Comcast Biz teams with Fortinet, Akamai on cybersecurity

Sept. 5, 2019
Comcast Business (NASDAQ:CMCSA) announced two strategic initiatives aimed at increasing innovation in cloud-based cybersecurity solutions for its business services ...

Comcast Business (NASDAQ:CMCSA) announced two strategic initiatives aimed at increasing innovation in cloud-based cybersecurity solutions for its business services customers of all sizes - SMB through enterprise - via collaborations with Fortinet and Akamai.

"In today's hyper-connected world, cyberthreats are becoming more sophisticated and prevalent. No organization is too large or too small to be a target," said Bob Victor, SVP of Product Management, Comcast Business. "These strategic initiatives will drive increased cybersecurity innovation across our product portfolio, helping customers of all sizes stay protected and secure. We're thrilled to work with these two industry leaders and look forward to unveiling the output of these relationships in the near future."

Comcast Business is collaborating with Fortinet to bring advanced security solutions to midsize and enterprise customers via Comcast Business' ActiveCore software-defined-networking (SDN) platform. The engagement is intended to integrate capabilities of Fortinet's FortiGate-VM Next-Generation Firewall Virtual Appliance and Fortinet Security Fabric to help protect against a variety of security threats, including malware and attacks that simultaneously target different network vulnerabilities.

"Organizations undergoing digital innovation need an efficient and advanced security solution designed to protect their WAN edge. We believe the right solution offers deep visibility, robust protection, management simplicity and optimal performance to mitigate risk, manage operational expense and improve TCO," said John Maddison, EVP of products and CMO at Fortinet. "We welcome the opportunity to work with Comcast Business to deliver integrated security solutions - to help protect critical data from the network core to the edge."

Comcast Business' partnership with Akamai is intended to develop cloud-based cybersecurity solutions aimed at protecting small business customers from increased cyberattacks. The solutions are designed to mitigate rising risk and to provide small business owners greater visibility into their network safety with personalized dashboards and customized reports detailing network activity and threats.

"While cybersecurity remains a high priority for most organizations that conduct business online, many SMBs lack the internal resources to address those challenges themselves," said Dane Walther, SVP and GM, Media & Carrier, Akamai. "We're excited to partner with Comcast Business in an effort to close that gap and help make cloud-based security services anchored by strong threat intelligence more accessible to a broader range of businesses."

Comcast and LG

In other Comcast news, the Xfinity Stream beta app is now available for 2019, 2018, and 2017 LG smart TVs. Xfinity Stream lets customers access live, on demand, and cloud DVR programming on LG 4K UltraHD smart TVs - including the LG OLED and LG NanoCell TVs - and HD smart TVs, without the need to lease a traditional set-top box.

With Xfinity Stream features the X1 guide; access to most recently watched programming; parental controls; categories for TV shows, movies, sports, kids, and more; and the ability to access and scroll through the guide on the same screen while watching live programming.

LG is a member of the Xfinity TV Partner Program.