Q&
EDITOR’S
Re
g io
T
na
l V
e
tin
ice
For
Pres
ident – Middle East,
t
he Internet of Things (IoT) is
revolutionising the way the world
works and plays. It is an enabler of
a larger Digital Transformation that will
produce vast quantities of data to be stored,
parsed and transmitted over an ever-
expanding global network. This treasure
trove of data will feed Artificial Intelligence
platforms and data analytics applications
and will impact nearly every aspect of our
daily lives.
But IoT is not without its risks and
downsides, and concerns over IoT security
are only growing. Digital Transformation
50
ALAIN PENEL, REGIONAL VICE
PRESIDENT – MIDDLE EAST, FORTINET
Digital Transformation
brings a proliferation
of unsecure IoT
devices accessing the
network and, with it,
the increased risk of a
security breach.
brings a proliferation of unsecure IoT devices
accessing the network and, with it, the
increased risk of a security breach. The use of
IoT devices is growing at a tremendous rate as
organisations embrace Digital Transformation
to enable better operational efficiency.
The responsibility of connecting and
securing access has shifted from a network-
led issue to a security-led issue and poses
a challenge for organisations: security
managers need to secure every single device
every single time, while cybercriminals only
need one open port, one compromised or
unknown device or one uncontained threat
to circumvent all of the effort going into
securing the network.
The Fortinet Security Fabric is our
approach to delivering broad protection
and visibility to every network segment,
device and appliance, whether virtual, in the
cloud, or on-premises. It segments the entire
network – from the Internet of Things (IoT)
to the cloud – to provide superior protection
against sophisticated threats.
As part of our efforts to strengthen the
Fortinet Security Fabric, we introduced
FortiNAC, a new network access control
product line that delivers network
segmentation and automated responses for
IoT security.
FortiNAC allows organisations to
identify every single device on the network
and enables segmentation, giving each
device access only to approved items. This
functionality is delivered all within a solution
that works with multi-vendor environments
and an unlimited number of devices.
FortiNAC strengthens the Fortinet
Security Fabric for IoT deployments,
delivering broad, integrated and automated
cybersecurity solutions across the entire
attack surface. In the world of IoT, FortiNAC
answers the question ‘what’s on your
network’ and then enables organisations to
protect it.
The introduction of FortiNAC has also
given us the ability to engage network devices
beyond the Fabric-Ready Partner Program to
a wider multi-vendor environment, including
third-party firewalls, switches, wireless
access points and endpoints.
FortiNAC is also integrated with the
FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall,
FortiSwitch, FortiWLC Wireless Controllers,
FortiSIEM and FortiAP to minimise the risk and
impact of cyberthreats and provide broader
visibility and security for complex networks.