Defending Your Data

Complexity is the enemy of security, which is why Fortinet is making cybersecurity simpler and better. Fortinet, which was recently called a leader in enterprise network firewalls by Gartner, posted $1.3 billion in revenue in 2016, while employing more than 4,700 people in more than 60 countries. The growth of cheap hacking software means more threats are bombarding businesses and institutions as invaders are taking advantage of patchwork security measures and porous borders between devices.

"The threat landscape has changed quite a bit just in the last few years," says Mike Broering, Fortinet’s Ohio Valley sales director. "Prior to 2014, we were used to seeing payment card breaches, but now there are a lot more nation-state types of attacks, intellectual property theft and cyber-espionage."

One of the most prevalent risks for most businesses today is the proliferation of ransomware (software that encrypts data and demands payment to get it back). Although it has existed for years, widespread access to sophisticated ransomware anywhere in the world has made the problem much worse. Targeted

attacks happen constantly, and attackers are always trying different ways to get inside computer systems.

Data security can be broken down into three main categories: confidentiality, integrity and availability. "We’ve seen lots of attacks on the confidentiality and availability of data (either stealing data or eliminating access to it), and those will continue. However we must also be focused on protecting the integrity of data,"

Broering says. An attack on data integrity would mean modifying data, such as electronic health records, stock markets, online gambling or other valuable systems that can be tipped in someone’s favor.

Broering says Fortinet created "a robust security fabric from the endpoint to the cloud, so that you can guard against threats targeting users and systems." Most organizations today have a messy collection of security devices frequently used to combat threats. This point solution approach leaves gaps that attackers are taking advantage of.

"We frequently talk about taking a ‘fabric’ approach," he says, "which provides interoperability of security systems across the entire network. For example, if we detect a threat at an endpoint, the threat intelligence captured from the endpoint can be shared with other security systems along the network." This security fabric is as important for IT as radios are for police officers.

One of Fortinet’s more recent developments is FortiSIEM (Security Information and Event Management). "FortiSIEM collects data from servers, applications and other devices, and it intelligently applies correlation rules to show you threats that might not have been identified otherwise," Broering says. This expands visibility tremendously, providing immediate detection and quicker remediation of security events.

"SIEM allows us to aggregate information from disparate systems, and we can actually automate security events across the whole network," Broering says. "Having FortiSIEM is almost like having a bird’s-eye view of the battlefield, so that you aren’t getting blindsided by an attack while focused on another."

This is particularly useful in a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) threat, where the attacker tries to prevent anyone from using a service by flooding it with traffic from multiple sources, making it more difficult to stop than traditional denial of service attacks.

The "internet of things" (IoT) is an expanding front in data security as well. Televisions, phones, thermostats and any other smart devices connected to the cloud are just additional tunnels for attackers. If someone wants to attack a company, they can use those devices to throw massive amounts of data at a system – even just as a distraction while going after a target elsewhere. In order to stop them, Fortinet’s latest version of their network security operating system, FortiOS 5.6, gives deeper visibility and focuses even more on protecting the IoT and the cloud.

"You have to have a very broad approach to security," Broering says. "On average, companies of 5,000 employees or more have 20 different security vendors protecting their IT systems. This is very hard to manage, creates complexity and is ineffective in today’s dynamic threat landscape."

Most organizations have finite budgets and resources, and such a disjointed mix of solutions is difficult to coordinate and expensive to operate. Fortinet’s Security Fabric solves that by providing the necessary scale, automation and performance to defend every corner.

For more information about Fortinet, call Mike Broering at 859.652.2981 or visit Fortinet.com.