Automated Patch Management for Leased Fortinet Gateways: Enhancing Cybersecurity and IT Infrastructure

If you’re in the business of being cybersecurity or managing IT infrastructure, keeping things up-to-date is a big deal. The difference between having hired Fortinet gateways and automated patch management is huge. Match this with a NOC performing firmware and OS updates and suddenly security and performance updates become frictionless. Leasing firewalls, servers and routers is one of the best ways for businesses to be able to exert full control over their patch management process; this is especially true with tools like FortiManager for Fortinet gateways.

Let’s dissect the mechanisms of this sort of automated patch management in terms of 4 areas: Patch Inventory, Scheduling, Validation and Rollback Processes. Knowing these components will assist companies to make the most of security and not to waste time and resources.

Patch Inventory

The first is a good patch inventory. That’s about knowing exactly which devices are online and about managing the existing firmware or OS of those devices.

• you need to monitor the software version of each of your Fortinet gateways when renting them.
• FortiManager is the brains here, pulling infromation on your leased gateways from the NOC.
• Inventory list for monitoring by NOC for patch missing, out of date firmware version etc.., refreshed on a regular basis.
• Automatic scans show which gateways need updates due to security releases or stability improvements.

The availability of a clear patch inventory can minimize surprises. You wouldn’t want to overlook a major vulnerability, just because a rented firewall was forgotten about. The NOC system for these rented Fortinet gateways carefully tracks them to guarantee they’re all in the patch inventory.

Scheduling

Next in line is scheduling the updates without interfering with business functions.

• NOC schedules the most optimal time to push firmware or OS updates based on business hours and traffic.
• Updates can be scheduled during off hours such as nights and weekends to reduce end user impact.
• Centralized management for scheduling these automatic updates for all Fortinet gateways that are rented for use with FortiManager.
• Scheduling also supports phased rollouts—updating a small slice before buttoning all the way up.

This intelligent scheduling also increases system protection and lowers downtime. Leasing equipment allows you do this without having to adapt your schedule to meet certain contracual telephone terms or operational needs.

Validation

When implement the patches, ensuring that the updates were successful is important.

• The NOC auto-checks once updated to verify new firmware and OS versions are installed.
• Real-time device status is logged by FortiManager for all devices, based on health and performance statistics.
• The team is notified automatically if any device fails validation or acts suspiciously.
• Validation scripts can also act as faketrffic and fakes to ensure the patches do not break services.

In combination, this immediate feedback loop contributes to the confidence in the automation of the patch management process. On rented Fortinet gateways this validation is even more important, as you want to be sure that rented devices are maintained to meet your security policy at all times.

Rollback Procedures

But things can break that we don’t expect, so we need rollback procedures for even the best-laid plans.

• NOC has images from the backup for each rented Fortigate device.
• In the case of validation failure or a performance decrease, automated rollback triggers retune a device to the previously stable settings.
• Rollbacks are fast to mitigate damage from bad patches or incompatibility.
• With FortiManager, rollback technology is built-in, ensuring that you can manage these systems to thousands of rented devices.

This safety net provides businesses with a guarantee that automated patching doesn’t mean they will face extended downtime. Renting your firewall and networking gear also gives you flexibility when testing and rolling back updates.

Why Renting Fortinet Devices with NOC Orchestration Makes Sense

• Leasing is capital cost free way of obtaining security hardware.
• You will have access to the most recent Fortinet gateways and you don’t have to worry about the hardware depreciation.
• The NOC is able to help coordinate a centralised approach to all of your automated patching, which minimises the requirement for on-site IT resources.
• FortiManager manages and orchestrates updates easily to keep leased devices secure, compliant and not bloated.
• Automated patch management via rented devices scales effortlessly which makes them ideal for any size of business.

Combining automated patch management with rented Fortinet gateways managed by a specialized NOC is a winning strategy in the current cybersecurity environment. Secure your firewalls and other rented networking gear while enjoying operational flexibility. If you run a small business or operate a multinational firm, this can save time, reduce expenses, and increase security.

Conclusion

In summary, make sure your rented Fortinet gateways are consistently patched via an organized NOC. Patch Inventory, Scheduling, Validation and Rollback Process It is all a process and working together to make the system as painless as possible and you don’t want it to add pain to your environment. By using FortiManager as the central control point, they have automated, consistent patch management without the headaches.

Being open to automatic patch management through leased Fortinet gateways and NOC orchestration is one prudent move closer to a higher-grade of security and business continuity.