FortiGuard

The FortiGuard Distribution Network (FDN) of servers provides updates to antivirus, antispam and IPS definitions to your FortiGate unit. Worldwide coverage of FortiGuard services is provided by FortiGuard service points. FortiGuard Subscription Services provide comprehensive Unified Threat Management (UTM) security solutions to enable protection against content and network level threats.

The FortiGuard team can be found around the globe, monitoring virus, spyware and vulnerability activities. As vulnerabilities are found, signatures are created and pushed to the subscribed FortiGate units. The Global Threat Research Team enables Fortinet to deliver a combination of multi-layered security intelligence and provide true zero-day protection from new and emerging threats.The FortiGuard Network has data centers around the world located in secure, high availability locations that automatically deliver updates to the Fortinet security platforms to and protect the network with the most up-to-date information.

The FortiGuard services provide a number of services to monitor world-wide activity and provide the best possible security:

• Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)- The FortiGuard Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) uses a customizable database of more than 4000 known threats to stop attacks that evade conventional firewall defenses. It also provides behavior-based heuristics, enabling the system to recognize threats when no signature has yet been developed. It also provides more than 1000 application identity signatures for complete application control.

• Application Control - Application Control allows you to identify and control applications on networks and endpoints regardless of port, protocol, and IP address used. It gives you unmatched visibility and control over application traffic, even traffic from unknown applications and sources.

• AntiVirus -The FortiGuard AntiVirus Service provides fully automated updates to ensure protection against the latest content level threats. It employs advanced virus, spyware, and heuristic detection engines to prevent both new and evolving threats from gaining access to your network and protects against vulnerabilities.

• Web Filtering - Web Filtering provides Web URL filtering to block access to harmful, inappropriate, and dangerous web sites that may contain phishing/pharming attacks, malware such as spyware, or objectionable content that can expose your organization to legal liability. Based on automatic research tools and targeted research analysis, real-time updates enable you to apply highly-granular policies that filter web access based on 78 web content categories, over 45 million rated web sites, and more than two billion web pages - all continuously updated.

• Vulnerability Scanning - FortiGuard Services provide comprehensive and continuous updates for vulnerabilities, remediation, patch scan, and configuration benchmarks.

• Email Filtering - The FortiGuard Antispam Service uses both a sender IP reputation database and a spam signature database, along with sophisticated spam filtering tools on Fortinet appliances and agents, to detect and block a wide range of spam messages. Updates to the IP reputation and spam signature databases are provided continuously via the FDN.

• Messaging Services - Messaging Services allow a secure email server to be automatically enabled on your FortiGate unit to send alert email or send email authentication tokens. With the SMS gateway, you can enter phone numbers where the FortiGate unit will send the SMS messages. Note that depending on your carrier, there may be a slight time delay on receiving messages.

• DNS and DDNS - The FortiGuard DNS and DDNS services provide an efficient method of DNS lookups once subscribed to the FortiGuard network. This is the default option. The FortiGate unit connects automatically to the FortiGuard DNS server. If you do not register, you need to configure an alternate DNS server.