Fortinet has shipped a new version of FortiOS, the underlying foundation of its multi-functional Fortinet Security Fabric.
Available now, FortiOS 7.2 includes some 300 new or enhanced features spanning the Fortinet platform’s closely integrated security and networking components.
“Fortinet continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in converging networking and security to enable customers and partners to safely and effectively compete in today’s digital marketplace,” said John Maddison, the company’s executive vice president of products and CMO, in prepared remarks. “Networking and security can no longer be treated as separate strategies. The present and foreseeable future consists of hybrid networks, and only with security at their core will those networks be able to adapt at speed and scale to secure every edge. Over 20 years of prioritizing organic research and development have positioned Fortinet as the driving force behind cybersecurity innovation. And now, with the release of FortiOS 7.2, Fortinet is setting new industry standards for converged networking and security.”
New additions to Fortinet’s collection of FortiGuard Security Services in FortiOS 7.2 include an inline sandbox feature that evaluates suspicious files in real time, resulting, according to Fortinet, in better protection from ransomware and other threats with minimal impact on overall performance.
A new Advanced Device Protection service is designed to automatically discover and inventory Internet of Things and operational technology solutions, separate them from other systems via network segmentation, and enforce relevant policies based on automated pattern matching against pre-defined rules. The new service is delivered via Fortinet’s Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) and LAN Edge solutions through integration with its FortiNAC network access control offering.
New to the LAN Edge solution as well is an integrated device discovery feature designed to enforce least privilege access rules automatically without significantly increasing system overhead.
Fortinet NGFW, for its part, now offers support for HTTP/3, the latest version of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol, as well as an inline cloud access security broker designed to augment zero-trust network access (ZTNA) controls with real-time traffic inspection and posture management capabilities. A newly consolidated management interface aims to further simplify ZTNA policy configuration.
On the identity and access management front, FortiOS now includes passwordless multifactor authentication technology based on the open Fast Identity Online (FIDO) standard.
Upgrades to the SD-WAN and SD-Branch components of FortiOS include new automation and orchestration functionality aimed at simplifying the rollout of both branch networks and global WAN architectures.
A new SOC-as-a-service offering, meanwhile, allows organizations to outsource tier-one threat assessment to Fortinet analysts.
Powered by FortiOS, the Fortinet Security Fabric is designed to provide integrated, automated protection for endpoints, networks, and clouds. According to Fortinet, in a blog post published today, it is “the industry’s first—and only—platform to converge essential networking and security functions and consolidate security point products into a unified platform.”
Some 82% of organizations use SD-WAN at present and 77% have embraced ZTNA, according to a report published separately today by marketing and research consultancy CyberEdge Group. The same study revealed that 83% of businesses have increased their security budget this year, by an average of 4.6%.
