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SUNNYVALE, Calif., October 24, 2012 - Fortinet® (NASDAQ: FTNT) - a world leader in high-performance network security – today announced the company has been awarded an ADVANCED+ rating in AV-Comparative’s September 2012 malicious software detection test, earning a 99.2 % score out of 100%.

AV-Comparatives staff tested Fortinet’s antivirus capabilities along with 20 other endpoint security solutions from multiple countries for malware detection and false positives. The awards presented included ADVANCED +, ADVANCED, STANDARD and no award. STANDARD winners are considered to be good products that achieved a “good” score, ADVANCED winners received a “very good” score and ADVANCED+ winners received an “excellent” score. Products that did not receive an award may still require further improvement to reach the tested goal. An overview of past awards can be found on the company’s Website. For the September 2012 test, malware sets were frozen on August 21, 2012 and consisted of 240,859 sample variants. Full testing methodology can be found here.

Fortinet’s antivirus technology is part of the suite of security services developed and maintained by the company’s global FortiGuard Labs research team, which delivers industry-leading advanced malware threat protection for a wide range of Fortinet products, including FortiGate®, FortiWeb™, FortiMail®, FortiCarrier™, FortiCache™ and FortiClient® products. On October 16, 2012, Fortinet announcedFortiOS™ 5.0 and FortiClient™ 5.0 and their ability to deliver more security to enterprise customer to fight advanced threats. One FortiOS 5.0 enhancement is an advanced anti-malware detection system, which adds an on-device, behavior-based heuristic engine and cloud-based antivirus services that includes an operating system sandbox and botnet IP reputation database. Fortinet continues to deliver innovative, unbeatable multi-layered protection against today’s sophisticated malware.

The critical functionality in Fortinet’s antivirus engine is its ability to decode and track behaviors of polymorphic, encrypted and packed malware in realtime. Commonly used by authors of Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), these evasion techniques can enable advanced malware to bypass other detection engines. To detect and block unknown threats, Fortinet developed a propriety binary emulation engine that allows its antivirus engine to detect new malware and variants, regardless of whether a detection signature exists. This enables the engine to detect today’s robust malware threats, and APTs, even those that use sophisticated evasion techniques like polymorphism and encryption to avoid detection from other antimalware products.

Fortinet’s FortiGuard Labs consists of a world-class security team that monitors the threat landscape and ensures Fortinet customers are continuously informed and protected against today’s most modern threats. Consisting of more than 150 dedicated research analysts, FortiGuard helps protect customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a weekand 365 days a year. The team discovers new third party threats and then delivers rapid signature updates and detailed security knowledge designed to provide practically instant protection from new and emerging threats. In a typical week, the FortiGuard team adds or updates approximately 1.4 million antivirus, intrusion prevention (IPS) and antispam signatures. Additionally, FortiGuard has made more than 150 zero day discoveries in the last three years and actively collaborates with non-government and governmental organizations.

Fortinet is able to discover threats quickly via analyzing data submitted voluntarily by Fortinet’s extensive customer network of hundreds of thousands of installed FortiGate devices and then push out signature updates to every customer in the world in minutes - unlike competing security companies that have to rely on third party security companies to provide them with the latest malware signatures.

“We’re delighted to learn that Fortinet’s antivirus technology was recognized by such a highly-regarded, objective third-party organization,” said Patrick Bedwell, vice president of product marketing for Fortinet. “AV-Comparatives validates our FortiGuard research team’s commitment, which is to provide our customers with cutting-edge technology that helps to protect them from today’s most advanced and persistent network threats. Coupled with the advanced threat protection enhancements in FortiOS 5.0 and FortiClient 5.0 announced last week, this rating demonstrates our continued focus to deliver the most innovative solutions to address our customers’ biggest concerns.”