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On Nov. 7, cybersecurity experts from around the channel descended on Toronto for Fortinet’s Cybersecurity Summit, an event designed exclusively for the cybersecurity community. The event served as a platform for cybersecurity experts to network with their peers and see demonstrations of cybersecurity services and solutions that will impact the future of business outcomes.

Fortinet is a leading cybersecurity solutions and services provider in Canada. Its operations include a research hub, threat intelligence center, and customer support in Ottawa. Additionally, the security giant has locations in Vancouver and Calgary to bolster its presence and support its over 13,000 customers.

The number one cybersecurity company in Canada by revenue and units shipped also emphasizes its commitment to data residency, boasting multiple data centers across Canada. Its global presence, particularly in North America, is significant as well, with customers around the globe receiving access to their full security stack.

“We’ve got multiple data centers across the country, so if any of you are concerned with data residency, rest assured that the data remains in Canada,” said Chuck Pagano, Regional VP Sales Central Canada, Fortinet, at the Summit. “We have offices around the world, so we can support you and your customers pretty much around the globe, but what I really want to point out is the strong North American presence– a lot of our investments are made right here in North America.”

Looking at the current cybersecurity landscape

Speakers during the event highlighted Fortinet’s pride in its Canadian investment and how it has helped Fortinet develop into a cybersecurity leader to address evolving threats across the landscape with innovative solutions.

“We definitely have continued to reinvest in Canada and we invest for the long term,” said Executive VP, Technology and Product Management, Fortinet, Robert May. “With that, on the product side, we continue to make the same investments year-after-year.”

Innovation can sometimes lead to new risks introduced into the ecosystem as attack vectors widen or new technologies inadvertently provide new tools to threat actors.

Pagano says that cyber criminals always find ways to circumvent the defenses we put in front of them, but AI is likely to be the biggest technology disruption going forward.

“Every vendor you’ll speak to will have an AI plan in their portfolios,” said Pagano. “But cybercriminals also leverage AI, so we need to keep that in mind. They’re always finding ways to circumvent the defenses that we put in front of them.”

Another impact discussed during the opening stages of the event is that everyone must do more with less, whether financially or from a staffing perspective, and how Fortinet is working to overcome these challenges. The IT skills shortage—that’s not limited to Canada but seen on a global scale—plays a significant role in an organization’s cybersecurity posture. To address the skills gap, Fortinet offers free training materials and integrated projects for companies so that they don’t have to skip a beat in their operations.

“We provide all of our training material at no cost to anyone. You don’t necessarily need to be our customers. Anyone who wants to get trained on Fortinet cybersecurity, we make all of our material available,” said Pagano. “The other thing around the skills shortage that we do is that we have done a lot of the integration– a lot of the heavy lifting– for you, our customers.”

For its over 50 products, Fortinet has done a lot of the integration for customers so that they don’t need to have the skills on hand to integrate those products. Additionally, Fortinet’s partner community has skills so that they can help integrate products, roll out projects, and offer services if that’s what is required.

Economic uncertainty has hit plenty of customers and partners around the channel. Pagano said that Fortinet understands that there are significant economic constraints that can hold back companies from reaching their full security potential. To counteract those constraints, Fortinet offers flexible consumption models to deliver the best-of-breed solutions for a company’s budget.

“We will give you the best of breed technology for your budget dollars,” said Pagano. “We have an enterprise agreement, for example, that allows us to be flexible and creative. So come by, come talk to us. There are some of our services people that will be more than happy to share how we can get creative and flexible with your IT and cybersecurity budget.”

Beyond cybersecurity threats

For Fortinet, cybersecurity is about taking a holistic approach to ensuring a strong cybersecurity posture. That means taking care of the environment in which they operate and committing to social responsibility and ethics.

“A lot of the stuff that we do takes the environment into account. We do our part when it comes to the environment,” said Pagano. “In addition, all of our hardware that we develop has 88 percent better efficiency than the industry standard.”

Consuming less power is important to customers, not just from a budgetary and environmental responsibility angle but also because it can be important for attracting top talent, among other environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives.

Further, Fortinet understands the importance of regulatory compliance in the industry. Regulations can shift as frequently as the technologies and verticals they oversee.

“We made a commitment to our customers, to our partners, and to the industry as a whole, that we will adhere to the highest level code of ethics when it comes to software development,” said Pagano. “We will be completely transparent, and we will disclose any vulnerabilities that we find in our technologies.”

Providing the strongest solutions with seamless integration, narrowing the skills gap, and being cognizant of regulatory requirements are all key components to staying ahead of threat actors who work hard to compromise organizations.

“You have cyber criminals that are relentless, you have a very complex environment that you’re trying to protect, and you don’t necessarily have the right skill set to protect yourself, so that’s what brings us here today,” Pagano stated. “This is what we’re trying to help you with today: secure networking.”

The Fortinet Cybersecurity Summit in Toronto brought together the cybersecurity community to discuss the future of business outcomes from a security perspective. Find out more about the event and the benefits of bringing all these experts together.

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