The recent Threatscape Report by Fortinet cites a significant increase in Web threat traffic - phishing and malware’s growth was the highest yet. Unfortunately, these gains also mean volume directed towards malicious sites, which will undoubtedly have an impact on next-generation online services and its targeted users.
Additionally, e-mail virus and spam such as the now infamous eCard and Microsoft Outlook Update wreaked havoc and online gaming Trojans and Virut continued to be some of the main threat drivers.
Says Amy Thomas, Fortinet product manager at official distributor Zycko, “What is evident from the Threatscape Report is that malicious attacks, be it Web traffic, e-mail viruses or more sophisticated exploitations are on the rise. Taking cognisance of the world’s 'threatscape', Fortinet recently launched its product strategy - at a partner conference in St Andrews, Scotland - which will enable organisations to fortify their infrastructure against the latest and increasingly sophisticated attacks.”
The products
Fortinet offers a comprehensive security solution that encompasses e-mail, gateway, database, Web applications and end-points. Addressing these respective security areas are the company’s FortiGate, FortiMail, FortiDB, FortiWeb, FortiClient, FortiScan product families driven by the FortiOS operating system.
Looking closer at some of the products, the FortiGate-5000 chassis-based security platform has been designed to be the cornerstone of high-performance security infrastructures.
Says Thomas, “The FortiGate-5000 is ideal for high-speed multithreat security gateways, managed security services, and complex security zoning applications. Support for high-density GigE and 10GigE interfaces provides flexibility and throughput scalability, while integration with Fortinet's centralised management and reporting solutions provides comprehensive control of large-scale deployments.”
Enhancing Fortinet’s FortiGate series is the company’s FortiOS 4.0, which provides the foundation for the operation of all FortiGate appliances, from the core kernel functions to the security processing feature sets.
FortiOS 4.0 new and enhanced features include:
* WAN optimisation - which provides acceleration for applications traversing slower network connections. The combination of multithreat security, traffic optimisation, and VPN technologies provides cleaned, accelerated, and secured communications.
* Application control which uses a dynamic application identification engine that recognises applications based on their behaviour. By coupling application control policies with sophisticated security features, administrators can achieve comprehensive protection with granular and more meaningful policies.
* Data loss prevention (DLP) - uses a sophisticated pattern-matching and regular-expression engine to identify then prevent the communication of sensitive information outside of the network perimeter. In addition, DLP technology also provides audit trails for data and files, which can aid in legislative compliance.
* SSL inspection - ensures protection from malware infection that is camouflaged by secured protocols, allowing the FortiGate to decrypt the data passing through the SSL-encrypted connection. Once decrypted, the data can be passed to FortiOS security engines for inspection.
Fortinet’s FortiScan-1000B is a new vulnerability management (VM) and compliance solution for endpoint assets, including desktops and laptops, as well as other network assets such as servers. The FortiScan-1000B appliance enables organisations to protect thousands of computing assets by integrating the following capabilities into a single device: endpoint vulnerability management, industry and federal compliance, patch management and remediation, and network-level vulnerability management.
Thomas concludes, “FortiScan - together with Fortinet's complementary FortiDB, FortiWeb and FortiGate appliances - offer an end-to-end compliance strategy that extends from the client, to databases, to Web applications, to the overall network.”
For further information, visit www.zycko.co.za
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