Linksys and Fortinet Collaborate to Give Telework Security

Linksys, a subsidiary of Foxconn Interconnect Technology (FIT) and Fortinet have announced a strategic alliance with the intent to offer telework security for WFH environment.

Together; Fortinet, Linksys and FIT will offer enterprise-grade connectivity and security and unparalleled quality of service to organizations that need to provide seamless and secure connectivity for their employees to efficiently work from home.

Security in WFH

When organisations implement telework at scale, cyber criminals leap at the opportunity to exploit the numerous security gaps that arise. Security-driven networking—a strategy that converges networking and security across the connected environment, from the core, into the cloud and to the branch and remote workers—enables organizations to see and defend today's highly dynamic environments while preserving an excellent user experience.

While transitioning work to the new home office edge was initially a response to the pandemic, it is now predicted to be an ongoing trend. However, besides the many advantages that a work from home office model can provide, it also introduces many new cybersecurity challenges. The biggest of these is that home offices are often poorly secured. In addition to being the new hub for the home worker, a home network also includes a wide variety of other devices. These include the devices of family members who use the home network to browse and stream content, and a host of connected IoT devices, ranging from entertainment systems to smart appliances to WiFi routers. And many of these devices can be unpatched and unprotected.

“When organisations implement telework at scale, cyber criminals leap at the opportunity to exploit the numerous security gaps that arise. Security-driven networking—a strategy that converges networking and security across the connected environment, from the core, into the cloud and to the branch and remote workers —enables organisations to see and defend today's highly dynamic environments while preserving an excellent user experience. We are excited to partner with Linksys to deliver enterprise-grade secure, reliable network connectivity for home-based workers.”

--Ken Xie, Founder Chairman of the Board & CEO, Fortinet

“We are pleased to welcome Fortinet as a strategic partner in providing secured connectivity for consumers and remote professionals. The collaboration is a testament to the ongoing strength and reach of the Linksys business. We look forward to leveraging Fortinet’s proven cybersecurity expertise to capitalise on new opportunities.”

--Sidney Lu, Chairman & CEO, FIT Hon Teng

Complicating things further, many of these home offices were built quickly and were initially thought to be a temporary solution. But a significant number of corporations still do not have a time-frame for safely returning to the office or have now decided to make these home offices permanent. As a result, the percentage of people working from home is expected to double in 2021, making secure, enterprise-grade connectivity a must-have for IT managers who have to provision an effective remote workforce. Those IT managers now need to plan for a permanent solution that empowers a significant portion of their workforce to work effectively from their homes, at least part of the time, while protecting the organizations from the growing cybersecurity threats targeting home networks and remote workers.

At the same time, these employees must also have access to all of the capabilities they enjoy in the office, including secure and reliable access to critical business applications, such as streaming teleconferencing and online productivity tools. This means they need fast, reliable, and secure connectivity in their homes to ensure enterprise-grade security and user experience.

To achieve this, security must continue to adapt to changing network demands. This is why Fortinet and Linksys, global leaders in their respective fields, have announced a new strategic alliance. As part of this alliance, Fortinet has made a strategic investment of $75M in Linksys, which provides leading and next-generation router connectivity solutions to consumers and businesses worldwide. In addition, Fortinet will appoint a representative to the Linksys Board of Directors.