To quote a decades-old ad campaign, today’s enterprise network “isn’t your father’s Oldsmobile.” A single enterprise data center protected by firewalls only capable of basic packet inspection is long gone—much like the Oldsmobile cars from the eighties. Today’s next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) are converging networking and security to offer features powered by machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) that can delve deeper into network traffic than ever before.
Why is this important? Because a converged approach to networking and security is the best way to address the ever-evolving threat landscape. It’s critical for NGFWs to integrate seamlessly with other security solutions within the network, including zero trust network access (ZTNA) and inline sandboxes, to protect against emerging threats. Additionally, future NGFWs will lean heavily on AI and ML technology to predict advanced threats before they occur.
As organizations continue to adopt formal remote, hybrid and work-from-anywhere (WFA) policies, their networks expand and become more susceptible to threats. At the same time, cybercriminals are also leveraging their newly acquired AI skills to infiltrate. For example, there is a growing popularity of Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) on the dark web. In FortiGuard Labs Cyber Threat Predictions for 2023 Report, 67 percent of organizations report suffering a ransomware attack. Even worse, almost half said they had been targeted more than once, and nearly one in six said they were attacked three or more times.
Some traditional firewalls support only one area of IT, requiring investments in separate cybersecurity solutions to manage their corporate sites, public and private cloud environments and remote workers. However, multiple point solutions often add more complexity than protection across ecosystems.
When selecting NGFWs—whether for the cloud, on-premises, or virtual machines—you must ensure they can all communicate and integrate with each other seamlessly. Fortinet’s hybrid mesh firewall (HMF) allows you to define and enforce policy controls across workloads, users and locations.
FortiGate NGFWs provide deep visibility and security in a variety of form factors, including container firewalls, virtual firewalls and appliances. It offers a custom ASIC architecture, with features such as Secure SD-WAN, Universal ZTNA, integration with SASE and support for HMFs.
It's time to retire your clients' single-use firewalls. Learn more about FortiGate NGFWs and how they provide network protection at scale.