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Company Founder Ken Xie Recognized for Advancing Network Security Innovation; Profiled in Time Magazine
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Dec. 8, 2005
- Fortinet - the pioneer and market leader of Unified Threat Management and only provider of ASIC-accelerated, network-based multi-threat security systems for real-time network protection
- today announced that it has been selected as a Technology Pioneer for 2006 by the World Economic Forum. Fortinet's selection as a prestigious World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer is based on the network security technology breakthrough developed by its Founder and CEO Ken Xie. Mr. Xie, an acknowledged visionary in the networking and security fields, is profiled in Time Magazine's Dec. 12, 2005 edition, which features a special editorial section on the World Economic Forum.
The article can be found at:
http://www.time.com/time/globalbusiness/article/0,9171,1137647,00.html
The World Economic Forum defines its Technology Pioneers as companies that have developed and applied highly transformational and innovative technologies in the areas of energy, biotechnology and health, and information technology. This year's class of companies has been selected not only because of their cutting-edge work, but also because their work has potential long-term impact on business and society.
Fortinet Founder, CEO and President Ken Xie recognized early on the global need for safe, secure Internet connections and content amid evolving and application-based Internet threats -- and that conventional network security solutions were inadequate for addressing these threats and incapable of performing deep content analysis without crippling network performance. To solve this problem, he founded Fortinet in 2000, and with his brother and company co-founder Michael Xie, led the development of the industry's first and only ASIC-accelerated multi-threat security appliances.
Fortinet's FortiGate™ security appliances integrate seven critical security functions with the company's FortiASIC™ chip that accelerates computationally intensive security applications to provide real time network and content security for companies of all sizes. To date, more than 100,000 FortiGate systems safeguard the networks of thousands of customers worldwide - from large governmental agencies and major financial institutions, to universities and small businesses.
"The creative innovations produced by our Technology Pioneers hold the promise of significantly affecting the way business and society operate," said Peter Torreele, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum. "As a global knowledge hub, we see the Technology Pioneer community as key contributors to this dialogue and to the mission of the World Economic Forum."
About the World Economic Forum and the Technology Pioneer Program
In line with the Forum's commitment to improving the state of the world, the Technology Pioneers program was established in 2000 to provide a new perspective on technological change. The program is run by the World Economic Forum with Apax Partners and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu as Strategic Partners. Through its Technology Pioneers program, the Forum identifies and integrates those companies around the world that are involved in the design and development of new technologies. Each innovation, whether it has large or small consequences, is another step in society's attempt to harness, adapt and utilize technology to change and improve our world. The World Economic Forum is invested in monitoring and highlighting these innovations and exploring possible societal repercussions.
Each year, members, constituents and collaborators of the World Economic Forum nominate Technology Pioneers. The criteria for selection include:
- Innovation. The company's technology must be truly innovative. A new version or repackaging of an already well-accepted technological solution does not qualify as an innovation. The innovation should be recent - not more than two years old. The company should invest significantly in R&D.
- Potential Impact. This company's technology must have the potential to have a substantial long-term impact on business and society in the future.
- Growth and Sustainability. The company should have all the signs of a long-term market leader and should have well-formulated plans for future development and growth.
- Proof of Concept. The company must have a product on the market or have proven practical applications of the technology. Companies in "stealth" mode and companies with untested ideas or models will not qualify.
- Leadership. The company must have visionary leadership that plays a critical role in driving the company towards reaching its goals.
- Status. The company must not currently be a Member of the World Economic Forum. This criterion applies to the parent company - thus wholly-owned subsidiaries of large firms are not eligible.
Nominees are evaluated by an external review committee comprised of technology experts with respect to the criteria above.
About the World Economic Forum (www.weforum.org)
The World Economic Forum, based in Geneva, Switzerland, is an independent organization committed to improving the state of the world. Funded by the contributions of 1,000 of the world's foremost corporations, the Forum acts in the spirit of entrepreneurship in the global public interest to further economic growth and social progress. The Forum serves its members and society by creating partnerships between and among business, political, intellectual and other leaders of society to define, discuss and advance key issues on the global agenda. Incorporated in 1971 as a foundation, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit, and is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. In 1995 the Forum was awarded NGO consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
About Fortinet (www.fortinet.com)
Fortinet is the confirmed leader of Unified Threat Management market. The company's award-winning FortiGate™ series of ASIC-accelerated multi-threat security systems, winner of the 2004 Security Product of the Year Award from Network Computing Magazine and the 2003 Networking Industry Awards Firewall Product of the Year, are the new generation of real-time network protection systems. They detect and eliminate the most damaging, content-based threats from e-mail and Web traffic such as viruses, worms, intrusions, inappropriate Web content and more in real time - without degrading network performance.
Fortinet's solutions are the only security products that are certified seven times over by the ICSA (firewall, antivirus, IPSec, SSL, IDS, client antivirus detection and cleaning), and deliver a full range of network-level and application-level services in integrated, easily managed platforms. Named a Light Reading Top 10 Private Company and #4 on Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal's "Fast 50" list, Fortinet is privately held and based in Sunnyvale, California.
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