SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feburary 1, 2005 - Fortinet - the confirmed market leader in Unified Threat Management (UTM) and only provider of ASIC-accelerated, network-based antivirus firewall systems for real-time network protection -today announced that CinemaxX AG, Germany's leading cinema group, has chosen Fortinet's FortiGate™ systems to protect its distributed network of cinemas and enable secure online ticket purchasing transactions. CinemaxX AG has headquarters based in Hamburg, and 47 cinemas located in major towns and cities across Germany that welcome some 20 million visitors annually.

Following a restructure of its corporate network, CinemaxX AG re-evaluated the network security systems it had in place. It sought a security solution that could protect its headquarters and numerous branch locations, as well as provide real-time security for its online ticketing system, used by some thousand visitors daily. Due to limited IT and budget resources, CinemaxX needed a solution that would be easy to deploy across its distributed network, could be centrally managed from its headquarters, and provide cost-effective yet comprehensive security. For these reasons, they chose Fortinet's FortiGate network security systems.

"The comprehensive feature set of the FortiGate systems has enabled us to implement a high level of security across our network and for our online ticketing services in a cost-effective manner," said Bernd Glaue, lead network administrator at CinemaxX. "Additionally, the centralized management of the FortiGate platforms, together with the automatic updates provided by Fortinet's FortiProtect™ service, enable us to keep our networks secure with our limited IT staff resources. We are pleased with the products so far and intend to extend our use of Fortinet technology in the near future."

To enable complete content protection across its distributed network, CinemaxX deployed two FortiGate-200A systems at its headquarters and FortiGate-50A systems at each of its 47 cinemas across the country. All communication between the cinemas and headquarters, as well as the online ticketing transactions, are now secured via IPSec-encrypted VPN tunnels - just one of seven different security services included in the FortiGate systems. For an added layer of protection and to stop the propagation of threats introduced inside the network by mobile devices or internal employees, CinemaxX segmented its network into zones protected by FortiGate-50A devices.

Fortinet's FortiGate A Series network security platforms provide maximum levels of performance and throughput and deliver real-time complete content protection through the integration of a broad range of security functions -- including antivirus, firewall, virtual private networking (VPN), intrusion detection and prevention, content filtering, traffic shaping, and anti-spam. FortiGate systems ship with Fortinet's latest firmware, FortiOS™ 2.8, which offers powerful features such as spyware and antivirus protections combined with IDP and stateful firewall capabilities to deliver Fortinet's unique Dynamic Threat Prevention. All FortiGate systems, from large enterprise to small business units, are updated automatically by Fortinet's FortiProtect Network, which provides continuous updates that ensure protection against the latest viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware and other threats - around the clock and around the world.

"Fortinet's FortiGate A Series systems provide users with a choice of using a wide range of åÔbest in class, industry certified' security functions to deliver real-time security - a vital criteria when offering online commerce, such as online ticketing," said Adam Stein, Vice President of Corporate Marketing for Fortinet. "CinemaxX AG's implementation is a great example of how Fortinet protects multiple location retail enterprises against network security threats with cost-effective, comprehensive, and easy-to-manage solutions."

CinemaxX AG plans to extend its use of Fortinet technology in the near future, with the installation of FortiClient™, Fortinet's remote host VPN security, on all the laptops of its mobile workforce.