Fortinet embeds new AI tools into its cybersecurity and networking portfolio | #hacking | #cybersecurity | #infosec | #comptia | #pentest | #ransomware

Fortinet Inc. today introduced new artificial intelligence features designed to help companies more easily manage their network infrastructure, detect cybersecurity issues and fix them. 

The update debuted at the company’s annual Accelerate 2024 product event in Las Vegas. The AI features are out alongside several other new tools designed to ease tasks such as protecting employees from malicious websites. Many of the enhancements will ship as part of FortiOS 9.6, a new version of the operating system that underpins several of the company’s core products.  

Sunnyvale, California-based Fortinet is a major provider of networking hardware and cybersecurity software. Its hardware portfolio includes devices such as Ethernet switches and wireless access points. Fortinet also sells firewall appliances for protecting network equipment, as well as cybersecurity applications focused on related tasks such as detecting malware.

Administrators can manage their companies’ Fortinet-powered infrastructure using a software product called FortiManager. As part of today’s update, the company has integrated an AI chatbot called FortiAI into FortiManager. Administrators can use the chatbot to retrieve technical information about network equipment from product guides, as well as monitor that equipment for potential technical issues.

FortiAI is also becoming available in a second product called Fortinet Analyze. It’s an analytics platform that can scan data generated by a company’s network to find vulnerabilities, malicious activity and other issues. Built-in automation tools promise to reduce the amount of manual work involved in mitigating those risks.

According to Fortinet, users of the platform can now leverage FortiAI to speed up analytics tasks such as writing queries for detecting cybersecurity issues. The tool also promises to reduce the amount of effort involved in the incident response workflow. Two other Fortinet cybersecurity applications, FortiSIEM and FortiSIEM, are likewise receiving integrations with the chatbot that promise to reduce manual work for administrators. 

“All companies would like to reduce operational costs while increasing the effectiveness of their security posture,” Fortinet Chief Marketing Officer John Maddison wrote in a blog post. “A cybersecurity platform approach can achieve this by integrating point products, reducing overhead, and enabling native automation across multiple products.”

Yet another task that FortiAI promises to ease is moving on-premises workloads to the cloud. According to Fortinet, today’s update equips the chatbot with the ability to provide guidance on the best way of migrating an application to the major public clouds. The company says FortiAI lends itself to both the planning and workload deployment phase of such projects. 

The new AI tools debuted today alongside several feature additions that mainly focus on making customers’ networks more secure.

Several of Fortinet’s cybersecurity products install an agent, or lightweight program, called FortiAgent on the devices they protect. The agent collects technical data about the device on which it runs to find breach indicators and other issues. Fortinet is rolling out a new version of the software that can determine if a program is malicious based on its behavior, as well as automatically block it.

The upgraded FortiAgent is joined by a new browser isolation capability. According to Fortinet, the feature allows workers to open websites they visit in an isolated sandbox, which makes it impossible for malware to reach their local machines. In conjunction, the company is rolling out several network management features designed to ease tasks such as configuring Wi-Fi 7 access points and monitoring connection speeds.

Photo: Fortinet