Fortinet announces industry’s first generative AI IoT security assistant and new GenAI capabilities for network and security operations

COMPANY NEWS: Deeper FortiAI integrations across the Fortinet Security Fabric allow organisations to strengthen their security posture and increase operational efficiency.

John Maddison, chief marketing officer, Fortinet, said, “Generative AI is reshaping network and security operations, supporting IT and cyber professionals to do more, faster. Fortinet is committed to remaining at the forefront of AI innovation, and by expanding FortiAI, our context-aware GenAI assistant, we’re continuing to empower operations teams with advanced natural language processing capabilities. The latest updates to FortiAI deliver innovative new ways to interface with Fortinet’s products using 30+ common languages to cut through complexity and boost operational efficiency.”

Fortinet®, the global cybersecurity leader driving the convergence of networking and security, has announced new updates to its generative AI (GenAI) portfolio to enhance both network and security operations, including the industry’s first GenAI Internet of Things (IoT) security assistant.

The cybersecurity sector faces a significant skills gap approaching four million professionals. (1) GenAI tackles this challenge by augmenting the need for technical proficiency. FortiAI, Fortinet’s GenAI assistant, supports and guides security operations (SecOps) and network operations (NetOps) teams so they can configure and manage changes to their network and investigate and remediate threats faster than ever before. Its intuitive interface allows individuals, regardless of expertise, to engage using natural language, effectively bridging the industry’s skill shortage. Since launching FortiAI in 2023, Fortinet has continued to deepen GenAI features across the Fortinet Security Fabric, and now the company is introducing the following innovations to its portfolio:

New GenAI capabilities for network operations

• Expedite Day 0 and Day 1 operations: New FortiAI capabilities within FortiManager introduce a transformative approach to Day 0 and Day 1 network configuration and provisioning by providing GenAI-assisted scripting in CLI and Jinja. This innovative feature helps generate scripting based on conversational commands, making it accessible to those with varying levels of programming expertise. It also includes a validation capability, which scrutinises the code for errors and suggests edits, streamlining code development and enhancing the reliability of configuration scripts. It’s a powerful asset for information technology (IT) teams seeking to elevate their operational efficiency. An example of a query someone can ask FortiAI is “Can you help me configure border gateway protocol (BGP) on the FortiGate?”
• Improve Day 2 visibility and troubleshooting for IoT vulnerabilities: FortiManager now includes the industry’s first GenAI IoT security assistant with a conversational AI interface powered by FortiAI to help detect and troubleshoot IoT vulnerabilities. The new GenAI IoT security assistant enables network security teams to use natural language to get a high-level view of vulnerabilities, drill down to specifics such as associated users and severity level, analyse the impacts, and even take actionable recommendations from FortiAI, allowing for proactive problem identification and quicker resolutions. An example of a query someone can ask FortiAI is “Show me all critical vulnerabilities and the devices associated to each.”

New GenAI capabilities for SecOps

• Simplify threat hunting and analysis: Fortinet is deepening the FortiAI integration within FortiAnalyzer with new dictation capabilities. These updates simplify threat hunting and event analysis, accepting commands for querying data, identifying threats, or generating reports. Analysts can quickly navigate vast data sets to pinpoint and react to potential threats, making these processes faster and more accessible to professionals at all levels of expertise. This accelerates the review and response cycles and reduces the need for extensive technical training. Security teams can handle threat detection, analysis, and mitigation tasks more efficiently, enhancing their capacity to proactively manage security events. An example of a query someone can ask FortiAI is “Analyse the latest security event, provide a detailed summary, assess its potential impact, and suggest appropriate remediation actions.”

Prioritising GenAI security and data privacy

As AI technologies become increasingly integral to cybersecurity, the importance of securing AI processes and ensuring data privacy is paramount. Fortinet is at the forefront of addressing these critical issues with robust measures designed to protect and optimise GenAI operations. As part of this dedication, Fortinet hosts AI proxy servers within its data centres, a strategic initiative to proxy all AI connections. This setup optimises AI performance and enhances the security of customer data across all Fortinet products. By centralising AI traffic through secure proxies, Fortinet ensures that all data interactions are monitored and protected, mitigating risks associated with AI-driven operations.

FortiAI: GenAI to support and streamline network and security operations

Fortinet has pioneered AI innovation within cybersecurity for more than a decade, and AI has served as the backbone of the Fortinet Security Fabric and FortiGuard Labs threat intelligence and security services. FortiAI is the company’s latest AI innovation and delivers context-aware GenAI assistance to help SecOps and NetOps teams make better decisions more quickly. FortiAI supports 30+ common languages and allows organisations to navigate the cybersecurity skills gap while mitigating risk and streamlining business operations. Initially launched as a part of FortiSIEM and FortiSOAR, FortiAI is also integrated with FortiAnalyzer and FortiManager, with additional integrations planned to bring the power of GenAI across the entire Fortinet Security Fabric.

Additional resources

• Learn more about FortiAI.
• Learn about Fortinet’s free cybersecurity training, which includes broad cyber awareness and product training. As part of the Fortinet training advancement agenda (TAA), the Fortinet Training Institute also provides training and certification through the Network Security Expert (NSE) certification, Academic Partner, and Education Outreach
• Follow Fortinet on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Subscribe to Fortinet on our blog or YouTube.
• Visit com/trust to learn more about Fortinet innovation, collaboration partners, product security processes, and enterprise-grade products that contribute to delivering proven cybersecurity, everywhere you need it.
• Learn more about Fortinet’s commitment to product security and integrity, including its responsible product development and vulnerability disclosure approach and policies.

(1) ISC2, How the Economy, Skills Gap and Artificial Intelligence are Challenging the Global Cybersecurity Workforce, Published October 31, 2023

About Fortinet
Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT) is a driving force in the evolution of cybersecurity and the convergence of networking and security. Our mission is to secure people, devices, and data everywhere, and today we deliver cybersecurity everywhere you need it with the largest integrated portfolio of over 50 enterprise-grade products. Well over half a million customers trust Fortinet’s solutions, which are among the most deployed, most patented, and most validated in the industry. The Fortinet Training Institute, one of the largest and broadest training programs in the industry, is dedicated to making cybersecurity training and new career opportunities available to everyone. Collaboration with high-profile, well-respected organisations from both the public and private sectors, including CERTs, government entities, and academia, is a fundamental aspect of Fortinet’s commitment to enhance cyber resilience globally. FortiGuard Labs, Fortinet’s elite threat intelligence and research organisation, develops and utilises leading-edge machine learning and AI technologies to provide customers with timely and consistently top-rated protection and actionable threat intelligence. Learn more at https://www.fortinet.com, the Fortinet blog, and FortiGuard Labs.