FortiGuard is Fortinet’s threat research and response team. With more than 200 security engineers and forensic analysts around the globe providing 24 hours a day, 365 days a year analysis of current threats on the Internet, the FortiGuard team’s sole purpose is to protect customers.

The FortiGuard Distribution Network (FDN) is a world-wide network of FortiGuard Distribution Servers (FDS). When the FortiGate unit connects to the FDN, it connects to the nearest FDS. To do this, all FortiGate units are programmed with a list of FDS addresses sorted by nearest time zone according to the time zone configured for the FortiGate unit.

Before you can begin receiving updates, you must register your FortiGate unit from the Fortinet webpage. After registering, you need to configure the FortiGate unit to connect to the FDN to update antivirus, antispam, and IPS attack definitions.