Fortinet unveils new SASE features with sovereign SASE & GenAI

Fortinet has announced the addition of sovereign secure access service edge (SASE) and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) features to its unified SASE solution. This new development aims to enhance the integration between Fortinet's Secure SD-WAN solution and cloud-delivered security service edge (SSE) through a single management console, enabling comprehensive visibility and security.

John Maddison, Chief Marketing Officer at Fortinet, commented, "Many vendors today are packaging up fragmented SASE capabilities and calling it unified SASE. Fortinet is the only vendor with a unified SASE solution united by one data lake, one operating system, and AI-driven security that also offers customers unparalleled deployment flexibility. Not only are we offering a truly integrated solution, but we're also adding more flexibility and simplicity with the introduction of sovereign SASE and new generative AI features."

The company's sovereign SASE offering responds to increasing demands for data and cloud sovereignty. Gartner has noted that buyers are seeking more control over where traffic is routed and inspected and where logs are stored, especially in highly regulated industries such as finance, government, and healthcare. Fortinet's new Sovereign SASE allows organisations to maintain local control over these aspects, ensuring robust data privacy, compliance, and security.

The Sovereign SASE enables customers to decide the routing and security inspection locations of their data, be it a Fortinet-owned centre, a partner, or the customer's data centre, while ensuring full security through Fortinet's stack. This can provide enhanced security and flexibility for large enterprises and service providers.

Another significant new feature is the integration of GenAI into Fortinet's Secure SD-WAN via FortiAI. Generative AI is expected to support IT and cybersecurity teams by enabling quicker and more informed decision-making. This aims to improve the efficiency of operations from initial deployment (Day 0) through ongoing management (Day 2), offering visual and configuration assistance, consultation, and troubleshooting.

Several other updates also highlight Fortinet's ongoing commitment to innovation within its unified SASE platform. New features include remote browser isolation (RBI) that can be configured within the FortiSASE cloud-based management console to protect sensitive data from web-borne threats. Additionally, the Secure SD-WAN solution now offers better network performance for dynamic full mesh networks and self-healing capabilities that address issues in real-time.

The unified SASE system also now incorporates a native system for cross-domain identity management (SCIM) support, simplifying administrative tasks by making users and groups created on the identity provider directly available in the SASE portal. This reduces the need for coordination between separate IT teams. Furthermore, updates to universal zero trust network access (ZTNA) include support for access to any application from any location alongside an application catalogue that simplifies ZTNA application configurations.

Fortinet's sustained focus on innovation is evident in its regular monthly updates to ensure organisations can adapt to evolving security needs and stay ahead of potential threats. According to recent accolades, Fortinet has been named a Challenger in the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Single-Vendor SASE for the second consecutive year, a Leader in the 2023 Gartner Magic Quadrant for SD-WAN for the fourth year running, and a Challenger in the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Security Service Edge.