COMPANY NEWS: New FortiSwitch 424F, FortiExtender Vehicle 211F, and enhanced FortiGuard OT Security Service were designed specifically to connect and protect operational technology environments.
Fortinet®, the global cybersecurity leader driving the convergence of networking and security, has announced the latest release of new, integrated operational technology (OT) security solutions and services. These additions further distance Fortinet’s industry-leading OT security platform from the rest of the market.
John Maddison, chief marketing officer and executive vice president, product strategy, Fortinet, said, “We understand that OT differs significantly from traditional IT systems, and that’s why our OT security platform was purpose-built to provide integrated protection and risk management specific to industrial environments.
“Rising attacks on critical infrastructure have made OT security more important than ever before. With today’s news, Fortinet continues to empower customers with the most sophisticated OT solutions and intelligence in the industry.”
The need for integrated OT-specific security
The number of industrial devices connected beyond their network boundaries is rapidly increasing, and chief information security officers (CISOs) now face skyrocketing risks across their OT environments. In fact, Fortinet found that three-fourths of OT organisations reported at least one intrusion in the last year, and nearly one-third reported being victims of a ransomware attack. To solve this challenge, organisations need an integrated security approach designed specifically for industrial solutions that enables policy enforcement across the entire attack surface, consolidates point products, and reduces operational overhead.
Bolstering the Fortinet OT security platform with new and enhanced offerings
The Fortinet OT security platform is an integrated portfolio of cybersecurity products, solutions, and security services designed specifically for industrial networks and powered by real-time OT threat intelligence. Because the OT security platform is a part of the Fortinet Security Fabric, it empowers customers with deep visibility across their entire environment and securely facilitates IT/OT convergence. The platform also gives organisations the ability to implement a zero-trust model within OT environments, including secure remote access to OT assets and systems for remote employees and contractors.
The OT security platform updates announced, which build on improvements unveiled earlier this year, span two key pillars of the Security Fabric:
Secure networking for OT
- The new FortiSwitch Rugged 424F is an industrial-class ethernet switch (IES) designed to address the requirements of digital substations and the power utility industry. The switch supports real-time OT networking protocols and integrates with FortiGate Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) for comprehensive security and access control.
- The new FortiAP 432F access point meets Class 1, Division 2 requirements for use in hazardous OT environments. It can segment industrial Wi-Fi networks to prevent attacks from spreading across unprotected devices and systems. This expansion of the IP67-rated access-point line now enables the deployment of additional OT applications in industries such as oil and gas.
- The new FortiExtender Vehicle 211F wireless gateway is a semi-ruggedised mobility solution for connected fleets, mobile systems, and OT deployments. It was also designed to meet the requirements of the AT&T FirstNet wireless communications network for first responders.
- FortiOS, Fortinet’s operating system, has been updated with the OT View dashboard, which correlates and displays important OT data. This dashboard makes it easy for organisations to understand their entire attack surface—both IT and OT—and take action from a single console.
Security operations and services for OT
- FortiAnalyzer now includes OT-specific analytics, risk, and compliance reports, providing security operations teams with faster threat detection, asset and vulnerability correlation, and reporting.
- FortiNDR, which supports on-premises, cloud, and hybrid deployments, can now analyse more than 15 different OT-network protocols. It also includes artificial intelligence (AI) powered OT-network behaviour analysis to identify malicious network activity and files.
- FortiDeceptor, Fortinet’s deception technology for early breach and attack isolation, now supports 30 OT protocols and additional OT decoys to protect diverse industrial environments.
- The FortiGuard OT Security Service boasts the industry’s deepest OT threat intelligence database and now covers more than 70 OT protocols and more than 4,000 OT application and device vulnerability signatures. These signatures enable strict access control policies on network traffic and provide virtual patching for vulnerable OT assets.
- FortiGuard Outbreak Alerts, an industry-leading cybersecurity resource, now includes critical information about OT-specific threats. This empowers customers with the information they need to harden their systems against new and emerging attacks following the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cyber Security Framework.
“IT and OT are converging and these colliding environments are increasing overall risk. Our clients require robust OT solutions and services without extensive deployments that complicate administration and place additional strain on IT and security teams. Through the Fortinet OT security platform, we can provide clients with a unified approach of safeguarding both the carpeted side of a business as well as the concrete side of the business. We eagerly anticipate introducing these updated and novel offerings to our customer community.”
– Dan Sanderson, vice president of strategy, Cyber Advisors
Additional resources
About Fortinet
Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT) is a driving force in the evolution of cybersecurity and the convergence of networking and security. Our mission is to secure people, devices, and data everywhere, and today we deliver cybersecurity everywhere you need it with the largest integrated portfolio of over 50 enterprise-grade products. Well over half a million customers trust Fortinet’s solutions, which are among the most deployed, most patented, and most validated in the industry. The Fortinet Training Institute, one of the largest and broadest training programs in the industry, is dedicated to making cybersecurity training and new career opportunities available to everyone. FortiGuard Labs, Fortinet’s elite threat intelligence and research organisation, develops and utilises leading-edge machine learning and AI technologies to provide customers with timely and consistently top-rated protection and actionable threat intelligence. Learn more at https://www.fortinet.com, the Fortinet blog, and FortiGuard Labs.
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