The FortiDB-1000B appliance is a mid-enterprise product designed to “harden” databases by detecting weaknesses in passwords, access privileges and configuration settings. As databases are fast becoming the next big target for cybercriminals due to the sensitive and valuable information they hold, there is an increasing need for powerful tools that can detect and help guard against data breaches. This is especially critical for vertical industries such as retail, which require compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) to protect customers' personal and credit card information.
“Much of the world's personal and proprietary electronic data is held in the databases of corporations and businesses, with most of it having an intrinsic monetary value in the criminal underworld,” said Charles Kolodgy, research director, IDC. “So, database security tools, like Fortinet's FortiDB-1000B appliance, are no longer optional. Instead, they are a necessary component to help protect personal information that organizations are obligated to secure.”
The FortiDB-1000B VA appliance provides an automated, cost-effective and centralized solution for database application security, with evaluation and remediation advice for common compliance requirements built in. By identifying weaknesses in databases that can be open for exploitation, the FortiDB appliance helps to prevent the theft of proprietary and personal data by what might appear to be legitimate users. FortiDB works by identifying the weakness, alerting system administrators of potential threats, and offering remediation advice.
The FortiDB-1000B appliance supports heterogeneous environments including Oracle, DB2, Sybase and SQL Server, with each appliance supporting up to 30 concurrent databases. Fortinet is also planning low- and high-end versions of the FortiDB product line later in 2008 and 2009, which will be able to support database instances of 10 and 60, respectively. For large organizations running thousands of databases across multiple geographies and network topologies, an enterprise software version is available today.
