Fortinet

A leading provider of fast and secure cyber security solutions offers enterprise-level next generation firewalls and vast array of network security products.

Security services to protect multi-cloud environments - Fortinet

The Fortinet Security Brandposts are a series of hard-hitting discussions of trends in the cyber-security world. This month Fortinet’s Cornelius Mare explains where and how to add security services into your multi-cloud environment.

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By Cornelius Mare, Director, Security Solutions, Fortinet Australia

In today’s rapidly evolving network environments, your security requirements are the only constant. They haven’t changed just because your distributed network, data and applications are hosted amongst many different cloud services. You still need a unified set of security policies that can be applied consistently across your multi-cloud environment. You still need granular-level visibility into traffic and user activity. And, as always, you need reporting and alerting capabilities for compliance.

Multi-cloud network deployments – Too easy?

Adding infrastructure to a traditional network took time, money and resources. You had to specify the unit, raise a purchase order, take delivery and then configure. Plus you had to ensure that it would be compatible with every other component in the network and even confirm that you had enough UPS capacity to support it in case of emergency.

Not so with cloud deployments. You can add any number of software-defined wide area networks with a quick email to your managed services provider. Need more storage? Global cloud-based storage providers will be happy to sign you up. Applications? There are literally thousands of public and private cloud providers awaiting your call.

It doesn’t take long for your network activities to spread beyond your firewall and into the ether. Indeed, sales, marketing, production and finance can all add their own-cloud-based services and not even tell you about it (Shadow IT).

No doubt about it, multi-cloud networks are a security nightmare. But they don’t have to be.

Multi-cloud security deployments – Just as easy

Just like a traditional network, adding security capabilities took time, money and resources. Firewall from vendor A, secure email from vendor B and VPN from vendor C. Each security service with its own policy, billing/update cycle and compatibility issues. Orchestrating these diverse security services could be problematic.

Not so with Fortinet’s cloud-based Security Fabric services. The number one advantage with Fortinet’s Security Fabric is that you can deploy next-generation security services – including deep-inspection firewalls, consistent security policies, up-to-date threat intelligence, granular visibility from a single pane-of-glass dashboard and full reporting and alerts for compliance – to all nodes on your distributed network regardless of where they are hosted.

Multi-cloud security as a service

In Australia a growing number of visionary managed security services providers (MSSPs) provide Fortinet’s entire Security Fabric on an ‘as a service’ basis. This not only allows you to extend consistent security in tandem with any cloud deployment but it gives you the flexibility to scale up or down, add or delete security services as appropriate and reduce up-front capital expenditures.

Adopting a MSSP model allows you to add cloud-based network services without adding the additional risk that might arise from any gaps or inconsistencies in your coverage. This gives you the flexibility to innovate and take advantage of digital transformation.

Conclusion

Multi-cloud networks require multi-cloud security. Managed network services require managed network security services. There are hundreds, if not thousands of multi-cloud and managed service providers who will sell you whatever you want. But only one vendor – Fortinet – has the multi-cloud and managed network services to secure your extended network.

Consistent security policies, granular visibility, as-a-service deployment and the very latest in threat intelligence. Fortinet’s Security Fabric is fast becoming the platform of choice for securing Australia’s corporate networks.

About Fortinet

Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT) secures the largest enterprise, service provider, and government organisations around the world. Fortinet empowers its customers with intelligent, seamless protection across the expanding attack surface and the power to take on ever-increasing performance requirements of the borderless network - today and into the future. Only the Fortinet Security Fabric architecture can deliver security without compromise to address the most critical security challenges, whether in networked, application, cloud or mobile environments. Fortinet ranks #1 in the most security appliances shipped worldwide and more than 375,000 customers trust Fortinet to protect their businesses. Learn more at http://www.fortinet.com, the Fortinet Blog, or FortiGuard Labs.

For more Brand Posts in the Fortinet Security Insight series, click here



A leading provider of fast and secure cyber security solutions offers enterprise-level next generation firewalls and vast array of network security products. Visit https://www.fortinet.com/ for more information.Credit: Fortinet
A leading provider of fast and secure cyber security solutions offers enterprise-level next generation firewalls and vast array of network security products. Visit https://www.fortinet.com/ for more information.

About the author

Cornelius Mare is Director, Security Solutions at Fortinet Australia. As such, it is his business to know what’s happening in the cybersecurity world and help enterprises secure their transitional networks without sacrificing speed, functionality or control.



Tags Information Technologydenial-of-serviceInternet of Things (IoT)operational riskreputation riskinvestment risk

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