Fortinet FortiAuthenticator vs Symantec VIP Access Manager comparison

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is the primary secure point of approved access into the Fortinet network, authorizing users, reviewing access permissions, and relaying the information to all Fortigate devices for comparison with identity-based protocols. Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is a top-ranked authorization and SSO solution.

Appropriate secure access is fundamental to every role in an enterprise ecosystem. It is an integral function of every organization to ensure that every access and privilege is secure and to mitigate any possible risk to an organization. Approved users should only have access to the necessary information when they need it, from the appropriate location(s) to safeguard an organization's security at all times.

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator is available as an appliance, virtual machine, or in the cloud.

Fortinet FortiAuthenticator Methods

• FSSO: FortiAuthenticator Single sign-on user will easily identify users and assign role or group access based on preset identity-based protocols. FortiAuthenticator integrates well with third-party LDAP or active directories, is very flexible, and combines these methods to provide effective security.
  
  
• Active Directory Polling: Active directory access is securely identified by consistent polling of domain controllers. As users log in, username, IP address, and other details are logged into the database and can be shared across devices as directed by FortiAuthenticator protocols.
  
  
• FortiAuthenticator Portal and Widgets: If a user system does not support AP polling, or for other reasons it is not feasible, FortiAuthenticator offers a unique secure authentication portal. Users can be manually authenticated and, to diminish the effect of numerous logins, an intuitive set of widgets is available to integrate into an organization's ecosystem that will automatically grant access to users when they access the organization's intranet homepage.
  
  
• RADIUS Accounting Login: For organizations that use RADIUS authentication, RADIUS Accounting is available for user identification. This process will prompt user access information (IP and group, etc.) and eliminate the need for multiple levels of authentication.

Reviews from Real Users

Ernesto C., Presales Engineer at a comms service provider, shares,

”Key Features and Benefits

1. Two-factor/OTP Authentication with FortiToken: Enforce user-based policies. Fortitoken is available in soft and hard versions for flexible usage. Most Valuable in Mobile Phones App for OTP.
2. Integration with LDAP and AD: This solution integrates with existing enterprise systems and technologies from diverse vendors of user information management systems.
3. LPAD/AD/RADIUS/SYSLOG/KERBEROS/REST API/FSSO and Web Portals: There is flexible integration with these services.
4. It is usable in network, WAN, wireless, and VPN Scenarios.
5. The domain and guest-users support are good.”

Ibrahim M., Senior Network & Security Engineer at a tech services company, relates, "The initial setup is a valuable point on Fortinet products. Most of the time, putting the theory into practice on the devices is quite friendly and straightforward. As long as you can read English you can find your way around the solution and make it work. This is a high value point on Fortinet - the way everything is laid out in the web UI is user-friendly and quite straightforward. The UI is quite simple."

Symantec VIP Access Manager is the next generation control platform that integrates Single Sign-On (SSO) with strong authentication, access control, and user management. It offers users and administrators control, convenience, and compliance for public and private cloud- based applications. Symantec VIP Access Manager solves cloud security problems using identity and/or context-based access control across multiple cloud applications. In the cloud, where a traditional enterprise perimeter doesn't exist, this solution fills the gap. Through Symantec VIP Access Manager, administrators can define policies that utilize the built-in user directory or existing identity management infrastructure to enforce security and compliance for applications without getting in the way of productivity. Symantec VIP Access Manager can also protect and consolidate access management for on-premise web applications. It also simplifies compliance auditing for cloud applications by consolidating logs across all applications it protects.