Security provider Fortinet is significantly expanding its product portfolio. Integrated management, analytics and automation are the most important keywords.

Fortinet has a lot to say: it takes no less than three press releases to walk us through all the new announcements. With new product announcements and extensions, the security company wants to show that it is continuing to invest in its portfolio. These innovations are designed to help organizations better deal with the complexities of securing a hybrid IT environment, says CEO Ken Xie.

Fortinet, for example, announces it will integrate FortiManager with FortiSASE. This fusion offers consistent security, management and analysis for the entire (hybrid) network. FortiAP can also now be linked to the SASE platform to send traffic from secure access points to a central point of management. Fortinet is also adding new hybrid mesh firewall solutions.

A second common thread running through Fortinet’s announcements is automation. The company will showcase real-time response automation capabilities for Security Fabric. These should give CISOs more options to respond more quickly to potential threats. The focus is on five aspects: endpoint security, SOC automation, AI, secure access and application security.

A completely new product is the FortiNDR Cloud, which uses artificial intelligence to provide insights into what is happening on the network and detect suspicious activity more quickly. FortiEDR, FortiXDR, FortiRecon, and FortiDeceptor also provide additional options to automate threat detection and mitigation.

Closing the skills gap

Just as important as the right technologies are the right skills to secure the IT network. According to a recent Fortinet study, this is a pain point for many organizations. There is an increasing demand for cybersecurity professionals, and companies that find the right profiles are struggling to keep them on board. Fortinet is therefore also expanding its certification programs founded in 2015.

Among other things, the security specialist is adding five new certification levels: Fortinet Certified Expert, Certified Engineer, Certified Professional, Certified Associate, and Certified Fundamentals, where a certified professional has the deepest knowledge of the Fortinet portfolio. In addition, Fortinet is entering into new partnerships with partners from the private and public sectors and academic institutions.