SUNNYVALE, Calif., Mar. 25, 2009 - Fortinet^®- a market-leading network security provider and worldwide leader of unified threat management (UTM) solutions -- today announced that Qdoba Mexican Grill^® , a wholly owned subsidiary of Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ: JACK), has deployed Fortinet's FortiGate^® multi-threat appliances for firewall, virtual private network (VPN) and Web content filtering at its headquarters and 140 corporate-owned restaurant locations nationwide. In addition, Qdoba has also deployed Fortinet's FortiManager™ and FortiAnalyzer™ management and reporting appliances at its Wheat idge, Colo. headquarters to monitor and analyze network activity and attempted attacks.

Complying with PCI-DSS mandates, effective management of remote locations and solving space constraints were the driving factors in Qdoba's selection of a security provider. As part of the compliance initiative, Qdoba wanted all corporate-owned restaurants to have network-based security. In doing so, Qdoba also had to keep in mind space limitations at the restaurants and therefore needed a consolidated network security solution rather than stand-alone products for firewall, VPN and Web content filtering. Qdoba worked with Fishnet Security, the nation's largest and one of the most respected information security solutions providers, to create a shortlist of vendors.

The FortiGate product line had a track record of effective security, high performance and cost-efficiency, which played heavily in Qdoba's decision to select Fortinet. An additional key selling point for Qdoba was Fortinet's management capabilities, delivered through the FortiManager-3000. The FortiManager system is the central management platform for the Fortinet security infrastructure. In Qdoba's case, when a restaurant's general manager or assistant manager calls into headquarters with network questions, the IT staff can easily diagnose and fix the problem remotely via the FortiManager. Individual restaurant managers do not have to be technically proficient with FortiGate appliances, and the consistent GUI across all FortiGate platforms allows the IT staff to easily manage the appliances without additional training. Qdoba has also deployed a FortiAnalyzer-2000A carrier-class analysis appliance. The FortiAnalyzer system allows the IT staff to distribute weekly network reports.

"With space limitations, we needed to find a network security solution that would meet the needs of the individual restaurants while also providing unparallel network security and meeting compliance mandates," said Scott Bleau, IT director at Qdoba Mexican Grill. "Fortinet's consolidated approach to network security beat out other UTM vendors because it was a better security fit, it was a better physical fit within our restaurants and it provided superior enterprise management."

Qdoba has deployed Fortinet's FortiGate-60 series appliances at all 140 corporate-owned stores. Instead of having a dedicated appliance for each functionality that Qdoba required, the FortiGate appliances consolidate network security functionalities in a single device, thereby requiring limited space within the restaurant.

Qdoba has also deployed FortiGate-500A appliances in high availability mode at headquarters which serve as VPN concentrators. The company is now able to create a VPN tunnel between the stores and headquarters, providing a more secure and stable connection over their previous Cisco PIX solution.

"Distributed enterprises such as Qdoba are increasingly turning to Fortinet for consolidated network security," said Michael Valentine, vice president of Americas sales and support for Fortinet. "Fortinet's combination of world-class network security and central management allows companies to easily manage both core and distributed networks, saving companies' CAPEX, OPEX and physical footprint."

Fortinet's FortiGate systems are ASIC-accelerated security appliances that integrate essential security applications such as antivirus, firewall, VPN, intrusion prevention, Web filtering, anti-spam and traffic shaping. All FortiGate systems are kept up to date automatically by Fortinet's FortiGuard^® Network, which helps ensure protection against the most damaging, content-based threats from email and Web traffic such as viruses, worms, intrusions, other unwanted network traffic and more - around the clock and around the world.