The Necessity of Zero Trust Networking and Fortinet NetOps Enablement

It’s the 3rd coffee of the day — which is at least a three-coffee kind of a day — and I’m enjoying the buzz, given that my mind is still spinning from the DefCon hardware hacking village. You know, where you’re feeling that adrenaline hit from seeing stuff break before your eyes, but with a grin on your face because you’ve been through a lot worse? Such as the Slammer worm tearing through networks in the early 2000s with wild abandon. Well, I learned one thing from those days: trust is not cheap. And that’s the more technical explanation for why Zero Trust Networking is not a buzzword. It’s a necessity.

The Need for Zero Trust

Bear with me as I tip my hat to the old days. When I became a network admin in ’93, when I was dealing with voice and data traffic—muxing over PSTN—security was…well, different. The perimeter model was in charge; if you were inside you were trusted. But then there were threats like the Slammer worm. And today? It’s chaos out there. Remote work, cloud, BYOD — your network’s edges are riddled with holes.

Zero Trust Networking: Never trust, always verify And that is the thing about Zero Trust Networking: never trust, always verify. That all sounds simple, but how to implement it? Different story.

If you are still dependent on the old-fashioned perimeter defense, then you are really closing the door after the criminals have already stolen everything from the house. It is no longer about who can build better walls, it is about whose footfalls are those pounding the gate and what do they want and whether they have any business in there.

I was hired recently to modernize the Zero Trust architectures of three banks. Why banks? Because trust models are put to the test daily when money’s involved. Spoiler: it’s not as simple as flipping a switch.

How Fortinet NetOps Enablement and Our Partners Support ZTNA

Which is where Fortinet’s NetOps service comes in. Fortinet ZTNA offers a fundamental change in secure operations that is coupled to Zero Trust architectures. This is where you should visualize NetOps as the conductor of an orchestra—every single conductor, every harmony of network elements, of firewalls, of servers, of routers, all in wonderful synchronization of Zero Trust principles.

Fortinet isn’t pasting a Zero Trust label on and calling it a day. Their approach in NetOps:

• Automates policy enforcement on multiple layers of network.
• Monitors the behavior of devices and users in real time.
• Deep integration with identity providers for real-time access control.
• Establishes micro-segmentation down to the segment level, minimizing lateral movement.

And unlike some of the companies hyping their AI-powered magic wands — the ones whose performance I still have quality doubts about, to be honest — Fortinet emphasizes strong, proven tech with automation that actually gets things done. No fluff.

From my standpoint, what really sets Fortinet’s NetOps apart is its ability to make IT operations more congruous with security goals. When implementing ZTNA, you can no longer dissociate network operations and security because they are two sides of the same coin. Fortinet tools provide that same operational visibility and control at the same pane, reducing work around Zero Trust for teams of any dimension.

Implementation Strategies

Okay, now here’s where the rubber hits the road — deploying ZTNA isn’t purely a technology issue; it’s a mindset-change issue, it’s a corporate culture issue, and it’s a process issue. After doing what many clients do without success, and running my own consultancy for almost four years, here are some tried-and-true strategies I can tell you work:

Start Small, Scale Smart

• Start with the most sensitive apps or the highest-risk users. Don’t boil the ocean.
• Define a strong foundation in Identity and Access Management (IAM) first.
• Leverage Fortinet’s NetOps to orchestrate micro-segmentation on an incremental basis—secure east-west traffic without interfering with business as usual.

Visibility is King

• Constant vigilance is not optional.
• Utilize Fortinet’s centralized dashboards for anomaly tracking and dynamic policy enforcement.
• Incident response is quicker when your network ops and security people are in lockstep.

Better to Automate Than Do It Manually — But You Can’t Place Blind Trust in Automation

• Leverage orchestration for mundane workloads and policy changes.
• But verify the behavior of automated things; trust, but verify.

User Education & The Role Of Password Policy

Okay, rant is on — again! Overused or outdated password complexity and rotation requirements. I mean, really, expecting us to change a 25-character passphrase every week is a waste of everyone’s time. Here’s the deal:

• Promote passphrases instead of random characters.
• Pair with MFA — for all admins, please.
• Teach users about phishing and social engineering, not simply ask them to update their passwords.

The human point is often the most vulnerable. Fortinet ZTNA has a good integration with MFA solutions and fills this gap quite well.

PJ Networks’ NetOps & ZTNA Solution

I run PJ Networks, and have rolled out Fortinet NetOps to secure clients’ infrastructures in many industries, including even more so lately in financial institutions. Three banks, specifically, who required a complete makeover to their Zero Trust configuration.

Here’s what we went with — it’s a synthesis of real-world deployment, not abstract theory, of course:

• Merged Fortinet firewalls with identity services to utilize role-based access control.
• Implement ongoing device state attestation along with analysis of user identity.
• Deployed micro-segmentation to protect its high-value banking apps.
• Utilized automation and APIs available on the Fortinet platform for keeping policies in sync as networks grew or were modified.

We saw immediate returns: reduced incidents, faster remediation, and a massive reduction in unnecessary access. It’s the equivalent of doing the full volume of a noisy open office and making it into a whisper-quiet library — no one hears anything they shouldn’t hear.

And here’s the kicker: lots of clients thought Zero Trust = pain + complexity. But using Fortinet’s support for NetOps, the operational overhead was actually reduced. And that persuaded the skeptical managers, not my tech jargon.

Quick Take

• Fortinet NetOps is critical in achieving Zero Trust Network Access in high complexity environments.
• Identity, device and network layers’ packaged integration lead to fine grained control.
• Automation is your friend — but don’t be a one-trick pony. Always have human eyes.
• Micro-Segmentation is a requirement to block lateral spread of the threats.
• Real-world trials at banks show it works and is feasible.

Conclusion

Here’s what I can tell you as someone who has spent close to three decades working in networking and security (from those days when you hear that slammed PSTN mux and your heart races): This is not just a tech refresh; it’s a paradigm shift. Fortinet’s NetOps tools are that shift, with not just the grit to do the dirty work, but the grace required to move the dirty work out of the sometimes disorganized world of network operations and into a zone of ungoalsecurity.

If you’re still using the perimeter mind-set, you’re on the highway driving a classic car and you don’t have any brakes. Fun? Maybe. Safe? Hell no.

Fortinet ZTNA, with strong NetOps to back you up, puts those brakes back on — provides backup cameras, cruise control, and lane detection while you’re at it.

So, with the following coming from my desk, regular caffeine intake and a healthy dose of skepticism here is what I tell IT and security professionals to do: Invest in Secure NetOps tightly integrated with Zero Trust principles. You’ll be giving your network — and your users — a thank-you.

Because, at the end of the day, security is not just about tools. It’s about trust built one verified connection at a time.