How Fortinet is enabling CISOs to cut complexity and build resilient security operations

Mark Bowen | 9 October, 2025
As cyberthreats grow more complex, Fortinet is sharpening its focus on unified, AI-powered and quantum-safe security. In this exclusive Q&A, Alain Penel, Vice President for Fortinet in the Middle East, Turkey & CIS, outlines how the company’s FortiRecon and FortiCloud platforms simplify security operations, reduce vendor sprawl and help CISOs gain ‘attacker’s-eye’ visibility while preparing enterprises for the next wave of cybersecurity challenges.


How does Fortinet’s FortiRecon platform help organisations stay ahead of threats? 

CISOs and security teams are understaffed and overwhelmed by growing attack surfaces and an endless stream of unprioritised alerts. FortiRecon allows organisations an attacker’s eye view of their internal and external exposures, backed by AI-powered threat intelligence from FortiGuard Labs, real-world validation and automated response.

This allows organisations to cut through the noise, focus on what matters most and measurably reduce risks and vulnerabilities before attackers can exploit them.

How does Fortinet support teams to incorporate security directly into the way they manage, access, store, share and communicate?

Fortinet continues to work on its vision to build a unified global cloud network that brings enterprise-grade security directly into the way teams manage access, store, share and communicate.

We have recently announced a major expansion of our global cloud infrastructure FortiCloud, that includes FortiIdentity, a cloud-native approach to secure identity management, secure file storage and collaboration solution FortiDrive and a unified communication platform FortiConnect.

All three services are natively integrated into the Fortinet Security Fabric, providing centralised visibility, consistent policy enforcement and real-time threat protection across users, devices, applications, data and AI agents. 

Can you tell us more about your company strategy in simplifying security operations, reducing vendor sprawl and empowering the hybrid workforce at scale? 

Organisations and employees see immense benefits from cloud-based services, however, point products are often dependent on bolt-on security, which are becoming increasingly complex to manage with an ever-growing threat surface. This is why Fortinet is committed to providing a unified, cloud-native platform with centralised policy enforcement and AI-powered threat intelligence.

FortiCloud reduces operational complexity, improves visibility and protects data and users across distributed environments, securing access, applications and infrastructure. This is backed by growing hybrid-cloud infrastructure that addresses growing data sovereignty requirements by enabling organisations to keep data local through its globally distributed infrastructure.

How do you arm your customers with cutting-edge technology to protect against new and emerging threats, particularly as Quantum Computing advances? 

As Quantum Computing advances, the threat landscape keeps evolving at pace. Quantum computers can perform complex calculations at unprecedented speeds and can easily break current encryption standards. Cybercriminals are already storing encrypted traffic to decrypt in the future, with a particular focus on industries that handle highly sensitive data that remains relevant over long periods, such as telecommunications, financial services, government and healthcare.

Fortinet’s unified operation system, FortiOS, helps organisations with highly sensitive data deploy encryption algorithms and key distribution methods that can withstand quantum-powered attacks, stack algorithms for more robust protection and easily transition to post-quantum security. 

Can you tell us about the current state of Operational Technology (OT) cybersecurity and areas for improvement to ensure a secure and ever-expanding IT/OT threat landscape?

We have been researching the state of cybersecurity in Operational Technology in organisations for seven years and we are seeing that organisations are taking OT security more seriously today.

We see this trend reflected in a notable increase in the assignment of responsibility for OT risk to the C-suite, alongside an uptick in organisations self-reporting increased rates of OT security maturity. Everyone from the C-suite on down needs to commit to protecting sensitive OT systems and allocating the necessary resources to secure their critical operations.  

There are a number of things organisations need to look at to secure the ever-expanding IT/OT threat landscape. These include establishing visibility to see and understand everything that is on their OT network, harden the OT environment with strong network policy controls at all access points to reduce intrusions, integrating OT into security operations (SecOps) and incident response planning, cutting down on vendor sprawl by moving to a platform-based approach, as well as looking into AI-powered threat intelligence for near-real-time protection against the latest threats, attack variants and exposures.   

With the growing convergence of IT and OT what unique challenges does Fortinet see in securing OT environments and how are you addressing them?

The IT/OT air gap is largely gone. Once isolated OT systems are now deeply interconnected with enterprise IT environments. At the same time, cyberthreats against critical infrastructure and across industries such as energy, transportation and manufacturing continue to grow, with phishing, ransomware and OT-specific threats prevalent.

Fortinet research has shown that while responsibility for OT cybersecurity has moved to the C-Suite and OT maturity is growing, awareness of blind spots is also rising. Many OT environments still depend on aging infrastructure, with many industrial control systems (ICS) more than a decade old and often unable to receive direct patches or firmware updates. While modernisation is underway, compensating controls and virtual patching remain crucial to protecting these legacy systems.

At the same time, threat actors are advancing. AI-powered attack techniques, the growing scale of Ransomware-as-a-Service and rising geopolitical tensions are increasing both the volume and sophistication of attacks, especially those targeting OT. These trends underscore the importance of a proactive security strategy that integrates real-time threat intelligence, centralised security operations and continuous monitoring. 

As AI becomes a more powerful tool for both defenders and attackers and Quantum Computing threatens to break traditional encryption, how is Fortinet preparing its customers and its own products for these next-generation challenges?

Fortinet was founded on the principle of converging networking and security through a single operating system. This unique approach enables Fortinet to deploy cutting-edge updates, such as AI-powered and quantum-safe innovations, across its unified operating system, helping customers future-proof their security postures.

Just to give one example, customers using our FortiGate next-generation firewall (NGFW) and Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, already have the benefit of built-in quantum-safe features designed to defend against emerging threats. 

source:
https://www.intelligentciso.com/2025/10/09/how-fortinet-is-enabling-cisos-to-cut-complexity-and-build-resilient-security-operations/

Fortinet placed highest in Ability to Execute

Fortinet, the global cybersecurity leader driving the convergence of networking and security, today announced it has been recognized as a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Hybrid Mesh Firewall (HMF) and was positioned highest for Ability to Execute.

As a Leader in the inaugural Gartner Magic Quadrant for Hybrid Mesh Firewall, Fortinet is now recognized in 12 Gartner Magic Quadrant reports. Powered by custom-built ASICs for accelerated performance, and FortiOS, a single operating system unifying hardware and virtual deployments, Fortinet solutions comprise a truly converged networking and security platform. Fortinet appliance, virtual, and cloud-native firewalls are built for today’s network complexity, securing environments that span data centers, clouds, remote edges, and constantly shifting workloads.

“Being recognized as a Leader in the inaugural Gartner Magic Quadrant for Hybrid Mesh Firewall and placed highest in Ability to Execute, we believe, validates our commitment to delivering convergence and best-of-breed security with FortiOS everywhere. With FortiAI innovations, integrated SOC, and early adoption of post-quantum cryptography, Fortinet continues to set the standard for protecting organizations across hybrid, dynamic environments.”—Nirav Shah, Senior Vice President of Products and Solutions at Fortinet

Customers can confidently partner with Fortinet, knowing they are investing in a vendor that combines long-standing leadership with forward-looking advancements in AI-driven automation and quantum-resistant security. Fortinet FortiGate firewalls deliver integrated security, AI-powered innovation, and flexible licensing to help organizations confidently secure hybrid environments. These benefits are realized through:

• Integrated security: Fortinet unifies FortiOS, FortiGuard Labs intelligence, and AI-powered security within the Fortinet Security Fabric platform to align closely with customer needs. This consolidation reduces complexity and operational overhead, while centralized analytics enable faster threat detection and response. Seamless interoperability across Fortinet solutions lowers integration costs and ensures consistent security policy enforcement. The result is an integrated security architecture that is easier to manage, more effective, and continuously evolving to meet real-world challenges.

• Innovation in AI and post-quantum cryptography: Fortinet is setting the standard for innovation with FortiAI-Assist, which combines GenAI, agentic AI, and AIOps to simplify network operations and accelerate response with intelligent automation and analytics. This helps NOC and SOC teams improve efficiency, close resource gaps, and counter more threats with fewer resources. Fortinet also leads in future-proof protection with early support for post-quantum cryptography (PQC), ensuring sensitive data remains secure even against tomorrow’s quantum computing threats. Together, these innovations deliver faster, smarter defense and sustainable, long-term data protection.

• Operational flexibility: The FortiFlex licensing model delivers usage-based security licensing that moves at the speed of digital acceleration. Customers can seamlessly shift between hardware, virtual, and cloud firewall options without the expense or delays of traditional procurement. Pay-as-you-go, points-based licensing optimizes spend by ensuring customers only pay for what they use. This flexible approach accelerates time to value for new initiatives, supports evolving hybrid environments, and enables long-term scalability without locking customers into a single deployment model.

Driving the Convergence of Networking and Security for Today’s Hybrid World

Fortinet believes its recognition in both the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Hybrid Mesh Firewalls and the Gartner Magic Quadrant for SASE Platforms underscores its vision for the new-generation SASE firewall. By natively converging critical networking and security functions, including network firewall, SD-WAN, ZTNA, secure web gateway, CASB, and DLP within a single operating system, FortiOS, Fortinet enables customers to simplify adoption and operations, reduce costs, and enhance user experience. This integrated approach delivers consistent, hybrid secure access across data centers, cloud environments, remote edges, and dynamic workloads, helping organizations keep pace with today’s rapidly evolving environments.


source:
https://manilastandard.net/tech/tech-news/314647512/fortinet-named-a-leader-in-the-2025-gartner-magic-quadrant-for-hybrid-mesh-firewall.html

Fortinet supercharges FortiRecon with AI-powered threat intelligence to outpace hackers

Fortinet is taking a bold step in cybersecurity with major upgrades to its FortiRecon platform, transforming it into one of the most comprehensive tools for continuous threat exposure management (CTEM). The revamped platform now delivers a unified, attacker’s-eye view of both internal and external risks, helping organizations spot, prioritize, and respond to threats faster than ever.

Security teams face a mounting challenge: sprawling attack surfaces, constant alerts, and limited visibility make it hard to focus on what truly matters. “CISOs and security teams are overwhelmed by growing attack surfaces and an endless stream of unprioritized alerts,” said Nirav Shah, Fortinet’s Senior VP of Products and Solutions. “FortiRecon now cuts through that noise with AI-powered intelligence, real-world validation, and automated response, letting teams focus on stopping attackers before they strike.”

What’s new in FortiRecon
The latest enhancements bring five pillars of CTEM—scoping, discovery, prioritization, validation, and mobilization—into a single, tightly integrated platform:

• Attack Surface Management: Continuously monitors your organization’s internal and external digital footprint, offering both NVD severity ratings and FortiRecon’s Active Exploitation ratings for smarter patching.
• Adversary-Centric Intelligence: Tracks dark web activity, ransomware, leaked credentials, and at-risk vendors, now with bulk IOC downloads and stealer infection details to accelerate SOC operations.
• Brand Protection: Shields companies from domain impersonation, rogue apps, phishing campaigns, and executive targeting, using proprietary algorithms to detect and take down fake assets and malicious activity.
• Security Orchestration: Automates response workflows, reducing the time needed to investigate threats and take action.

 

FortiRecon is also integrated with Fortinet’s AI-driven SOC platform, allowing security and IT teams to coordinate remediation across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. FortiFlex users can even deploy FortiRecon Cloud using their existing credits, making adoption seamless.

Recognition and real-world impact
Fortinet’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. FortiRecon was recently named Overall Leader, Market Leader, and Innovation Leader in the 2025 KuppingerCole Leadership Compass for Attack Surface Management, praised for operational readiness across CIS, ICS, IoT, and OT environments.

For companies like Norm Cyber, FortiRecon is already making a difference. Paul Cragg, CTO, says, “We can now deliver continuous, contextualized risk insights—not just alerts—and prioritize remediation based on business impact. It’s helping our customers reduce risk faster while demonstrating measurable security outcomes.”

With cyber threats evolving at lightning speed, FortiRecon’s latest capabilities give organizations the tools to stay ahead, turning a reactive security posture into a proactive defense strategy.

source:
https://thechronicle.com.ph/fortinet-supercharges-fortirecon-with-ai-powered-threat-intelligence-to-outpace-hackers/

Fortinet Named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Hybrid Mesh Firewall

Fortinet has been recognized as a Leader in the inaugural 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Hybrid Mesh Firewall, with the highest placement for Ability to Execute. We believe this reflects our unmatched security performance and innovation across hybrid environments.

With Fortinet’s custom-built ASICs for accelerated performance and a single operating system spanning both hardware and virtual deployments, we deliver a truly converged networking and security platform. FortiOS unifies over 30 integrated security and networking functions, enabling simplified operations, reduced complexity, and consistent protection across the entire network.

Why it Matters

• A unified OS ensures consistent policy and visibility across all firewall deployments
• AI-powered triage and response accelerate action across your entire firewall mesh
• Flexible licensing adapts to shifting infrastructure—without added procurement delays
• Built-in post-quantum cryptography protects sensitive data against future threats

Fortinet helps teams respond faster and adapt with less effort—critical when policies, users, and infrastructure are spread across hybrid environments.

Get the Report

 

First Name

 

Last Name

 

             Job Function           

 

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Hybrid Mesh Firewall, By Rajpreet Kaur, Adam Hils, Charanpal Bhogal, Esraa ElTahawy, Feng Gao, Tiffany Taylor, 25 August 2025

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, Magic Quadrant is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product, or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from Fortinet.


source:
https://www.fortinet.com/resources/analyst-reports/gartner-magic-quadrant-hmf?utm_source=Press-Release&utm_medium=Other&utm_campaign=SecureNetwork-GLOBAL-Global&utm_content=AR-Garner-HMF-G&utm_term=HMF&lsci=701Hr000002RwcAIAS&UID=ftnt-7028-048229

Fortinet expands FortiRecon with CTEM capabilities to help security teams spot and stop cyber threats sooner

Fortinet has upgraded its FortiRecon platform with capabilities aligned to the Continuous Threat Exposure Management (CTEM) framework, aimed at helping organizations anticipate and mitigate cyber threats more effectively. The enhanced features bring together attack surface management, threat intelligence, and security orchestration, enabling security teams to identify exposures sooner and reduce risk faster through a more proactive approach.

These enhancements help organizations proactively identify and prioritize real-world exposures, validate risks like an attacker would, and accelerate response, ultimately reducing the likelihood and impact of breaches.

“CISOs and security teams are overwhelmed by growing attack surfaces and an endless stream of unprioritized alerts,” said Nirav Shah, senior vice president of products and solutions at Fortinet. “With the latest enhancements to FortiRecon, we’re giving organizations an attacker’s eye view of their internal and external exposures, backed by AI-powered threat intelligence from FortiGuard Labs, real-world validation, and automated response. This allows organizations to cut through the noise, focus on what matters most, and measurably reduce risks and vulnerabilities before attackers can exploit them.”

The announcement comes amid growing demand for exposure-driven security strategies as organizations struggle to manage expanding attack surfaces, alert fatigue, and fragmented security operations. 

According to Gartner, “By 2026, organizations prioritizing their security investments based on a continuous exposure management program will be three times less likely to suffer from a breach.”

FortiRecon, in combination with its integration to the Fortinet AI-Driven Security Operations Center (SOC) platform, now delivers capabilities across the five pillars of the Gartner CTEM framework, scoping, discovery, prioritization, validation, and mobilization, enabling organizations to operationalize these pillars within a single, tightly integrated platform and drive coordinated remediation efforts across security and IT teams. 

The latest FortiRecon enhancements expand its ability to monitor and manage an organization’s attack surface by continuously delivering an adversary’s view of both internal and external digital assets. 

The update adds National Vulnerability Database (NVD) severity ratings alongside FortiRecon Active Exploitation severity ratings, enabling faster and more informed patching decisions. Its adversary-centric intelligence provides actionable insights from dark web activity, ransomware intelligence, leaked credentials, vulnerabilities actively exploited in the wild, and at-risk vendors, with new capabilities for bulk indicator of compromise (IOC) downloads and stealer infection details to accelerate SOC workflows and improve breach detection. 

FortiRecon’s brand protection capabilities detect and take down domain impersonations, rogue mobile apps, phishing campaigns, and executive targeting, using proprietary algorithms to identify fake phishing domains, brand and executive impersonations, malicious applications in multiple app stores, data leaks in code repositories, open bucket exposures, and other threats to an organization’s reputation. Security orchestration features leverage automated playbooks to investigate and respond to threat findings, reducing response times by prioritizing incidents and streamlining security workflows.

Existing FortiFlex customers may use their FortiFlex credits to deploy FortiRecon Cloud. FortiFlex offers usage-based licensing with the security industry’s broadest catalog for customers with dynamic hybrid and multi-cloud environments and MSSPs. When purchased through major cloud marketplaces, FortiFlex can also help customers meet cloud committed spend obligations.

“FortiRecon has elevated the way we deliver managed security services. It enables our teams to provide clients with continuous, contextualized risk insights not just alerts,” Paul Cragg, CTO at Norm Cyber, said. “We’re now able to prioritize remediation based on business impact, helping our customers reduce risk faster while demonstrating measurable security outcomes. It’s a key differentiator in how we build long-term trust and value.”

source:
https://industrialcyber.co/news/fortinet-expands-fortirecon-with-ctem-capabilities-to-help-security-teams-spot-and-stop-cyber-threats-sooner/

Fortinet launches new cloud services for identity and storage

Fortinet Inc. (NASDAQ: FTNT) announced an expansion of its FortiCloud platform with three new services targeting enterprise identity management, file storage, and communications.

The cybersecurity company introduced FortiIdentity, a cloud-delivered identity and access management solution that provides single sign-on, multifactor authentication, and identity federation capabilities. The service supports FortiToken Mobile, FIDO2 passkeys, and SAML/OIDC standards.

 

Fortinet also launched two beta services: FortiDrive for secure file storage and collaboration, and FortiConnect for unified communications including calling, messaging, and meetings. Both services integrate with the company's existing Security Fabric platform.

"FortiIdentity, FortiDrive, and FortiConnect, are key milestones in our vision to build a unified global cloud network that brings enterprise-grade security directly into the way teams manage access, store, share, and communicate," said Michael Xie, Founder, President, and Chief Technology Officer at Fortinet.

The services operate on Fortinet's global infrastructure, which includes company-owned data centers in Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Plano, Frankfurt, Sydney, and Torija, Spain. The company also utilizes over 160 points of presence through providers including Google Cloud, AWS, and Digital Realty.

FortiDrive features encryption, granular access controls, real-time collaboration capabilities, version history tracking, and policy-based compliance enforcement. FortiConnect integrates with FortiDrive and includes AI-powered threat intelligence from FortiGuard Labs.

The new services join Fortinet's existing cloud portfolio that includes FortiSASE, FortiAppSec, FortiCNAPP, FortiSOC, FortiMail, and FortiAIOps, all accessible through the FortiCloud centralized portal.

source:
https://www.streetinsider.com/Corporate+News/Fortinet+launches+new+cloud+services+for+identity+and+storage/25155984.html

How Fortinet FortiOS Expands Protection for the Quantum Era

As quantum threats loom, Fortinet’s FortiOS 7.6 is empowering firms with built-in quantum-safe security, facilitating a seamless post-quantum transition

 

Despite safeguarding sensitive data for decades, traditional encryption methods are under threat as the rise of quantum computing continues.

Quantum computers, capable of processing vast calculations at speeds impossible for today’s classical systems, are set to render standard encryption algorithms obsolete, posing a transformative challenge to current cybersecurity defences.

In light of this shift, some cybercriminals are adopting “harvest now, decrypt later” tactics, stockpiling encrypted data today in the hope of breaking it once quantum power becomes available. 

This means organisations in sectors like financial services, healthcare, telecommunications, and government — where data sensitivity is exceptionally high and its value persists over time — quantum-resilient cybersecurity is an immediate necessity.

Introducing Fortinet FortiOS

FortiOS is the foundation of Fortinet’s Security Fabric, delivering a unified and high-performance cybersecurity platform that seamlessly converges security and networking functions. 

Fortinet has expanded FortiOS, its flagship operating system, to provide advanced defences against quantum-enabled cyber threats. 

With the release of FortiOS 7.6, organisations leveraging FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) and Fortinet Secure SD-WAN now access built-in quantum-safe features.
The new key quantum-safe innovations in FortiOS are:
Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC): FortiOS integrates National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)-approved post-quantum cryptographic algorithms, including ML-KEM, as well as promising contenders like BIKE, HQC and Frodo. These methods are designed to resist the computational power of quantum attacks.
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD): Leveraging quantum mechanics principles, QKD enables secure key exchange by ensuring any eavesdropping is immediately detectable. Since FortiOS 7.4, the system supports plug-and-play integration with leading QKD vendors via standardised interfaces, underlining Fortinet’s commitment to quantum-resilient infrastructure.

1. Algorithm stacking: By combining multiple cryptographic algorithms, FortiOS algorithm stacking strengthens network defences, making unauthorised decryption significantly more complex — even for quantum adversaries.
2. Hybrid security mode: This allows a gradual, seamless transition between traditional public-key cryptography and new quantum key technologies, giving organisations time to adapt without disruption.
3. User-friendly management: FortiOS introduces an enhanced interface that demystifies the configuration of quantum-safe settings, empowering network administrators to implement robust protections without needing deep quantum expertise.

“At Fortinet, we’re committed to arming customers with cutting-edge technology to protect against new and emerging threats,” Michael Xie, Founder, President and CTO at Fortinet, says.

source:
https://cybermagazine.com/news/how-fortinets-fortios-expands-protections-for-the-quantum-era