Today’s threat environment is constantly changing, and from distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks to ransomware, the frequency, volume, and sophistication of cyberattacks show no signs of slowing down. All organizations require network security because even a minor disruption to network infrastructures—such as a minute of downtime, or a lag in service performance—can cause damage to an organization’s reputation, bottom line, or even long-term viability. Catastrophic cyberattacks, which often begin as seemingly benign intrusions that inadequate network security tools failed to catch, can force organizations to pay crippling fines and even close their doors for good.

Traditional firewalls have been around for decades, and are a standard security product in use by a majority of organizations. But as the threat landscape has evolved, so too has firewall technology. A next-generation Fortinet Firewall (NGFW) moves beyond a traditional firewall’s port/protocol inspection and blocking techniques to add comprehensive application-level inspection, intrusion prevention, and intelligence from sources outside the firewall.