The traditional approach of endpoint protection is straightforward. Every device on your network includes an installed security application that monitors, detects, alerts, and remediates. That model worked reasonably well twenty years ago, when most assets that were managed included personal computers and servers. Today, that model is sputtering toward the shelf.

Unfortunately, not everything in the modern IT world can host endpoint protection. In fact, many connected devices are completely unmonitored. Examples include:

• Many IoT and OT devices can’t host traditional security agents
• BYOD and other devices aren’t registered in Active Directory or Azure
• Rogue and shadow IT devices can connect and operate without any standardized protection
• Operational technology such as HVAC equipment, pipelines, and factory machinery

Agent Dependencies

To stop threat actors from moving freely inside your enterprise network, you need a security monitor that operates at the same flexibility. Fortinet’s FortiNDR solution is a fully independent, network‑wide detection engine that isn’t limited by operating systems, device types, or endpoint agents. Instead of relying on software installed on specific machines, FortiNDR performs like a roaming security analyst that quietly observes and analyzes all the conversations happening between devices across your environment.

Perpetual Monitoring and Alerts

Visibility is a basic necessity in all facets of cybersecurity. Think of FortiNDR as that security camera you can install anywhere with no mounting required. It records every suspicious activity such as:

• Odd or anomalous connections
• Large or irregular data transfers to uncommon destinations
• Activities occurring outside normal business hours or patterns inconsistent with typical user behavior
• Legitimate administrative utilities for reconnaissance, lateral movement, or malicious purposes

With FortiNDR, there is no dark alleyway for threat actor to hide. FortiNDR is centered around traffic, not devices. It then shares what it learns with the rest of your security stack so all components respond in concert.

The Relentless Intelligent Detective

Every device on your network, whether known or unknown, leaves breadcrumbs in the form of IP and MAC addresses, protocols, ports, destinations, traffic volumes, and timing. Taken together, this metadata becomes a constantly updated list of active players within your network as well a record of who talked to whom, when, and how often. 

Collecting vast amounts of network data is meaningless without the intelligence to interpret it. This is where FortiNDR’s integrated AI and machine learning capabilities transform raw telemetry into actionable security insights.

• Automatic Asset Discovery: Algorithms powered by machine learning analyze network behavior to identify and classify device types even when they lack proper documentation or network inventory entries. This ensures shadow IT and unmanaged devices don’t create security blind spots.
• Behavioral Correlation: Rather than generating isolated alerts, FortiNDR’s AI correlates related activities across time, users, devices, and protocols to construct complete attack narratives.
• Speed and Scale: While human cannot realistically correlate millions of network events in real time, FortiNDR is designed to do so. The solution’s advanced intelligence capabilities that can process hours of human analysis into minutes.

FortiNDR is the ultimate detective, but at a scale and speed that even Sherlock Holmes couldn’t replicate. With FortiNDR, there are no mysteries within your network.

The Best Ability Is Availability

FortiNDR is available both as an on‑premises platform and as a cloud‑delivered service, which maps neatly to how modern hybrid networks actually operate. For on-prem networks that must adhere to strict compliance and data residency requirements, FortiNDR installs as an appliance or virtual machine that can observe data center workloads, and OT/IoT internal networks. Its agentless approach provides comprehensive visibility into north-south and east-west communications, detecting anomalies, malware, botnets, weak ciphers, vulnerable protocols, and OT or IoT specific threats without relying on cloud submission.

For organizations running hybrid networks or operating with a cloud‑first strategy, FortiNDR Cloud provides a SaaS‑based option that monitors branch offices, remote sites, and public cloud environments. You can even combine on-prem and cloud deployments to keep sensitive segments local while using cloud‑based analytics to scale detection across distributed sites. This unified approach ensures consistent detection logic and AI/ML across both models, giving you a single, coherent view of attacker activity.

The Power Behind FortiNDR

Not only is FortiNDR driven by the power of AI, its also supported by FortiGuard Labs, even if you don’t currently have an existing Fortinet Security Fabric on your network. What makes this so relevant is that FortiGuard continuously collects and analyzes threat data from millions of sensors around the world and feeds those insights into FortiNDR. If you want to know the power of scale, consider this. In 2024 alone, FortiNDR Cloud customers experienced:

• 13.4 trillion network events analyzed, ensuring even subtle anomalies are examined
• 110 million threat observations recorded and correlated to potential attack patterns
• 622,000 detections triggered from confirmed malicious activity or high‑confidence threat indicators

Conclusion

IT security leaders at all business levels require persistent intelligence that is highly scalable and backed by a real-time knowledge base. That’s what you get with FortiNDR. Find out how FortiNDR can transform the security of your network by contacting the WEI team today.

Next Steps: As you’ve read, cybersecurity threats move quickly. Your defenses should move faster.
 further explores how Fortinet FortiNDR delivers advanced network detection and response capabilities that work in any environment without vendor lock-in or costly infrastructure overhauls.

The post How the Power of FortiNDR’s Agentless Design Changes the Game appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

• Increased use of automation, commoditized tools, and AI to scan and exploit at industrial scale
• Cybercrime‑as‑a‑Service markets provide ready‑made exploit kits and infrastructure, so even low‑skill actors can generate automated attacks at scale
• Attack targets have broadened, expanding far beyond a handful of traditional industries.
• The targeting of IoT devices has greatly expanded, thus broadening the attack surface being exploited

New Exploits, Same Vulnerabilities

What may be even more surprising than the volume of attempts is what attackers are exploiting. Despite the headlines, zero‑day vulnerabilities account for only a small fraction of observed activity. In reality, threat actors repeatedly go after the same well‑known, unpatched CVEs. For instance, the represented more than 25% of exploitation attempts in 2024.

Detection Is Getting Harder

At the same time, exploits and intrusions are becoming harder to detect. Cybercriminals increasingly rely on trusted tools and protocols to escalate privileges and deepen their access, all while blending into normal operations to avoid detection. They are investing in their craft and their assortment of tools to make their efforts more effective. In some cases, organizations are only aware of suspicious behavior after it is flagged by a third party.

Attackers Are Outpacing Defenders

The uncomfortable reality is that attackers are investing in advanced automation, reconnaissance tools, and stealth techniques designed for speed, invisibility, and massive scale, allowing them to evolve faster than traditional defenses. Attackers are evolving faster than defenses. By the time most IT teams detect a breach, attackers have already exfiltrated data, achieved their objectives, and vanished without a trace.

Evolve Your Defenses with FortiNDR

To keep pace with an increasingly sophisticated adversary, your defenses must also dynamically evolve. The first step is recognizing that traditional “tried‑and‑true” security tools are no longer enough. The threat landscape has changed dramatically, and you can’t bring conventional, reactive tools to an AI‑powered fight. Fortinet’s FortiNDR AI capabilities are what you need to regain the upper hand of the cybersecurity struggle. Here are some examples:

• While security data volumes exceed human analysis capacity, AI can process millions of events to find the critical few that matter
• AI detects threats in minutes vs. weeks to prevent data loss and limit damage
• Unlike signature-based detection that only catches known attacks, machine learning establishes behavioral baselines for users, devices, and applications

By baselining “normal” traffic and alerting on anomalies, FortiNDR detects lateral movement, command‑and‑control, and data exfiltration even when attackers use trusted tools and protocols to blend in.

FortiNDR Learns Your Network

Attackers improve their capabilities by learning from the networks they target. FortiNDR improves its ability to protect your network by learning from your network as well, spotting new tactics earlier, and then feeding those insights back into automated response and your broader security fabric. It learns and adapts so that when adversaries inevitably change tools and techniques, FortiNDR can still identify anomalies like new lateral movement paths, unusual protocol use, or emerging command and control functions.

Expand Your Visibility and Detection

If attackers are expanding in scale and taking advantage of increased attack surfaces, it is time to expand your security efforts as well. FortiNDR helps you expand your security efforts by collecting and analyzing network traffic and metadata across the full breath of Layer 2 through Layer 7. That includes the monitoring of things like:

• DNS queries and responses to detect DNS tunneling and other forms of command‑and‑control activity.
• MAC addresses, VLANs, IP traffic patterns, routing behaviors, and network segmentation violations
• RDP and SSH sessions for unauthorized access, brute force attempts, and lateral movement
• File sharing activity and SMB traffic that may indicate or ransomware behavior or data exfiltration,
• Encrypted traffic analysis to identify malicious communications hidden in HTTPS

Expanded Collaboration

Expanded visibility is expanded by expanded collaboration way, which is why FortiNDR isn’t designed to replace your existing tools. It works by sharing what it sees on the network with them, including firewalls, EDR, NAC, SIEM, and XDR so that everything can work together and not in silos.

• Streams FortiNDR alerts and events into the SIEM so they appear alongside other logs, giving richer context for correlations and reports
• Flags risky or compromised devices so NAC can enforce policies that quarantine devices to restricted VLANs or blocking network access entirely until remediation is complete.
• Sends alerts about suspicious network behavior tied to specific devices so EDR can flag or isolate the endpoints
• Feeds high value network detections into XDR platforms to help build a complete attack story that improves accuracy and accelerates responsive actions

For organizations with an existing Fortinet infrastructure, FortiNDR enhances their security, improving both their effectiveness and the ROI of their security investments.

Conclusion

Just like in a game of chess, the first move often favors the attacker. FortiNDR helps negate this advantage by giving you deeper visibility into what’s happening on your network and enabling multiple security tools to detect and act together in a more accurate and accelerated manner. Find out how FortiNDR can help you close the gap between attacker speed by expanding your defenses and staying ahead of today’s evolving threats.

Next Steps: As you’ve read, cybersecurity threats move quickly. Your defenses should move faster.
further explores how Fortinet FortiNDR delivers advanced network detection and response capabilities that work in any environment without vendor lock-in or costly infrastructure overhauls.

The post How FortiNDR Is a Force Multiplier for Your Security Team appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Imagine managing a large party in your home, where guests arrive unpredictably through different entryways. You can’t just lock the front door and call it secure. Instead, you need to keep track of everyone who enters, ensure they’re supposed to be there, and monitor the activity inside. In the same way, businesses face the complex challenge of managing network security across an expansive digital landscape. With remote work, a rise in connected devices, and growing cyber threats, ensuring effective business network security now resembles organizing a secure, multi-room event with hundreds if not thousands of “guests.”

For enterprise network security, network access control (NAC) serves as a security “host,” overseeing who and what enters the network. NAC solutions verify authorized access, flag potential threats, and enforce security policies to maintain a secure, smooth environment. In this article, we explore how modern NAC solutions elevate network security, enhance endpoint protection, and streamline access management across increasingly complex digital environments.

BYOD And IoT On The Rise

As business network security advances to meet the surge in IoT devices and the needs of a mobile workforce, we see that traditional firewalls and basic NAC solutions simply aren’t enough anymore. Today’s enterprise network security requires advanced NAC solutions to give us the visibility and control needed to secure network access, protect sensitive data, and stay compliant.

Let’s consider the impact of mobile and remote work. With mobile workers making up about that’s around 1.76 billion people worldwide, endpoint security is necessary. With IoT spending projected to grow at 10.4% annually from 2023 to 2027, the sheer number of connected devices is only increasing.

Yet, there’s a big challenge we need to address: endpoint monitoring. Many organizations admit struggling to monitor mobile devices when they leave the corporate network. This gap in monitoring presents a clear need for enterprise network security that extends to all endpoints, wherever they are. Comprehensive, ongoing monitoring is now essential for keeping our networks truly secure.

This expansion brings numerous enterprise network security challenges:

1. Device diversity: Each device type, whether a smartphone or an industrial sensor, introduces unique security risks, often lacking standard enterprise-grade protections.
2. Guest and contractor access: Outsiders such as contractors and vendors regularly need network access which creates potential vulnerabilities.
3. IoT threats: IoT devices, frequently “headless” (that is, without user interfaces), lack the capability for basic security updates, making them frequent targets for cybercriminals.

Effective network security today requires more than just allowing or denying access. Modern NAC solutions need to deliver centralized visibility, rapid threat responses, and integrated controls across all connected devices.

Watch: Securing The Hybrid Workforce With SASE

The Need For Visibility, Automation, And Modern Controls

Traditional NAC solutions, which rely on simple scan-and-block techniques, fall short in meeting today’s security needs. For modern business network security requirements, organizations need NAC that goes beyond these outdated methods.

Key capabilities now essential for network access control should include:

1. Comprehensive visibility: IT and security teams must have centralized visibility into every device, whether it’s a laptop, IoT device, or mobile phone, across all segments of the network. This visibility ensures that nothing enters or operates within the network without oversight.
2. Automated threat responses: With the high volume of security alerts generated daily, manual responses are too slow and resource-intensive. Automated responses allow for immediate containment and mitigation of threats, minimizing potential damage and accelerating response times.
3. Efficient device onboarding and workflow automation: Manual processes for provisioning and onboarding devices are time-consuming and prone to error. Automated workflows streamline these tasks, reducing wait times for new devices to join the network and minimizing risks from misconfigured or unidentified devices.
4. Dynamic segmentation controls: To prevent lateral movement by potential attackers, NAC solutions must enforce policies that automatically segment and restrict access based on device type, user role, and behavior patterns. Dynamic segmentation protects sensitive data and systems from unauthorized access within the network.

by Fortinet addresses these needs with a policy-driven, automated solution that delivers comprehensive visibility, responsive containment, and seamless integration with the Fortinet Security Fabric. This platform empowers security teams to identify, authenticate, and control each device connection, strengthening enterprise network security across the organization and reducing risk from internal and external threats.

FortiNAC provides significant advantages in four core areas of network security:

1. Lower total cost of ownership (TCO)
   FortiNAC offers a flexible and comprehensive network security solution designed to integrate seamlessly with existing infrastructure. The platform supports over 150 vendors, including switches, wireless devices, and firewalls. This compatibility helps businesses maximize their previous investments in network infrastructure, enhancing both endpoint and enterprise security. FortiNAC’s deployment options, available as a hardware appliance, virtual appliance, or cloud service, empower architects to choose configurations that best suit their organization’s unique needs.By using open standards, FortiNAC eliminates the need for a server at every location, enabling businesses to reduce costs by leveraging their existing network and security setups. These features make FortiNAC a versatile and adaptable choice for organizations looking to strengthen business network security and maintain a secure, well-integrated environment across the enterprise.
2. Rapid deployment and scalability
   FortiNAC’s REST-based API enables rapid deployment and seamless bi-directional data exchange, making it adaptable to large-scale networks. Integrated within the Fortinet Security Fabric, FortiNAC serves as a third-generation network access control (NAC) solution that meets the complex demands of enterprise network security.Unlike earlier NAC solutions, which primarily authorize managed PCs and guest devices, FortiNAC enforces policies across distributed environments where dynamic access control is critical. With Security Fabric integration, FortiNAC identifies, validates, and segments every device on the network, enhancing both endpoint security and overall business network security. Additionally, FortiNAC prevents threat spread through granular access control, and ensures devices access only the resources aligned with their roles.
3. Accelerated BYOD and IoT device integration
   FortiNAC integrates with existing EMM systems to streamline onboarding and validate BYOD and IoT devices, thereby enhancing endpoint security for mobile and remote workers. It delivers essential visibility and access control to secure a wide range of devices in BYOD and IoT-heavy environments.Through agentless scanning, FortiNAC automatically discovers, classifies, and verifies each device, by allowing only authenticated devices to connect. Role-based policies further enable precise control over device permissions and behavior, ensuring comprehensive enterprise network security and simplifying access management for organizations.
4. Reduced containment time
   FortiNAC strengthens business network security by correlating user activity and network connections to detect and prioritize potential threats. Automation drives FortiNAC’s security architecture, enabling it to contain threats rapidly through real-time intelligence sharing within the Fortinet Security Fabric. This integration automatically enforces policies to safeguard network security and reduce risk. When a threat occurs, FortiNAC isolates compromised devices and notifies network administrators to improve endpoint security. This approach then helps businesses stay compliant with regulatory standards.

Final Thoughts

Maintaining security for a scheduled party means not only knowing who enters, but also keeping an eye on everyone’s activities to ensure each space remains safe and controlled. This is also the reality of modern business network security. With various devices constantly accessing enterprise networks, organizations need more than just basic network security.

FortiNAC from Fortinet exemplifies the kind of advanced NAC solution required to handle today’s enterprise network security needs. Offering policy-based automation and integrating with the Fortinet Security Fabric, FortiNAC provides businesses with detailed visibility, real-time control, and automated responses to potential threats across mobile, IoT, and remote endpoints.

For organizations looking to implement a reliable NAC solution, WEI offers expert guidance in FortiNAC integration so your business gains visibility, automation, and the confidence to face modern security challenges head-on. Contact WEI today to explore how FortiNAC can strengthen your enterprise network security and safeguard your organization’s future.

Next Steps: FortiAnalyzer provides automation-ready single-pane-of-glass management, transparent visibility, advanced compliance reporting, and network-aware rapid response across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments. The solution streamlines security operations and brings unparalleled value to modern security network management.

Talk to WEI about advancing your organization’s security posture by optimizing Fortinet Security Fabric with FortiAnalyzer. Download our free tech brief below.

The post Transform Enterprise Security With Advanced Network Access Control Solutions appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

The advent of 2024 opens a new era, spotlighting the significant strides in cloud adoption and digital transformation that organizations have dramatically pushed forward, some by as much as six years. This rapid progression aims at fostering business innovation, gaining competitive edges, and achieving set business objectives. Looking back reveals a period of not only acceleration, but also substantial expansion. Applications now reside just about everywhere, distributed across traditional data centers, clouds, colocation providers, and computing edges. It is a new landscape that signals a broadened scope of IT infrastructure.

Challenges of Multi-cloud

For starters, the “cloud” is a concept, not a single entity. According to the , 69% of businesses use at least two different cloud providers, with nearly one in five using four or more. That represents a level of complexity that network and cybersecurity teams did not have to contend with in earlier years. The mentioned Fortinet report shows us some of the challenges of managing multiple clouds.

• 32% of those surveyed in the study cited visibility as a challenge. You cannot secure what you cannot see clearly.
• An equal number cited a lack of cohesive security controls to secure everything.
• 37% said that compliancy requirements become more burdensome with the addition of multiple clouds.

However, the primary challenge identified was the shortage of staff proficient in various cloud platforms, perpetuating the siloed workforce that is reminiscent of traditional data center days where roles were divided by specific tool expertise.

Complexity Equates to Risk

The complexity of managing multiple clouds directly increases risk. A lack of visibility and expertise, alongside disjointed security measures, leads to heightened threat perception among organizations. According to survey findings, misconfigurations in cloud settings are seen as the primary risk, triggering a cascade of security issues, from insecure APIs to unauthorized access, culminating in data breaches. This concern is shared by half of the survey respondents, underlining the critical nature of these interconnected threats in multi-cloud environments.

Simplified & Cohesive Security

Threat actors look for security gaps to exploit. The more clouds you utilize, the greater the attack surface. That truth is recognized. The answer to this challenge is not to deter from using multiple clouds, as this strategy allows for a more flexible and tailored IT infrastructure. The answer resides in the implementation of a single cohesive security platform that would offer a consolidated dashboard, enhanced visibility, and streamlined management, while mitigating the need for multiple cloud-specific tools expertise. A resounding 90% of survey participants agreed that this approach would significantly aid in addressing their topmost concerns:

• Preventing cloud misconfigurations
• Securing major cloud apps already in use
• Defending against malware
• Achieving regulatory compliance

Organizations are increasingly looking to adapt multi-layered security models that not only enhance protection across platforms, but also complement native provider capabilities.

Fortinet Security Fabric

If your business is going to integrate with multiple clouds, it only makes sense that your security solution needs to seamlessly integrate with all of them as well. That is what Fortinet’s Security Fabric does. It offers a comprehensive and holistic approach to cloud security that enables enterprise IT leaders to secure all applications, data, and infrastructure from a central location, while also providing the necessary visibility and control to ensure that policies are consistently applied across all environments. By leveraging automation and threat intelligence, can swiftly identify and respond to threats, minimizing risk and enhancing overall security posture within cloud environments.

Seamless Integration with Cloud Platforms and Ecosystems

Fortinet Security Fabric integrates with most cloud platforms to ensure consistent security for all applications, while still allowing your business to enjoy the flexibility scalability and efficiency that a hybrid cloud provides. Let’s explore how Fortinet Security Fabric collaborates with the biggest leading public cloud platforms.

1. Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Fortinet offers SaaS, VM containers, and API-based protection to deliver natively integrated security functionality for AWS. This security solution includes the following to provide a powerful defense against cyber threats:

• Firewalls
• Security Gateways
• Intruder Prevention
• Web Application Security

These features effectively complement existing AWS security tools such as GuardDuty and Security Hub to extend these native capabilities

2. Microsoft Azure

For users of Microsoft Azure and Office 365, the Fortinet Security Fabric enhances security across multi-cloud setups with features such as:

• Comprehensive Protection
• Automated Management
• Native Integration

Fortinet offers advanced threat protection designed for Azure’s hybrid-cloud setups and Office 365, including next-generation firewalls, cloud-based security infrastructure management, and intrusion prevention systems. For Office 365, Fortinet delivers automated defenses against web and email threats, robust identity solutions, and thorough reporting tools for improved cybersecurity visibility and control.

WEI & Fortinet Webinar: Security, Visibility and Control of Public Cloud Infrastructure and Workloads

3. Google Cloud Platform

Fortinet Cloud Security for Google Cloud offers resilient enterprise security for both on-premises data centers and cloud environments. The Security Fabric provides multi-layered protection for cloud-based applications, incorporating network, application, and cloud platform security features.

It integrates seamlessly with Google Cloud’s infrastructure, providing comprehensive security coverage across the cloud environment. This includes protecting against advanced threats, enforcing security policies, and offering detailed visibility and control over cloud resources. This extensive solution is accessible through virtual machines, containers, and SaaS offerings, seamlessly integrating Fortinet Security into the Google Cloud infrastructure.

In addition to Fortinet’s seamless ability to integrate with multiple clouds, the ecosystem brings together technology and threat-sharing collaborations amongst Fortinet partners.

Final Thoughts

Similar to other leading businesses, you have spent the past several years accelerating digital transformative efforts. Now, it is time to accelerate security to eliminate any existing gaps in your expanded IT landscape. Are you ready to take your cloud journey to the next level? Contact our team of experts at WEI, and we’ll be happy to get you started with a thorough assessment of your existing cloud environment.

Next steps: Managing and securing data, applications, and systems has become more arduous and time-consuming with the rise of cloud adoption and the expansion of the digital attack surface. To help remedy this, FortiAnalyzer offers a powerful log management, analytics, and reporting platform that features a single console to manage, orchestrate, and respond. Download our free tech brief below to read.

The post The State Of The Cloud In 2024 appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

As companies adopt multi- or hybrid cloud strategies at a rapid pace to accelerate digital initiatives, the advantages of this technology are not without its challenges. In this blog post, we explore the current state of digital acceleration and cloud security, and how businesses can find an integrated cloud solution that works best for their existing ecosystems.

The State Of The Cloud

As we enter 2024, this marks an ideal time to briefly review the current state of the cloud and where security fits into this technology. For starters, the 2023 Fortinet Cloud Security Report reveals that 69% of businesses use at least two different cloud providers. The multi-cloud approach can provide significant benefits, from cost-effectiveness to flexibility and scalability. However, IT leaders need to be mindful of:

• A lack of visibility and control over cloud environments.
• The difficulty of finding the right staff with cloud expertise, which can contribute to misconfigurations and vulnerabilities in setting up the cloud.

Organizations are understandably prioritizing the prevention of cloud misconfigurations and securing key cloud apps. This has led to an increased adoption of multi-layered security models, enhancing protection across platforms and complementing native provider capabilities.

Exploring Cloud Security Solutions

Cloud platforms face heightened vulnerability to cyber-attacks due to their internet accessibility, as businesses across all industries frequently transmit sensitive data across these channels. The potential consequences of security breaches, such as significant data loss, downtime, and damaged brand reputation, underscore the necessity of implementing robust cloud security measures.

Common elements of effective cloud security protocols include:

• Multi-Factor Authentication
• Data Encryption
• Stringent Access Controls
• Real-Time Threat Monitoring

Organizations can mitigate the risks of system downtime, financial losses, and reputation damage by prioritizing investments in these cybersecurity controls.

Fortunately, is designed to provide a holistic approach to cloud security, enabling businesses to secure all their applications, data, and infrastructure from a central location.

Seamless Integration With Cloud Platforms And Ecosystems

Cloud platforms offer organizations flexibility and scalability for efficient operations, data processing, and customer service innovation. As cloud adoption presents various challenges, seamless cloud-native implementation is important.

Fortinet Security Fabric excels in this regard, ensuring consistent security for all applications. Its solutions seamlessly integrate with most cloud platforms. Let’s explore how Fortinet Security Fabric collaborates with various public cloud platforms.

1. Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Fortinet offers SaaS, VM containers, and API-based protection to deliver natively integrated security functionality for AWS. This security solution includes the following to provide a powerful defense against cyber threats:

• Firewalls
• Security Gateways
• Intruder Prevention
• Web Application Security

With a host of features, Fortinet provides seamless security for the AWS environment.

These features effectively complement existing AWS security tools such as GuardDuty and Security Hub.

2. Microsoft Azure

For Microsoft Azure and Office 365 users, the Fortinet Security Fabric provides these services to enforce consistent security and visibility across multi-cloud infrastructure:

• Comprehensive Protection
• Automated Management
• Native Integration

Fortinet offers a full suite of threat protection features tailored for Microsoft Azure, including next-generation firewalls, cloud-based management of global security infrastructure, and intrusion prevention systems designed for hybrid-cloud environments.

For Office 365 users, Fortinet provides automated protection against web and email threats, identity solutions, and complete reporting and visibility tools to enhance overall cybersecurity measures.

Fortify your Microsoft Azure and Office 365 experience with Fortinet Security Fabric for consistent security and visibility across multi-cloud infrastructure.

3. Google Cloud Platform

Fortinet Cloud Security for Google Cloud offers resilient enterprise security for both on-premises data centers and cloud environments. The Security Fabric provides multi-layered protection for cloud-based applications, incorporating network, application, and cloud platform security features.

This extensive solution is accessible through virtual machines, containers, and SaaS offerings, seamlessly integrating Fortinet Security into the Google Cloud infrastructure.

Fortinet Cloud Security for Google Cloud delivers multi-layered protection for on-premises and cloud environments.

The Open Fabric Security Framework

The ecosystem provides a holistic approach to security by bringing together technology and threat-sharing collaborations. Fortinet’s partners leverage an open-ended architecture, collaborative power, integration, interfaces, and complimentary solutions for automation and their protection. The result is a broad range of solutions that are available to enable advanced end-to-end security across various environments.

The Fortinet Open Security Fabric: Uniting technology and collaborative power for advanced end-to-end security.

Final Thoughts

The shift to cloud architecture offers organizations agility, scalability, and cost savings. However, with growing reliance on cloud platforms and issues on cybersecurity, merging cloud-native features is the ideal approach to enhance security in your cloud application journey.

Fortinet Security Fabric offers comprehensive next-gen security controls, visibility, and policy management across multiple clouds, which empowers organizations to easily manage their security posture while continuing to reap the benefits of cloud architecture.

Are you ready to take your cloud journey to the next level? Contact our team of experts at WEI, and we’ll be happy to get you started with a thorough assessment of your existing cloud environment.

Next steps: Managing and securing data, applications, and systems has become more arduous and time-consuming with the rise of cloud adoption and the expansion of the digital attack surface. To help remedy this, FortiAnalyzer offers a powerful log management, analytics, and reporting platform that features a single console to manage, orchestrate, and respond. Download our free tech brief below to read.

The post Maximize Your Hybrid Cloud’s Potential With Advanced Cloud Security Architecture appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

With generative text programs and image generators doing things many never thought possible, many industry leaders have focused on the application of AI technologies in content creation. Unfortunately, there is a darker application for artificial intelligence technologies. Ultimately, these complex systems are tools, and – like any tool – they can do a lot of damage in the wrong hands. In no place is that truer than in the practice of cybersecurity.

Cybersecurity is more of an arms race than ever before, and if your enterprise can’t stay ahead of cyber criminals, a malicious event is around the corner. For that reason, it is important for businesses and IT teams to step up protection as technology and attacks evolve.

Thankfully, longstanding cybersecurity providers like Fortinet offer a unifying AI-based security operating system to span the entire distributed security fabric. The latest FortiOS 7.4 eliminates the need to choose between performance and protection, allowing organizations to focus on innovation while maintaining safety. The system’s AI-based threat detection provides extensive control throughout the extended attack surface, guaranteeing secure operations and reducing risk.

Let’s examine the features that make FortiOS 7.4 an essential part of your network security strategy.

Unified Hybrid Network Security Management

As networks and hybrid environments evolve, so too should your secure networking approaches. To maintain optimal and unified security, organizations must explore cutting-edge technologies like hybrid mesh firewalls to provide a converged approach that delivers comprehensive security policy controls between workloads and users.

According to Gartner, the adoption rate of hybrid mesh firewalls is expected to increase, as of organizations will employ multiple firewall deployments by 2026. As such, it is important to rely on a provider that offers a centralized management solution – such as – to oversee the enterprise network across various firewall deployments, both on-premises and in the cloud. This kind of solution should deliver consistent security, management, and analytics throughout the hybrid network and integrate Secure SD-WAN, Secure WLAN/LAN, Universal ZTNA, and a comprehensive SASE solution.

Early Detection And Real-Time Responses To Cyberattacks

Enterprise hybrid network security has evolved from relying on error-prone human intelligence. AI-powered threat intelligence platforms offer capabilities to identify and fix vulnerabilities and misconfigurations across a network. These capabilities are designed to meet current and future cyber threats.

In addition to AI-powered threat intelligence, the latest innovations in endpoint security, SOC automation, and application security have better enabled businesses to build their own self-defending hybrid network ecosystems. These enhancements allow businesses to defend against even the most sophisticated and fast-moving cyber-attacks such as targeted ransomware and advanced persistent threats. These comprehensive solutions ensure companies stay ahead of attackers and provide data and reputation protection against weaponized AI.

Access To An Efficient Risk Reduction Solution

Staying updated with state-of-the-art cyber-physical and industrial control system (ICS) risk reduction solutions enable various OT and SOC teams to effectively analyze and respond to any threat quickly. One solution, for example, comes from FortiOS 7.4’s which offers a dedicated dashboard to view real-time threat visibility features aligned to the MITRE ATT&CK for ICS and OT-specific threat analysis. The result is a faster response time for converged OT and IT environments, keeping your organization ahead of constantly evolving cyber threats.

Fortinet’s Comprehensive Hybrid Network Security Solution

As cyberattacks continue to grow in number and sophistication, businesses need a security solution that supports their digital innovation strategy while keeping pace with cyber threats. is designed to provide an automatic and multi-pronged response to cyber threats. Through years of experience and constant research and development, Fortinet continues to innovate and provide robust protection and improved performance in secure networking and management.

For a comprehensive cybersecurity measure, WEI recommends FortiOS 7.4 to enterprises seeking to secure their hybrid networks. Contact us today and let our team of experts empower your business to achieve your hybrid network security goals.

Next steps: Curious about what your business can do right now to make the most of your hybrid workforce? Download our to learn more about how you can improve the efficiency of your team.

The post FortiOS 7.4: Unpacking The New Hybrid Network Security Update appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Email is a vital part of our lives, both for business and personal communications. However, this integral tool is increasingly vulnerable to malicious attacks by cybercriminals aiming to steal credentials, confidential data, or funds. To protect against these complex threats, companies need a robust multi-layered security measure in place when handling emails.

Fortunately, you can protect your business from the ever-present threat of cyber criminals by utilizing Fortinet’s comprehensive email security solution, . With its wide range of options and unmatched flexibility in deployment modes, it is an ideal choice for organizations or service providers to keep threats out while ensuring existing data remains safe.

Cloud-Based Email Security

Powered by the renowned threat intelligence network, this solution provides multi-layered protection against spam, phishing attempts, malware infections, and zero-day threats. This offers your enterprise peace of mind knowing all emails are scanned for potential risks.

Fortinet also offers a variety of customizable solutions, from FortiMail appliances and virtual machines to FortiMail Cloud. These solutions adequately protect your organization’s email, allowing you to choose the right deployment model and operation mode for your specific needs, whether on-premise or in the cloud.

Common Email Security Phishing Scams

Phishing is a malicious form of cyber-attacks that attempts to deceive users into giving away private information such as passwords, bank details, and credit card numbers. Cybercriminals have become increasingly advanced with their phishing attempts ranging from identity theft to malware installation. Here are a few common phishing scams to look out for:

1. Spear Phishing

Spear phishing is a highly targeted form of email attack in which hackers take the time to research and customize their messages with detailed personal information about an individual. This type of scam requires resources that can only be accessed by larger organizations, making it far more dangerous than traditional spam tactics.

2. Business Email Compromise (BEC)

BEC attacks are an important threat to be aware of for business email security. These use sophisticated techniques to impersonate senior executives and redirect payments into malicious accounts. By manipulating trust relationships between organizations and their customers or vendors, these attackers aim to steal funds from unsuspecting individuals.

3. Clone Phishing

This attack deceives victims into providing sensitive information. Scammers create fake emails which look legitimate and replace the original links or attachments with malicious versions to trick users. These fraudulent messages are often sent from addresses similar enough to the real sender’s address, which makes the incorrect address appear valid at first glance.

4. Whaling Phishing

We’ve written about whaling in the past, but it has been a while since we touched on it. Primarily targeting employees at the senior level, whale phishing is where the scammer poses as a trusted party to encourage a user to open a malicious website or attachment. To be clear, a whaling attack is a spear phishing attack that focuses on a high-level manager or executive. Despite the differences, some security experts do not distinguish between spear phishing and whaling. We just did, so there’s that.

How FortiMail Provides Protection

1. Wide-range Protection

FortiMail is your one-stop solution to combat email threats such as phishing, , impersonation, and BEC attacks. It provides complete protection with flexible deployment options for on-premises, cloud, or hybrid environments – all backed by API support for !

2. Email Security Fabric

FortiMail is an essential part of the Fortinet Security Fabric. It provides enhanced email protection through automated operations and workflow capabilities using shared Indicators of Compromise (IoC) across your IT environment to enable better intelligence-driven decisions that strengthen overall cybersecurity.

3. Consistent High Performance

Fortinet stands out among the competition, having been independently tested and proven to be email security vendors. This solution has an incredible AAA rating from SE Labs and a practically invincible Spam Catch Rate from Virus Bulletin.

4. Powered By FortiGaurd Labs

Fortinet’s FortiMail is powered by advanced threat intelligence and AI-powered Security Services like antivirus, virus outbreak protection, and anti-spam from the established security experts at FortiGuard Labs. In fact, FortiGaurd experts analyze threats and can protect against a staggering amount. This service enables:

• 319,000 phishing attempts blocked per minute.
• 595,000 malware programs neutralized per minute.
• 790,000 malicious website accesses blocked per minute.
• 30,000 spam events blocked per minute.

Conclusion

Cybercriminals constantly innovate their attack techniques to evade security measures, but Fortinet presents a comprehensive solution that consolidates and converges critical technologies. FortiMail is a single-vendor platform that is increasingly essential in the fight against modern cyber threats, as they become ever more sophisticated and difficult to detect.

If you’re ready to implement FortiMail into your security efforts, contact WEI today. Our experts will help you identify which services are best suited for protecting your enterprise from potential email security threats.

Next Steps: Curious about what your business can do right now to make the most of your hybrid workforce? Download our to learn more about how you can improve the efficiency of your team.

The post Email Security: Protecting Your Organization From Phishing Scams appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Network security is an essential component of any organization’s digital transformation journey. With the increasing complexity of cyber threats, network firewalls are a critical tool for protecting distributed infrastructure from malicious attacks. Security solution services offer organizations the ability to extend and strengthen their overall security efforts from edge to core, allowing them to securely scale their digital business operations. By deploying advanced technologies such as next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) and intrusion prevention systems (IPSs), organizations can protect themselves against a wide range of internal and external threats while maintaining high levels of performance. Read on to learn about and why they are considered the best in the business when it comes to providing organizations protection against web-based network threats.

Fortinet Network Security Solutions

Fortinet is a leader in the evolution of network security and has been for over two decades. Their flagship product, FortiGate NGFW, leads the industry with cumulative units shipped around the world, representing one-third of all firewalls deployed globally.

Fortinet’s FortiGate NGFWs have also recently earned the “Highest in Ability to Execute” ranking from Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for an impressive . This is further proof that their solutions are reliable and robust when it comes to network security against malicious threats.

• Powerful security and networking convergence. Secure networking services like SD-WAN, ZTNA, and SSL decryption are included. Customers no longer need to worry about subscribing to additional licensing.
• Best price-per-performance. Fortinet’s ASIC architecture delivers the highest ROI plus hyperscale support and ultra-low latency.
• AI/ML-powered threat protection. Multiple AI/ML-powered security services are designed to stop advanced threats. IT leaders will rest assured that business disruptions are prevented if such an event occurs.

Key Functions For Effective NGFW Solutions

Network security is becoming increasingly complex and difficult to manage, as businesses adopt various solutions such as secure access service edge (SASE), solid-state wide-area network (SD-WAN), and zero touch network access (ZTNA). To effectively keep up with the ever-expanding networks of today’s world, along with adapting to multi-cloud environments and 5G, there needs to be an integrated approach that provides unified protection across all areas of the network. Luckily, a next-generation firewall approach provides the ideal solution.

It’s important to integrate three key functions – Protect, Consolidate, and Scale – to ensure secure contextually coordinated protection across an organization’s network environment whether in data centers or multi-cloud networks.

1. Protect

   
   

Network security is an essential requirement for NGFW solutions, which need to be aware of the entire application lifecycle. In addition to web filtering and advanced image recognition capabilities, the NGFW should also protect from known threats with intrusion prevention system (IPS), anti-malware, and threat intelligence feeds. To ensure complete coverage against current and emerging risks, it must integrate seamlessly with other cybersecurity measures such as endpoint detection and response (EDR), web application firewalls (WAFs), and additional defense methods.

2. Consolidate

   
   

NGFWs provide the necessary visibility to protect against sophisticated attacks hidden inside secure HTTPS channels. NGFWs also unify networking and security functions into one solution delivered on-premises or through cloud SASE services. To ensure proper access control, these firewalls need natively integrated proxy capabilities combined with multi-factor authentication for users/devices requesting network access. Finally, a consistent policy orchestration across all environments must be enforced using single-pane-of-glass management so that security follows transactions end to end.

3. Scale

Today’s data centers require ever-increasing speeds to process massive amounts of data quickly, making firewalls a critical part in protecting networks from high-speed attacks. However, traditional firewalls are unable to keep up with the demands and lack hyper performance capabilities due to their reliance on off-the-shelf processors when everything runs on custom chips. Security is an increasingly difficult challenge in the digital age, with IT and security budgets stretched to their limits. To combat this issue, firewall functionality must be delivered without sacrificing performance or straining resources.

FortiGate Firewall Capabilities

Fortinet provides a broad security portfolio with their FortiGate NGFWs product line, available for a variety of deployment use cases. This includes virtual appliances and cloud-based options such as AWS, Azure, GCP, and more. Their network security solution also includes:

• FortiGuard Antivirus – This is available with all FortiGate NGFWs as an enterprise antivirus solution that utilizes proactive technologies in combination with hourly updates for maximum protection against the latest cyberattacks.
• FortiGuard IPS – Combining cutting-edge firewall capabilities with FortiGuard IPS service’s ability to detect zero-day attacks and ransomware allows companies to quickly identify and block any intrusions before damage or data loss occurs.
• FortiGuard Application Control – Available through Fortinet firewalls, this solution provides businesses with an effective way to manage application usage and meet compliance standards while improving network security. With this service’s real-time visibility into applications running on the network as well as usage trends over time, organizations rely on powerful FortiGate NGFWs for reliable protection against cyber threats.
• FortiGuard Web Filtering – This remarkable tool allows companies to block high-risk web content, ensuring no malicious downloads penetrate company devices.

Conclusion

Network security has become increasingly important for businesses. Fortinet is well-suited for this challenge, offering a highly scalable hardware solution with integrated SD-WAN and its advanced Fortinet’s FortiGate firewall technology. This combination of features makes the system easy to use while providing powerful network protection from potential threats.

If you’re ready to deploy Fortinet for your network security solutions, contact WEI today. Our experts will help you select from a range of services, such as FortiGate NGFWs, that protect your enterprise while providing maximum agility.

Next Steps: Curious about what your business can do right now to make the most of your hybrid workforce? Download our to learn more about how you can improve the efficiency of your team.

The post FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall: The Leader Of Network Security Solutions appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Cloud security is often viewed as a hindrance to productivity and agility, slowing down the ability to develop new applications and processes. However, when adopting a new cloud environment such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), you must balance adequate cloud security with the cloud’s elasticity and scalability.

Fortinet Security Fabric provides the ideal components to build an autonomous services hub for AWS designed for various business needs. By concentrating on your cloud security services, your enterprise can protect its data and assets while ensuring consistent security policies across the entire infrastructure.

The Fortinet Security Fabric provides AWS cloud users with various security capabilities from a central location, leveraging a cloud-native ability to automatically scale and replicate services in other regions. Here are six ways can provide a balanced and secure cloud environment.

Fortinet For Your AWS Cloud Environment

1. Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) access control. With the FortiGate NGFW, you control who can access your enterprise’s data and what they are able to view. With a cloud services hub, restrictions can be based on cloud resource tags, IP addresses, TCP services, and application control policies for outgoing and incoming traffic.
2. VPN cloud connectivity. Secure the data your enterprise shares across resources with the cloud services hub. The cloud services hub can also use FortiGate NGFWs to establish and maintain secure VPN cloud connectivity from branch offices, other data centers, office locations, remote users, or even from organizational VPCs residing in the cloud. This ensures that all traffic is transmitted confidentially over shared resources.
3. Secure web gateway. With FortiGate you also have the ability to secure web gateways and reduce the risk of malicious communications. By using it as the exit point to the internet, the cloud services hub enforces acceptable internet usage policies for your employees while also reducing suspicious communications.
4. Web application security. Protect users’ personal details such as electronic payments or health information with FortiWeb web application firewall (WAF) as part of your cloud services hub.

Used as the entry point for internet traffic accessing web-based applications, a central set of WAF security policies protects business-critical applications while ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements, such as the (PCI DSS) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

5. Email security. With Fortinet’s FortiMail deployed on demand, you can have peace of mind that you have a backup and secure email gateway (SEG) for your enterprise. FortiMail provides security and flexibility for global email deployments without having to worry about availability.
6. Sandboxing. Protecting cloud environments from zero-day attacks is growing increasingly important for enterprises. FortiSandbox can integrate with FortiGate to scan any in-line traffic as part of the cloud services hub. It can help protect applications by leveraging the FortiSandbox JSON API. FortiSandbox also has the capability to scale to Amazon S3 cloud storage buckets, via lambda functions. With the available collaboration tools and the increasing use of public file and image repositories, the ability to safely test suspicious code and expose new threats is more relevant than ever.

Using the Fortinet Security Fabric for your enterprise’s AWS cloud environment provides you with a balanced solution that combines cloud security with the ability to remain flexible and scale to organizational needs.

Contact WEI today if you’re ready to deploy Fortinet for your AWS cloud environment. Our experts will help you determine which services your enterprise needs to maximize cloud security and agility.

Next Steps: Learn more about Fortinet cloud security options by downloading our latest tech brief, “.”

The post 6 Ways Fortinet Provides Agile Security For Your AWS Cloud Environment appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Our review of 2021 IT trends reported that Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) was not only a common feature for enterprise IT teams, but that it will be sticking around for the near future, too. Much of this is attributed to shifting remote work architectures, which have made traditional perimeter security architectures essentially outdated. As organizations move away from a full-on remote workforce and into more of a hybrid model, ZTNA features remain just as important.

What’s The Future of ZTNA?

That’s an easy one: It is the future of enterprise security. About 60% of enterprises either have plans to or have phased out traditional VPNs and use a . Much of this transition has to do with the following VPN challenges:

• A VPN takes a perimeter-based approach to security
• VPNs have no insight into the content they deliver
• Networks are now highly distributed

To date, a little more than 15% of organizations have completed a transition to a zero-trust security model. It’s time to say goodbye to your VPN as we reintroduce our look at two different ZTNA models:

Client-Initiated Or Endpoint-Initiated ZTNA

The first zero-trust network access model is known as endpoint-initiated ZTNA or a client-initiated ZTNA model. This model is software-defined and based on the Cloud Security Alliance architecture which uses an agent on a device to create a secure tunnel to the enterprise network. This agent performs an assessment to determine the security risk of a user’s request to access an application using information such as their identity, device location, network, and the application being used. After building a risk profile, the agent connects back to the application over a proxy connection, and if the information meets the organization’s policy, access to the application is granted. The beauty of this model is that applications can be on-premises or cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

The Service-Initiated Or Application-Initiated ZTNA Model

The service-initiated model uses a reverse proxy architecture based on the BeyondCorp model and is also known as application-initiated ZTNA. The biggest difference from client-initiated ZTNA is that this model does not require an endpoint agent. Instead, to create a secure tunnel and perform a risk assessment profile, it uses a browser plug-in.

Three Questions For Zero Trust Network Access With Fortinet

Fortinet’s approach to zero trust access can be broken down into : who, what, and what happens after network access.

1. Who is accessing the network?
The first piece is who is accessing the network, which can include employees, supply chain partners, and customers. With a zero-trust model, users are only given access to the resources that are necessary for them. To achieve this, breach-resistant identification and authentication is mandated, with many enterprises going a step further and requiring multi-factor authentication at login.

2. What devices are accessing the network?
The second piece is the devices that are accessing the network. For a zero-trust access strategy to be effective, IT teams need a comprehensive solution to managing and monitoring the myriad of devices that require access to the network. This is especially true as internet-of-things devices continue to grow in usage and popularity. And let’s not forget that IoT devices are an attractive entry point for hackers.

3. What happens when devices leave the network?
The third piece is about endpoint security, or what happens when a device leaves the network. According to Fortinet, a comprehensive zero-trust access strategy should provide off-network hygiene control, vulnerability scanning, web filtering, and patching policies.

Fortinet FortiOS 7.2 Expands Security Fabric

In April 2021, FortiOS 7.0 was released and included several notable features, including ZTNA. As we jump to , there were some key enhancements regarding its ZTNA features we should highlight. For one, cybersecurity leaders can now better manage enforcement due to a unified policy configuration in a single GUI for each connection. As a bonus, there were also improvements made to the ZTNA service portal.

In addition to ZTNA, FortiOS 7.2 assures greater unification on the convergence of networking and security across NGFW, SD-WAN, LAN Edge, 5G.

ZTNA is available right out of the box for FortiGate customers. It also doesn’t require a software-as-a-service solution and because it’s built into FortiOS 7.2, which provides the foundation for Fortinet’s security portfolio, ZTNA is also built into Fortinet’s other solutions, including , , , and .

ZTNA With Fortinet

Fortinet offers comprehensive and holistic security solutions for the largest enterprise, service provider, and government organizations in the world. From NGFWs for microsegmentation to ZTNA, Fortinet ensures security without compromising performance. If you have questions about how Fortinet can help you improve enterprise security for your company, contact WEI today.

NEXT STEPS: Take a closer look at all the security solutions IT leaders consider essential for securing their business throughout the digital transformation journey. Our eBook, “An IT Leader’s Guide to Enterprise Security in a Digital World,” pulls it all together. Click below to start reading.

The post Meaningful Cybersecurity Requires ZTNA, Not VPN appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

As global industry evolves, digital innovation that features a hybrid, “from anywhere” business environment has become critical to modern workforces. New formats, like zero-trust access (ZTA), allow employees and external partners to utilize digital resources, no matter when or where they choose to work.

But this new approach creates complications for CISOs and other because business applications and data leave traditional corporate perimeters. Specifically, it broadens the attack surface of internal networks. Combined with evolving threats, this factor dramatically expands the risk of potential breaches.

In this article, we’ll explore how a zero-trust access approach to security featuring endpoint protection can help.

Mitigating Risk At The Edge

Conceptually, traditional security models feature “gateways” whereby permitted entry means users and devices can be trusted in perpetuity. But unpredictable and broadening access points render this traditional approach obsolete. Bad actors can steal credentials and access networks from any device, for example. This threat increases the complexity and risk of more frequent, more nuanced attacks.

ZTA is therefore critical to security as digital innovation continues. With ZTA, CISOs and other executives can ensure all users, devices, and applications are consistently authenticated, trustworthy, and managed. ZTA ensures users have only the correct frequency and depth of access as well.

What Is ZTA With Endpoint Protection?

The ZTA framework features a combination of security solutions that continuously and holistically identify, authenticate, and segment users and devices seeking network and application access. With these capabilities, security teams can:

• Establish identity through multiple authentication and certificate measures
• Enable role-based privileged access
• Ensure ongoing network control through automated orchestration and threat response
• Optimize the user experience, even with rigorous security measures

Essential Zero-Trust Access Capabilities For Modern IT Security

ZTA does more than offer superior security as enterprise attack surfaces expand. Enterprises that incorporate ZTA with endpoint protection as part of their integrated security strategy also enjoy the flexibility to support their business needs, beyond traditional security models.

Three critical capabilities ZTA features that optimize security and workflows on expanded networks include:

1. Authentication for Every Device, Every Time

Unlike traditional perimeter models, a ZTA-based security strategy assumes every user and device poses a risk. In this paradigm, ZTA authenticates every device before access is authorized. Because ZTA provides a seamless experience for users, automated security features can continuously authenticate devices every time a new or familiar device requests access, without adding friction to user workflows.

2. Role-Based Access for Every User

In this paradigm, security teams continuously monitor every user, no matter the user’s apparent risk. As part of this approach, security teams have visibility into the role-based access of every user, emphasizing a “least access policy” whereby users only access resources that are necessary for their roles.

3. Asset Protection, On and Off Network

Increased remote and mobile activity among users means that there is a greater risk they will expose their devices to bad actors. In doing so, they expose organizational resources to security threats, whether they realize a risk is present or not.

The ZTA approach improves endpoint visibility to protect against the risks associated with remote endpoint devices. Endpoint security measures share security telemetry data each time the device reconnects to the enterprise network. This provides security teams with visibility into vulnerabilities and threats, as well as into missing security patches and missing updates to role-based access, when applicable.

5 Essential Features Of Today’s Leading Zero-Trust Access Frameworks

Once CISOs and other IT executives understand the rationale behind ZTA frameworks, they must understand the ZTA market and the leading features each solution provides.

Consider the following five essential features as you review the leading solutions available today:

1. Automated Discovery Classification

Network access control discovers and identifies every device on, or seeking access to, the network. The ZTA system automatically scans those devices to ensure they are not compromised, then classifies each device by role and function.

2. Zone-of-Control Assignment

The system automatically assigns users to role-based zones of control where they can be monitored continuously, both on and off network. Network access control microsegments users in mixed environments featuring vendors, partners, contingent workers, and others in addition to employees, supporting robust capabilities even as companies expand the edge.

3. Continuous Monitoring

This feature is founded on the premise that no single user or device can be trusted, even after authentication, a device may be infected or a user’s credentials could have been compromised. ZTA frameworks continuously monitor users and devices, imposing streamlined authentication at every point of access as a result.

4. Secure Remote Access

The ZTA framework provides users with safe but flexible options for VPN connectivity, improving the user experience even as it imposes more robust security features. The framework also ensures internet-based transactions cannot backflow into each VPN connection, which would put the enterprise at risk.

5. Endpoint Access Control

The framework uses proactive visibility, defense, and control to strengthen endpoint security. Discovering, assessing, and continuously monitoring endpoint risk streamlines endpoint risk mitigation, risk exposure, and compliance. The framework supports encrypted connections across unsafe networks and continuously retrieves telemetry data to measure endpoint security statuses as well.

Consider Fortinet ZTA For A Fully Integrated Security Strategy

As an IT leader, your ultimate responsibility is not only to keep your company, resources, and users secure but also to help users innovate, improve the bottom line with new efficiencies, and generally meet the needs of the business. That’s why the experts at WEI recommend to IT and security executives who are re-thinking their approach to enterprise security as risks and business requirements evolve.

Framework includes:

1. Complete and continuous control over who is accessing applications
2. Complete and continuous control over who AND what is on the network
3. Integrated ZTA solution for Fortinet Security Fabric that works on-premises and in the cloud over LAN, WAN, and remote tunnels
4. A complete, integrated solution coming from one vendor

Featuring comprehensive visibility and control across infrastructure, users, and devices, Fortinet ZTA provides security leaders with the capabilities they need to both protect enterprise resources and enable modern workforces, no matter the location of each user or device.

Fortinet is leading the way with zero-trust for the enterprise

Fortinet offers comprehensive and holistic security solutions for the largest enterprise, service provider, and government organizations in the world. From firewalls to cloud security, Fortinet ensures security without compromising performance. Here at WEI we have expertise across all Fortinet solutions and can help you evaluate and determine the best approach to an integrated security strategy that delivers on your desired business outcomes.

Next Steps: Download our eBook highlighting the right mix of security solutions for your enterprise to help protect your business from emerging threats while keeping your users productive and happy. Click below to start reading!

The post 5 Critical Features Of Your Zero-Trust Access Strategy appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

Over the last year, the need to support employees from alternative working locations has risen dramatically. However, even as employees return to the office, when given the choice, many are choosing to continue working from home. For IT, this means finding a longer-term solution that can provide the same network security and user experience at these alternative work locations that employees would have in the office.

One strategy that many enterprises are deploying is the zero-trust access model. In regards to network security, this means that users, whether inside or outside the network, are regarded equally as potential threats and that any access attempt could be a possible threat.

In a time when the impact of cybercrime and number of incidents is , this sort of security philosophy is attractive to many IT leaders.

How Does Zero Trust Network Access Work?

Zero trust network access (ZTNA) can best be described as a piece of the larger zero trust access puzzle. , “ZTNA has received more attention lately because it’s a way of controlling access to applications regardless of where the user or the application resides.”

While virtual private networks (VPN) have been a popular option for quite some time, ZTNA takes network security and access to the next level, offering a better user experience and more granular control. With these improvements over traditional options, ZTNA has become a popular, long-term solution for ensuring network security for remote workforces.

Three Requirements of Zero Trust Network Access With Fortinet

Fortinet’s approach to zero trust access can be broken down into : who, what, and what happens after network access.

1. Who is accessing the network?
The first piece is who is accessing the network, which can include employees, supply chain partners, and customers. With a zero-trust model, users are only given access to the resources that are necessary for them. To achieve this, breach-resistant identification and authentication is mandated, with many enterprises going a step further and requiring multi-factor authentication at login.

2. What devices are accessing the network?
The second piece is the devices that are accessing the network. For a zero-trust access strategy to be effective, IT teams need a comprehensive solution to managing and monitoring the myriad of devices that require access to the network. This is especially true as internet-of-things devices continue to grow in usage and popularity. And let’s not forget that IoT devices are an attractive entry point for hackers.

3. What happens when devices leave the network?
The third piece is about endpoint security, or what happens when a device leaves the network. According to Fortinet, a comprehensive zero-trust access strategy should provide off-network hygiene control, vulnerability scanning, web filtering, and patching policies.

Fortinet FortiOS 7.0 Prioritizes ZTNA

To address these needs, Fortinet’s FortiOS, the foundation of the Fortinet Security Fabric, to include several new features, including ZTNA. With FortiOS 7.0, IT teams can “apply ZTNA to remote users, home offices, and other locations such as retail stores by offering controlled remote access to applications that is easier and faster to initiate.”

It also offers IT teams increased visibility and control when compared to legacy VPNs. An additional benefit is that with FortiOS 7.0, applications are protected whether they exist on the network or in the cloud, offering additional flexibility when allocating workloads.

Through verifying the user and device posture for every application session, the attack surface is dramatically reduced and because ZTNA specifically focuses on application access, security is ensured regardless of what network the user is on and where they are located.

An added bonus is that ZTNA is available right out of the box for FortiGate customers. It also doesn’t require a software-as-a-service solution and because it’s built into FortiOS 7.0, which provides the foundation for Fortinet’s security portfolio, ZTNA is also built into Fortinet’s other solutions, including , , , and .

Are You Interested In Zero Trust Network Access With Fortinet?

Fortinet offers comprehensive and holistic security solutions for the largest enterprise, service provider, and government organizations in the world. From NGFWs for microsegmentation to ZTNA, Fortinet ensures security without compromising performance. If you have questions about how Fortinet can help you improve enterprise security for your company, contact WEI today.

NEXT STEPS: Take a closer look at all the security solutions IT leaders consider essential for securing their business throughout the digital transformation journey. Our eBook, “An IT Leader’s Guide to Enterprise Security in a Digital World,” pulls it all together. Click below to start reading.

The post Taking a look at Zero Trust Network Access with Fortinet appeared first on IT Solutions Provider - IT Consulting - Technology Solutions.

With the expansion of the Internet of Things, the BYOD movement and emerging wireless technologies, you may be realizing its time to invest in a more modern approach to

Regardless of the industry in which you serve, as you take your organization into the digital landscape, security should be a top priority. When integrating the numerous technologies and devices that that make up your unique digital network, there is often a potential vulnerability that can be exposed. Whether this concern has been holding you back from the digital transformation movement or you need to take your security up a notch, Fortinet Security Fabric is the answer you’re looking for. Keep reading to learn how it can help your enterprise’s security.

What is Fortinet Security Fabric?

The is a single security system that weaves together technologies that are deployed across the digital network. These technologies include access points and endpoints as well as email and web applications, merging open standards with a common operating system. Fortinet then takes the solution further through the addition of advanced threat protection technologies and a unified system that correlates, manages, orchestrates, and analyzes the security of your enterprise applications.

Fortinet’s fabric-based security is built on three keystones:

• Broad. With data and workloads going between multiple devices, form factors and network ecosystems, visibility and protection need to be broad and extend across the entire digital surface. IT teams need a holistic view into devices, traffic, applications and events, and the ability to stop a threat anywhere in that chain. Fortinet Security Fabric unifies physical networks, IoT, mobile devices and users, and complex multi-cloud environments for IaaS and SaaS.
• Integrated. With Fortinet Security Fabric, you’re able to integrate devices using open standards, common operating systems and unified management platforms to enable the sharing and correlation of real-time threat intelligence. This also supports the coordinated detection of advanced threats through sophisticated, centralized analytics that are difficult or impossible to achieve using traditional security deployments that are isolated.
• Automated. Everything happens faster in the digital realm, including security attacks and breaches. Fortinet Security Fabric automatically provides continuous trust assessment and then provides an immediate, coordinated response to detected threats. Even more, Fortinet is able to adapt as network requirements and configurations change.

8 Enterprise Security Elements supported by Fortinet Fabric

In order to ensure that Fortinet Security Fabric is broad, integrated and automated, they have built their solution around the following eight elements.

1. Network Security. With the expansion of enterprise networks extending beyond traditional boundaries and cyber criminals growing more sophisticated with their attacks, Fortinet’s suite of high-performance firewalls is the first line of defense of any organization.

2. Multi-Cloud Security. As technology evolves, more enterprises are embracing digital transformation and moving to a multi-cloud strategy; however, this can make security more difficult. The Fortinet Security Fabric seamlessly integrates virtual and physical cloud solutions to extend across your distributed cloud deployment.

3. Web Application Security. One of the most common weak points in a network are unprotected web applications. The web application firewall deploys detection and protection technologies, as well as advanced intelligence, to secure web applications from cyberattacks.

4. Email Security. While unprotected web applications pose a serious security threat, email proves to be a primary point of entry for malware. Cyber attackers use infected attachments, malicious links and scams to convince the receiver to click on, and execute, the attached malware. The analyzes both incoming and outgoing email, blocks malicious messages and attachments, and prevents sensitive information from being exposed.

5. Secure Unified Access. With wireless networks becoming the new norm and more devices requiring access to it, securing business communications, personally identifiable information (PII), mobile devices and a variety of user demands it is an important element that is often a weaker spot in the network’s security. Fortinet’s secure access solutions deliver protected that is fully integrated with your network security protocols and policies.

6. Endpoint Security. Networks need to support a highly mobile workforce and a growing array of personal devices connected to the network. These devices often don’t share threat intelligence with the rest of the network, which makes it difficult to see if a device is infected, and slows down threat response. allows IT teams to integrate a layer of automated endpoint security into the Security Fabric for faster and more comprehensive network protection.

7. Advanced Threat Protection. Today, threats are designed with multistage attacks, complex attack paths and the ability to mimic legitimate processes. helps companies combat these threats delivering real-time intelligence on threats, while Fortinet sandboxing solutions are able to detect unknown threats, isolating and inspecting suspicious files.

8. Management and Analytics. Visibility and control are more important than ever for enterprises who have invested in a digital workplace. It is crucial that IT is able to see any threats, no matter where they are on the network. Fortinet solutions collect and correlate data from your Fortinet and fabric-ready security products to provide the visibility necessary to manage security and orchestrate automated responses.

Are you ready to step up your enterprise’s security with Fortinet’s Security Fabric? As a long-time VAR and partner of Fortinet, WEI knows Fortinet solutions inside and out. Contact us today to learn how Fortinet can help fill the gaps in your enterprise security strategy, or potentially become your end-to-end complete enterprise security solution.

NEXT STEPS: Looking for insight on how to “up your security game” to meet the needs of your organization’s digital transformation initiatives? We invite you to check out the Fortinet Solution Guide, Read it today!

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