Fortinet
| File:Fortinet logo.gif | |
| Company type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Network security & Computer security |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Headquarters | Sunnyvale, California + over 25 Fortinet offices worldwide |
Key people | Founder and CEO: Ken Xie Founder and CTO: Michael Xie CFO: Ken Goldman CMO: Richard Stiennon |
| Products | Unified threat management (UTM), Firewalls, Antivirus, Intrusion-prevention system, Antispyware, Antispam, VPN, Virtualization, Web filtering, Content-control software -- all with Common Criteria EAL4+ certification, 6 ICSA security certifications, NSS certified (IPS, UTM) |
Number of employees | 900+ (Q3 2007) |
| Website | www.fortinet.com |
Fortinet is a private company that is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, that specializes in network security appliances. Fortinet’s flagship network security product line is sold under the brand name of FortiGate.
Corporate Overview
Fortinet was founded in 2000 by Ken Xie, the founder and former president and CEO of NetScreen (later sold to Juniper for more than $3.5 billion). Fortinet has raised $100 million in five rounds of venture capital investment from Acorn Campus, DEFTA Partners, DCM-Doll Capital Management, Fortunetech Partners, LLC., Forval Creative Inc., Meritech Capital Partners and Redpoint Ventures.
The company is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with customer support, development and sales facilities throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Fortinet sells its systems and subscription service products through a network of channel partners worldwide.
Fortinet has a partnership with Hewlett-Packard's ProCurve Networking division that [1] highlights the growing integration of networking and security technologies. Fortinet is the first vendor to join the ProCurve Alliance, HP's effort to push open-architecture solutions from other vendors that have been tested and certified for interoperability. Fortinet will weave its FortiGate unified threat management product into ProCurve's line of layer 3 switching products.
Sales
Fortinet, which sells via a 100-percent indirect model, has more than 1,600 partners worldwide. The company continues to expand its channel team, and now has over 800 channel partners in North America. Fortinet was recognized two years in a row by VARBusiness magazine as one of North America's top information technology vendors in terms of the partnership programs it offers. [2] Fortinet was specifically recognized for its success in the Americas, and Karl Soderlund, vice president of sales, Americas, was also ranked No. 6 on the magazine's list of [3] "25 Channel Executives You Need to Know."
Security Research
Fortinet contributes to the security community through its Global Security Research Team. An example of this is Fortinet’s membership in the Microsoft Virus Information Alliance (VIA) [4]. Fortinet in recent years has led to the discovery of several critical vulnerabilities in commonly used software [5].
Controversies
According to the OpenNet Initiative [6], FortiGuard is used by the dictatorship of Myanmar (Burma) to block communications critical of the regime carried over the internet, a system known as the Myanmar Wide Web [7]. Fortinet has promised to investigate the allegations, and the implied violation of US Government sanctions against the regime, noting that the software may have been sold to the regime by a third party [8]; however, the company has yet to make a definitive statement on the matter. Meanwhile, the Myanmar government features its adoption of the Fortinet firewall on its official website [9] with other photos showing a Fortinet sales director presenting a gift to the Myanmar Prime Minister during a ceremony [10].
In 2005, the gpl-violations.org project uncovered evidence that Fortinet had used GPL code in its products against the terms of the license, and used cryptographic tools to conceal the violation. The violation was alleged to have occurred in the FortiOS system, which the gpl-violations.org project said contained elements of the linux kernel. In response, a Munich court granted a temporary injunction against the company, preventing it from selling products until they were in compliance with the necessary license terms [11]. Fortinet was forced to make parts of FortiOS source code available free in compliance with GPL licensing [12].
Also in 2005 Fortinet was found guilty of patent infringement against Trend Micro regarding AntiVirus code [13]. Fortinet later settled out of court [14].