands. The focus of the conference was the release of FortiOS Version 5. Once again Fortinet have produced a significant release with a great set of enhancements and new features including endpoint device recognition which can be used in firewall policies, Wireless improvements, advanced anti-malware detection, Anti-Virus, IPS and client reputation. The number of features is too great to include in this post but a quick check on the Fortinet website will give more information. http://www.fortinet.com/solutions/os5.html All in all the conference seemed like a great success and the attendance was high at around 1700 people.

Fortinet have delivered a solution for 2-factor authentication within their Version 4 FortiOS. Customers with the Fortigate UTM platform can make use of the solution by upgrading their systems to V4 MR3. This is a free upgrade for customers with maintenance. The only chargeable component are the tokens themselves. Traditionally 2-factor authentication required some form of middleware solution which intercepted the logon details to verify the token one time password. This middleware is included in the FortiOS and therefore minimises implementation and up front costs. The offering works with Fortinet's IPSec and SSL VPN remote access (also included within the FortiOS).

Whether you are a small or enterprise size business, controlling internet application usage can become a major productivity not to mention security issue. With the ever growing number of applications available to users the problems escalate. Facebook, Instant Messenger and online gaming to name a few are difficult to manage with traditional Firewalls. Typically, for example Port 80 may be allowed for users to access the internet, howvever many of these applications use Port 80 to "get out" on. Also most applications are able to port hop and find open ports to use, making allowing or blocking a difficult if not impossible task. Fortinet offer a solution to this by integrating Application Control into their UTM appliances. Regardless of the Application or Port Fortinet are able to inspect the traffic and pinpoint applications being used. Depending on the application type there are several actions which can be taken with multiple levels of configuration and granularity. A...

If you are looking for a free anti-virus product, there are a few to choose from, however the Forticlient suite offers many additional features beyond a standard Anti-Virus product. Fortinet are the world leaders in the Unified Threat management arena and have a client in their portfolio. There is a premium version for the enterprise and a standard version free for download. The image shows the features and a download link is provided below. Download

Another Fortinet announcement FortiGate-3950 Series Benefits (Lifted from Fortinet website) 120 Gbps firewall throughput ensures your policy enforcement won't affect network performance Modular design makes it easy for you to deploy exactly the performance you need today and in the future Advanced FortiASIC designs maximize throughput and deliver very low latency, delivering wire-speed firewall performance at 10-GbE and GbE link speeds Redundant, hot-swappable power supplies minimize single-point failures  Available FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer integration simplifies security management, reporting, and analysis while reducing operating expenses FortiGuard Subscription Services deliver automated, real-time, and up-to-date protection against security threats

Well, it's here at last. Just like the new government, Fortinet releases the all new Version 4 MR2 OS with its updated GUI. (In all fairness, it was released on April 1st but I like to leave things to settle before singing it`s praises). For those of you, like myself who have worked with Fortinet products for many years, the new GUI takes all of 5 minutes to figure out. The GUI is a major overhaul with vast improvements to the granularity of protection profiles to name but one of the many features. Under the hood there are a bunch of additonal features as well.  Too many to discuss here. For more information on the complete product range and features visit the Fortinet website. www.fortinet.com

Out of the many things that Fortine t do well, high performance for a low price tag is near the top of the list. The new 1240b has come in with performance figures so good, that consumers question the price. Features Stateful Firewall Gateway Anti-Virus Web Filter IPS Application Control Firewall Throughput 40 Gbps IPSec VPN Throughput 16 Gbps Antivirus Throughput 900 Mbps Maximum Concurrent Sessions 2,000,000 Network Interfaces 24 Hardware Accelerated Base-SFP 14 Hardware Accelerated 10/100/1000 2 Non-Accelerated 10/100/1000 For more information on the complete product range and features visit the Fortinet website. www.fortinet.com