Internet Solutions (IS), a leading converged communications service provider, has chosen the Fortinet suite of security solutions to form the core of its secure bandwidth services.
"One of our promises to our clients is our commitment to delivering secure bandwidth," says Brett Salovy, manager of Security Solutions at IS. "By eliminating risks associated with viruses and spam before the bandwidth enters the clients` environment, it is faster, more efficient and safer. As South Africa evolves to become a global economy, so the risks to corporate data systems increase. There are millions of viruses, spyware and junk e-mail attacks out there, and we need to be proactive about stopping them before they get in and fast about cleaning them up when they do get in."
Fortinet has developed unified threat management (UTM) solutions to protect computer networks from constant threats by blocking junk e-mail and virus attacks, eliminating spyware and new constantly evolving attempts. The IDC rated Fortinet as the 2004 Worldwide Leader of the UTM Security Appliance market and in selecting a new technology to upgrade its security environment, IS sought out a vendor which would strengthen its key services.
"Fortinet was selected as the best match. It was the best fit in terms of our needs as it enabled us to increase the value we deliver to clients," explains Salovy. "Of all the vendors we investigated, Fortinet also offered the greatest flexibility and went the extra mile. The product was customised to meet our specific needs and those of our customer base, molded from a solution for the commercial environment to one with the functionality to meet the high security requirements of an Internet Service Provider."
IS purchased FortiGate Antivirus Firewalls to enhance the security of its managed services for its high-end carrier level clients through to smaller users. The FortiGate 3000 product for larger enterprises was purchased as it supports IS` managed services offering, ensuring clean bandwidth to its high-end corporate clients reducing their own security burdens. The solution comprises a high availability cluster of FortiGate 3000s deployed at IS head office and its other major Internet data centres (IDCs) located nationally. The FortiGate 3000s offer real time anti-virus protection and are ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) powered, enabling the fastest available protection at wire speed. Among the systems` other features are URL Web filtering to enhance governance of internal content and Internet traffic.
In addition, IS and Fortinet have jointly developed the Fortigate 60 ADSL units, which incorporate a built-in ADSL modem and routing functionality offering SMME clients one complete content protection solution.
IS also chose Fortinet`s FortiManager 3000 System for central policy management, hosting the FortiGate 3000 URL database locally. Functionality meets IS customised reporting requirements. The system offers integrated management and monitoring, enabling enterprises and services providers to easily manage large numbers of Fortigate Firewalls. Fortinet integrated the solution with the existing IS reporting systems.
The Fortinet security solution is enhanced through the FortiProtect Service, which ensures that all registered FortiGate systems around the world are automatically updated in real-time in response to new attacks.
"We went live with the new Fortinet systems in October 2005 and results have been excellent," says Salovy. "Several of our new clients have purchased their security services based on the Fortinet platform. In addition, a process of migrating existing clients has commenced in order to offer these clients the enhanced functionality facilitated by the Fortinet platform."
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