Fortinet consolidates SD-WAN and SASE management

Tighter integration between Fortinet’s SASE and SD-WAN offerings is among the new features enabled by the latest version of the company’s core operating system.

FortiOS version 7.4 also includes better automation across its Security Fabric environment, and improved management features.

FortiOS is the operating system for the FortiGate family hardware and virtual components, and it implements Fortinet Security Fabric and includes firewalling, access control, Zero Trust, and authentication in addition to managing SD-WAN, switching, and wireless services. 

“Customers have found that siloed security and networking products—even the newer techs like SD-WAN and SASE— just don’t work well together, and with this release we continue to tightly integrate security and networking to give users better visibility, management and control over their enterprise environments from a single console,” said John Maddison, executive vice president of products and chief marketing officer with Fortinet.

He said FortiManager now integrates FortiSASE, the company’s SASE offering, letting users manage and secure their SASE and SD-WAN environments from a single console. FortiSASE includes SD-WAN, secure web gateway, firewall as a service, cloud access security broker, and Zero Trust Network Access all running on top of its FortiOS operating system. FortiManager enables automated, centrally controlled network and security policies across the Fortinet product line.

The ability to manage and control core enterprise systems from a single console is significant, said Chris DePuy, technology analyst and co-founder of the 650 Group. “By relying on a single management system, Fortinet’s customers will reduce configuration errors, improve troubleshooting and simplify operations,” he said.

The SASE market is illustrative of the trend of the merging between security and networking, and Fortinet ranks strongly in this market, DePuy said.  In a recent 650 Group study DePuy said its research predicts that the security and networking industries will continue to consolidate as DevOps, NetOps, and SecOps silos continue to converge and product offerings come together.

Other enhancements for FortiOS include:

• New real-time response and automation capabilities for the Fortinet Security Fabric to improve threat detection and real-time protection. FortiEDR endpoint security feature and FortiXDR incident identification package get additional interactive incident visualization information and can automatically integrate incident data using multiple threat-intelligence feeds to help customers stay up-to-date on current threats.
• A new FortiNDR Cloud offering which includes artificial intelligence, analysis, and breach protection. It provides 365-day memory and visibility into network data, with built-in playbooks, and threat-hunting capabilities to detect anomalous and malicious behavior on the network.
• Enhancement to the firm’s Digital Risk Protection Service (DRPS) product FortiRecon to provide threat intelligence about risks associated with supply-chain vendors and partners, including external exposed assets, leaked data, and ransomware-attack intelligence. The data is supplied through FortiGuard Labs.
• Improved vulnerability reporting. Now when a vulnerability is reported by FortiGuard Labs, the vulnerability is automatically pushed as a feed to an outbreak decoy, to divert attackers from real assets to fake assets and quarantine the attack early in the kill chain, according to Maddison.
• Fortinet has enhanced its FortiGuard AI-powered Device Security Services to ease IT/OT convergence. The enhancements include automated virtual patching for both OT and IT devices based on global threat intelligence and zero-day research.