Executive Summary

The way people work has fundamentally evolved, and organizations need to be able to keep workers productive from multiple locations. They need to make it possible for employees to work safely and securely whether they are located in the office, at home, or on the road. The Fortinet Security Fabric platform delivers endpoint, network, and remote access security that is required for employees to work from anywhere (WFA). Its enterprise-class security provides a consistent user experience in all locations with comprehensive management and reporting.


The Changing Work Environment

Workforce security is constantly changing. Sometimes that change comes gradually, but sometimes it happens almost overnight. Organizations have supported remote working for decades, but only a small percentage of the workforce routinely worked outside of an office. Even though videoconferencing was available, management concerns kept the growth of remote work low; it was generally the exception, not the norm. The pandemic of 2020 changed everything, as the vast majority of workers that could work remotely were pushed out of the office. Now that companies have seen productivity levels remain high and employees have experienced the benefits of remote work, going forward, more organizations need to support workers who routinely work in an office, at home, and on the road. However, doing so expands the attack surface, so it’s mandatory for organizations to provide consistent, enterprise-class protection in all of those areas


Consistent Security Everywhere

Fortinet is uniquely positioned to provide the necessary security for employees working in the office, from home, or on the road because the Fortinet Security Fabric offers enterprise-class protection for endpoint, network, and remote access. This platform approach solves the issue of managing and coordinating separate, point products with different policies for each location. The Fortinet Security Fabric offers consistent policy and enforcement, as well as reporting to help support hybrid work.


Working from home

The massive transition of the workforce to the home revealed both the benefits and the shortcomings of people working where they live. Although the reduced commute and flexible work hours increased productivity, the reduced protections and lack of network control had a negative impact on organizations. FortiGuard Labs saw a spike in attacks on home-based workers as literally millions of remote workers and their vulnerable home networks and devices and unprotected browsers expanded the attack surface almost overnight.

To improve security for remote access, organizations should shift from using virtual private networks (VPNs) to using zerotrust network access (ZTNA). ZTNA provides more verification and authentication of users and devices than a VPN. It also automates the encrypted tunnels and provides granular application access, which improves both security and the user experience. Fortinet offers ZTNA as a free feature in the FortiClient Fabric Agent and the FortiGate operating system. The FortiClient Fabric Agent includes the ZTNA agent, which enables the endpoint to create encrypted tunnels to the ZTNA proxy point, which is located in a FortiGate. The ZTNA proxy point authenticates both the user and the device. It checks for the appropriate device posture and the user’s rights to access a particular application.

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Securely Work From Anywhere With the Fortinet Security Fabric

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