FortiLink SASE Service brings cloud-delivered security and centralised management to wired, wireless and IoT devices across microbranches and remote locations.
Fortinet has introduced its FortiLink SASE Service, extending cloud-delivered security to small branch offices, remote facilities and distributed locations without requiring a dedicated on-site firewall. The service aims to address a growing challenge for organisations operating across multiple sites: securing diverse connected devices while controlling infrastructure costs and management complexity.
Small offices and temporary facilities often have limited IT resources but support a mix of employee devices, printers, cameras and IoT equipment. Many such devices cannot run endpoint security agents, while deploying dedicated firewalls at every location can increase operational expenditure and maintenance requirements.
FortiLink SASE addresses this gap by connecting local networks to FortiSASE through supported Fortinet Wi-Fi access points and Ethernet switches. This enables organisations to extend security policies and traffic inspection across entire wired and wireless environments through a centralised cloud platform.
The approach is particularly relevant as enterprises adopt hybrid working models and expand operations across smaller, geographically distributed sites. Traditional security architectures can struggle to provide consistent protection across locations where dedicated IT infrastructure is impractical.
“By extending FortiSASE to local networks, we’re giving organisations a simpler way to protect users and devices while maintaining consistent security and centralised control.”
— Anthony James, EVP of Marketing, Fortinet
The service offers three principal capabilities: protecting devices that cannot run endpoint agents, simplifying deployment without requiring an individual security appliance at every site, and centralising network and security management through a single console.
“Organisations need flexibility in how they secure distributed locations, particularly where dedicated security infrastructure or agents may not be practical,” said Anthony James, EVP of Marketing at Fortinet.
Built on Fortinet’s unified networking and security architecture, FortiLink SASE extends protection beyond individual endpoints to entire microbranch environments. It reflects the broader shift towards Secure Access Service Edge architectures, where networking and security controls are increasingly delivered through integrated cloud-managed platforms.