Products
Fortinet released its first product, FortiGate, a firewall, in 2002, followed by anti-spam and anti-virus software.[6][43] As functions like anti-spam were added, they were made available in a single product along with the firewall and other functions.[14] FortiGate was updated later to use application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) architecture.[44] The company has used ASIC in several of its products, including to support its SD-WAN features.[45][46]
Initially, FortiGate was a physical, rack-mounted product but later became available as a virtual appliance that could run on virtualization platforms such as VMware vSphere.
In April 2016, Fortinet began building its Security Fabric architecture so multiple network security products could communicate as one platform.[47] Later that year, the company added Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) products.[48] In September 2016, the company announced it would integrate the SIEM products with the security systems of other vendors.[49]
In 2017, Fortinet announced the addition of switches, access points, analyzers, sandboxes and cloud capabilities to the Security Fabric, in addition to endpoints and firewalls.[50][51] Later in 2017, Fortinet created a standalone subsidiary, Fortinet Federal, to develop cybersecurity products for government agencies.[52] Fortinet has received security effectiveness certifications through NSS Labs.[53]
In 2019, Fortinet grew to 21,000 WAN edge customers, according to a Gartner report.[54]
In February 2020, Fortinet released FortiAI, a threat-detection program that uses artificial intelligence.[55][56] In July 2020, Fortinet launched multi-cloud SD-WAN.[57] That year, BT Security selected Fortinet and other Threat Alliance members as Critical Partners.[58]
Vulnerabilities and credential leaks
In September 2021, almost 500,000 login names and passwords for Fortinet VPN devices were published on a hacking forum. The credentials were allegedly scraped from devices vulnerable to a 2018 exploit (CVE-2018-13379).[59]
In January 2025, the credentials and configuration files of over 15,000 FortiGate devices were leaked on a hacking forum.[60] The data is believed to have been obtained from devices vulnerable to a 2022 exploit (CVE-2022–40684).[61]
In November 2025, a critical vulnerability (CVE-2025-64446, 9.1 CVSS) became public affecting FortiWeb Web Application Firewall[62]. The vulnerability allowed attackers to gain full control over the device by exploiting a path traversal vulnerability combined with an authentication bypass[63]
Cybersecurity research
In 2005, Fortinet created the FortiGuard Labs internal security research team.[64]
By 2014, Fortinet had four research and development centers in Asia, as well as others in the US, Canada and France.[65]
In March 2014, Fortinet founded the Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA) with Palo Alto Networks in order to share security threat data across vendors.[66] It was later joined by McAfee and Symantec.[67] In 2015, the CTA published a white paper on the CryptoWall ransomware, which detailed how attackers obtained $325 million through ransoms paid by victims to regain access to their files.[68]
