2026 SC Award winner Fortinet — Best SASE Solution

Fortinet has been named the winner of the Best SASE Solution category in the 2026 SC Awards for its Fortinet Unified SASE platform, which combines networking and security services into a single cloud-delivered architecture designed to support zero-trust access across distributed environments.

As organizations expand hybrid workforces and rely on cloud and SaaS applications, managing secure access to enterprise resources has become more complex. The category recognizes solutions that integrate wide area networking and security services to enable policy-based access to applications and data regardless of user or device location.

Fortinet Unified SASE addresses these challenges by converging secure SD-WAN, Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), cloud-delivered firewall, secure web gateway, CASB, and advanced threat protection into a unified platform. Policies can be centrally defined and consistently enforced across users, devices, branches, and cloud environments. AI-powered security services detect threats in real time, while integrated ZTNA enforces least-privilege access based on identity, device posture, and risk.

The platform is designed to reduce operational complexity by consolidating networking and security functions while improving visibility and threat response across hybrid infrastructures. Features such as inline CASB and generative AI controls help prevent data leakage and unauthorized use of AI tools, while a unified management plane correlates network and security telemetry to accelerate investigations and reduce alert fatigue.

Judge Patrick J. O’Guinn Sr., a lawyer and cybersecurity program director at the University of Maryland Global Campus, highlighted the platform’s enterprise scale and growth, noting it “converges secure networking and cloud-delivered security into a single architecture to improve threat response,” supported by strong adoption, scalability, and reliable global support.