Fortinet reinforces OT network security platform – Source: www.networkworld.com

Fortinet has bolstered its OT Security Platform to help customers more effectively protect industrial control systems and other operational technology networks from cyberattacks.

Fortinet’s OT Security Platform includes firewalls, switches, network access control, security information and event management, analytics and AI management capabilities. New to the upgraded platform are ruggedized switches and next generation firewalls (NGFW), services to increase threat detection, and improved AI capabilities to better delve into cyber threats.

“Asset and network visibility is a basic challenge for any organization with an OT environment,” wrote Nirav Shah, senior vice president and head of products and solutions at Fortinet, in a blog about the news.

“As OT infrastructure transforms and connects to more external networks, such as enterprise IT, the internet, and the cloud, visibility into OT networks is often extremely limited or nonexistent,” Shah wrote. “The unique assets typically found in OT networks operate on unique protocols. Traditional IT visibility solutions can’t see the assets, their vulnerabilities, or the traffic traversing the OT network, which makes OT security challenging to plan or implement.”

On the hardware side, Fortinet rolled out the FortiSwitch Rugged 108F and FortiSwitch Rugged 112F-POE. The Layer 2 108F and 112F-POE switches expand the vendor’s entry-level secure switch family and support port-level security enforcement that ensures unauthorized lateral movement across OT networks, Shah stated.

“These FortiSwitch Rugged models come in a small form factor and are DIN-rail mountable to fit most deployment scenarios. These products are designed to withstand extreme temperatures, vibration, and humidity,” Shah stated.

The company also added ruggedized switches for customers looking to utilize 5G connectivity to industrial sites. The FortiExtender Rugged 511G features embedded Wi-Fi 6 and new eSIM capabilities, removing the need for physical SIM cards.

“When connected to a FortiGate NGFW, a FortiSwitch essentially becomes a secure switch, with firewall protections and security policies implemented at each port and deep visibility provided for each asset, traffic, user, and activity enabled through the switch,” Shah wrote.

The company built out its NGFW offerings as well, adding the FortiGate Rugged 70G and FortiGate Rugged 50G-5G to provide advanced security and networking performance thanks to proprietary security and networking ASICs, according to Shah. “These devices also have an advanced digital I/O port. This feature allows the firewall to automate and secure digital and physical processes on site,” Shah wrote.

On the software side, Fortinet has enhanced the FortiGuard OT Security Service to deepen visibility and asset discovery capabilities.

“OT asset owners can now add known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs) information to Internet-of-Things and OT vulnerabilities in the user and device store. They can also display KEV counts and warnings on the GUI Asset Identity Center page and see OT protocol bandwidth traffic and inbound connections. These enhancements to the OT Security Service can help OT security teams better understand the assets, traffic, and users on their OT networks,” Shah wrote.

Other enhancements let customers garner information about security threats and simplify compliance reporting for OT security teams, according to Shah.

Specifically, the vendor enhanced the AI support in its FortiAnalyzer security analytics and log management platform, to better learn and detect network problems.  The package already applies AI help with managing configurations, events, and alerts, along with advanced threat visualization, according to the company. The AI support also improves the company’s FortiDeceptor package designed to detect and stop active in-network attacks, the vendor stated.