Fortinet enhances OT security solutions and services

Fortinet announced the latest release of new, integrated operational technology (OT) security solutions and services.

“We understand that OT differs significantly from traditional IT systems, and that’s why our OT Security Platform was purpose-built to provide integrated protection and risk management specific to industrial environments,” said John Maddison, CMO and EVP, Product Strategy at Fortinet. “Rising attacks on critical infrastructure have made OT security more important than ever before. With this news, Fortinet continues to empower customers with the most sophisticated OT solutions and intelligence in the industry.”

The need for integrated OT-specific security

The number of industrial devices connected beyond their network boundaries is rapidly increasing, and CISOs now face skyrocketing risks across their OT environments. In fact, Fortinet found that three-fourths of OT organizations reported at least one intrusion in the last year, and nearly one-third reported being victims of a ransomware attack. To solve this challenge, organizations need an integrated security approach designed specifically for industrial solutions that enables policy enforcement across the entire attack surface, consolidates point products, and reduces operational overhead.

Bolstering the Fortinet OT Security Platform with new and enhanced offerings

The Fortinet OT Security Platform is an integrated portfolio of cybersecurity products, solutions, and security services designed specifically for industrial networks and powered by real-time OT threat intelligence. Because the OT Security Platform is a part of the Fortinet Security Fabric, it empowers customers with deep visibility across their entire environment and securely facilitates IT/OT convergence. The platform also gives organizations the ability to implement a zero-trust model within OT environments, including secure remote access to OT assets and systems for remote employees and contractors.

OT Security Platform updates announced, which build on improvements unveiled earlier this year, span two key pillars of the Security Fabric:

Secure networking for OT

• The new FortiSwitch Rugged 424F is an industrial-class ethernet switch (IES) designed to address the requirements of digital substations and the power utility industry. The switch supports real-time OT networking protocols and integrates with FortiGate Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) for comprehensive security and access control.
• The new FortiAP 432F access point meets Class 1, Division 2 requirements for use in hazardous OT environments. It can segment industrial Wi-Fi networks to prevent attacks from spreading across unprotected devices and systems. This expansion of the IP67-rated access-point line now enables the deployment of additional OT applications in industries such as oil and gas.
• The new FortiExtender Vehicle 211F wireless gateway is a semi-ruggedized mobility solution for connected fleets, mobile systems, and OT deployments. It was also designed to meet the requirements of the AT&T FirstNet wireless communications network for first responders.
• FortiOS, Fortinet’s operating system, has been updated with the OT View dashboard, which correlates and displays important OT data. This dashboard makes it easy for organizations to understand their entire attack surface—both IT and OT—and take action from a single console.

Security operations and services for OT

• FortiAnalyzer now includes OT-specific analytics, risk, and compliance reports, providing security operations teams with faster threat detection, asset and vulnerability correlation, and reporting.
• FortiNDR, which supports on-premises, cloud, and hybrid deployments, can now analyze more than 15 different OT-network protocols. It also includes AI-powered OT-network behavior analysis to identify malicious network activity and files.
• FortiDeceptor, Fortinet’s deception technology for early breach and attack isolation, now supports 30 OT protocols and additional OT decoys to protect diverse industrial environments.
• The FortiGuard OT Security Service boasts the industry’s deepest OT threat intelligence database and now covers more than 70 OT protocols and more than 4,000 OT application and device vulnerability signatures. These signatures enable strict access control policies on network traffic and provide virtual patching for vulnerable OT assets.
• FortiGuard Outbreak Alerts, an industry-leading cybersecurity resource, now includes critical information about OT-specific threats. This empowers customers with the information they need to harden their systems against new and emerging attacks following the NIST Cyber Security Framework.

“IT and OT are converging and these colliding environments are increasing overall risk. Our clients require robust OT solutions and services without extensive deployments that complicate administration and place additional strain on IT and security teams. Through the Fortinet OT Security Platform, we can provide clients with a unified approach of safeguarding both the carpeted side of a business as well as the concrete side of the business. We eagerly anticipate introducing these updated and novel offerings to our customer community.” – Dan Sanderson, VP of Strategy, Cyber Advisors.