SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 25, 2005 - Fortinet - the pioneer and market leader of Unified Threat Management and only provider of ASIC-accelerated, network-based antivirus firewall systems for real-time network protection- today announced that Fauquier County Public School system, a wide-area network of 18 schools in Warrenton, VA, has purchased and deployed Fortinet's FortiGate™ integrated network security appliances to protect its multi-use, enterprise-size network from today's increasingly clever and damaging spyware, adware and other types of network threats.

"The Fauquier County Public Schools district is serviced with a high-speed, dedicated network that connects 4,000 users of all grade levels across 20 schools and administrative facilities. We were originally looking for a solution for our increasing adware and spyware problem that would operate seamlessly with some legacy network equipment," said Todd Hickling, manager of information resources for Fauquier County Public Schools. "As IT manpower and operating budgets are always limiting factors for most educational institutions, we were pleased with the 'out-of-box' setup and ease of configuration delivered by Fortinet's FortiGate-800 system. Fortinet's integrated security appliance has outperformed our expectations."

Fauquier County Public Schools deployed Fortinet's enterprise-class FortiGate-800 system to serve as a firewall and top-end antivirus/spyware gateway security solution, and is also utilizing its virtual private networking (VPN) and intrusion prevention system (IPS) functionalities. Both the IPS and antivirus updates are supplied using Fortinet's FortiGuard subscription services, which automatically updates Fauquier's FortiGate system through Fortinet's global FortiGuard distribution network.

Like many organizations have found in deploying appliances for enterprise network security, Fauquier Country Public Schools was faced with needing to evolve their security systems without compromising their existing network. The FortiGate-800 system was able to install seamlessly into its existing network and provide front-line security features, as well as supplementing some existing security measures already in place. Upon deploying Fortinet's FortiGate-800 system, Fauquier County Public Schools found benefits that extended beyond protection against spyware.

Fauquier County Public Schools' network, like many networks of this scale, consists of a blend of best-of-breed network tools and platforms. In recognition of these mixed-type network environments, security appliances not only have to interoperate seamlessly with existing infrastructures, but also need to minimize the administrative overhead wherever possible. Fortinet's integrated security systems are ASIC-accelerated and offer a comprehensive set of 'best in class' security features, including antivirus, firewall, VPN, content filtering, intrusion prevention, anti-spam and traffic filtering to perform as a comprehensive security platform.

"Large, enterprise-size networks, especially educational institution networks that often are accessed by peer-to-peer applications and various users, are increasingly vulnerable to today's constantly mutating network threats, such as viruses, spyware and adware," said Adam Stein, vice president of corporate marketing for Fortinet. "We are proud to offer Fauquier County Public Schools the best in class security applications they required while meeting their capital and operational budgets with a security system aimed at providing robust security features with the lowest total cost of ownership."

For more information about Fortinet's products including the FortiGate-800 systems,please visit: www.fortinet.com/products/