Fortinet eyes content security space

Fortinet is very clear on its agenda for the Indian market. Rather than get into software-only solutions, it is training its sights on content-based
threats such as viruses, worms, spam and inappropriate Web content that are missed by conventional firewalls. According to the company, this approach
will address several unmet needs that are common to SMBs, large enterprises and service providers.

Explains Vishak Raman, Country Manager of Fortinet India, "In today's competitive environment, corporate lack the time and resources necessary to
manage a dynamic and complex security infrastructure. In addition, the demands of 'real-time business' makes it necessary to deliver solid security
without compromising on performance." Which is why Fortinet is focusing on

content-based threats at the moment with its network appliance, FortiGate. 

It currently has 250 existing customers in India, which it caters to with the help of its solution partners.
According to Vishak, software-only solutions have two drawbacks. One of them is licensing costs, because customers have to pay for licenses for both the
software and the operating system it runs on. The second liability is manageability, because the software typically is specialized for one or few
functions, and a user will need several servers, installed with different software, in order to achieve adequate security for his network.

"Maintaining one network appliance is always easier than maintaining several different servers, software packages and
operating systems," he elucidates. Hardware-based network appliances offer comprehensive functions without
compromising on performance. These can do Deep Packet Inspection and Complete Content Protection, which re-assembles network packets and scans
the complete package instead of the method used by most vendors, which only scans individual packets.

Fortinet offers 13 hardware platforms for the network edge to the service provider core, and also provides end-point security with its FortiClient
Host Security software. "In addition, we have the FortiManager System for centralized management and FortiLog and FortiReporter products dedicated to
logging and reporting," adds Vishak. "We also have FortiProtect and FortiGuard Services that provide real-time updates so customers can
automatically protect their networks against new viruses, worms, intrusions, and harmful Web content."

Fortinet also offers automated push updates for virus definition files for the FortiGate range of boxes. It is currently rolling out new features for
FortiClient, the personal firewall, VPN-client product, which will have anti-virus features. FortiReporter collects and consolidates firewall data
from different firewalls, even those that do not come from Fortinet.

VINITA BHATIA