Johannesburg, 04 Jan 2005
Fortinet - the confirmed market leader in Unified Threat Management and only provider of ASIC-accelerated, network-based antivirus firewall systems for real-time network protection - today announced FortiProtect Premier, an enhanced virus protection service level agreement (SLA) that is now available to the 2,000+ customers who have deployed over 80,000 FortiGate systems. Through the new FortiProtect Premier Service, Fortinet will offer FortiGate system owners a tried and tested antivirus signature within three hours of receiving a new virus sample from the customer worldwide.
New viruses, worms and other forms of unwanted and often malicious network traffic attack networks, from small offices to large enterprises and carriers, everyday. In fact, 90 percent of 500 companies responding to a 2004 FBI/Computer Security Institute survey said they had suffered a security breach, and 80 percent said they had suffered financial loss as a result of a network attack. Fortinet`s FortiGate systems reside at the Internet gateway and serve as a network security platform to prevent these threats before entering customers` networks.
With Fortinet`s FortiProtect Premier Service, customers are protected from viruses appearing "in the wild," new viruses, worms and malware, and viruses that are currently spreading in customers` networks through email. Within three hours of receiving the related `hot` virus sample from the customer, the geographically diverse Fortinet antivirus team residing in North America, Europe and Asia analyzes the sample and provides updated antivirus signatures that will stop the threat from entering their networks.
"Never underestimate the disastrous damage caused to networks by today`s mixed bag of cyber-threats," said Joe Wells, Chief Antivirus Scientist at Fortinet and Founder of the WildList Organization International. "Users must protect against network attacks as new threats spring up and spread daily. It is therefore critical that users keep their antivirus software as up-to-date as possible."
All Fortinet customers can also choose to receive automatic updates for antivirus signatures via the global FortiProtect Network, including `hot` virus updates for threats with an impact level greater than or equal to two, false positive updates and regularly scheduled updates. This new service offering, FortiProtect Premier, allows Fortinet customers to receive hot virus updates within three hours of the virus submission.
"Unwanted and malicious network traffic has evolved with the Internet from viruses to sophisticated blended content threats and imminent zero-day attacks, while increasing in potential network damage," said Richard Hanke, Vice President of Product Management for Fortinet. "Fortinet`s FortiProtect Premier Service leverages Fortinet`s expertise in the antivirus industry and best-in class home-grown antivirus technology to mitigate any potential network damage and protect small office to large enterprise businesses` online data from today`s increasingly harmful network threats."
FortiProtect Premier Service is available immediately. A free trial of the service is available until the end of February 2005 for customers with valid support contracts. For more information, or to register for Fortinet`s FortiProtect Premier Service, please visit: www.fortinet.com/products/premier.html or contact Westcon, the local distributor: www.westcon.co.za
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