FortiClient EMS Platform for Endpoint Security Deployment & Management

Akins IT • July 17, 2018
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I last wrote about the powerful yet free AV and vulnerability endpoint protection solution offering by Fortinet called FortiClient and how it can be integrated with other Fortinet security fabric solutions to unlock enhanced features. One of those is achieved by leveraging the FortiClient EMS platform.


Device Management and Profiles



As mentioned before, FortiClient EMS can be deployed on a Windows Server 2012 R2 or higher system and provides an easy to use console for the management of FortiClient endpoints. The vulnerability dashboard also provides a high-level view of the overall endpoint security health at a glance.

Endpoints can also be moved into separate containers / groups allowing for customized profiles to be created and deployed. These profiles can range from custom AV and Vulnerability scanning options to web filtering and application firewall enforcement based on user type (ie. Staff, Student, Admin).


Leveraging profiles helps to not only organize the deployment and management of different device groups, but also assist in simple tasks such as disabling AV under special circumstances. The process to disable AV on some endpoint solutions can be pretty convoluted and can sometimes even require client uninstall to do so – in FortiClient EMS, it’s as simple as moving the device(s) into a container with a profile that has AV disabled. To re-enable, just move it back to the original container.

Web and Application Firewall


The web filtering and application firewall modules can be implemented to add an additional layer of security and compliance to endpoints. The enforcement of content as well as management of profiles and settings can persist even while the device is off-net. Off-net management is achieved by making the FortiClient EMS server accessible from the outside - endpoints can be configured to send its telemetry data to an outside gateway which then also allows profile changes to be synced.

Choose from block, allow or monitor for each web and application category.

Get more granular by selecting application signatures and applying block, allow or monitor status as needed.

Logging and Reporting



FortiClient EMS can also send traffic and event logs to a FortiAnalyzer, allowing for additional visibility into endpoint security events. Reporting options are also available from the FortiAnalyzer.

View a Sample of our Cybersecurity Report

AWS stumbled this morning. Here’s why multi‑cloud keeps you moving.

By Shawn Akins • October 20, 2025
October 20, 2025 — Early today, Amazon Web Services experienced a major incident centered in its US‑EAST‑1 (N. Virginia) region. AWS reports the event began around 12:11 a.m. PT and tied back to DNS resolution affecting DynamoDB , with mitigation within a couple of hours and recovery continuing thereafter. As the outage rippled, popular services like Snapchat, Venmo, Ring, Roblox, Fortnite , and even some Amazon properties saw disruptions before recovering. If your apps or data are anchored to a single cloud, a morning like this can turn into a help‑desk fire drill. A multi‑cloud or cloud‑smart approach helps you ride through these moments with minimal end‑user impact. What happened (and why it matters) Single‑region fragility: US‑EAST‑1 is massive—and when it sneezes, the internet catches a cold. Incidents here have a history of wide blast radius. Shared dependencies: DNS issues to core services (like DynamoDB endpoints) can cascade across workloads that never directly “touch” that service. Multi‑cloud: practical resilience, not buzzwords For mid‑sized orgs, schools, and local government, multi‑cloud doesn’t have to mean “every app in every cloud.” It means thoughtful redundancy where it counts : Multi‑region or multi‑provider failover for critical apps Run active/standby across AWS and Azure (or another provider), or at least across two AWS regions with automated failover. Start with citizen‑facing portals, SIS/LMS access, emergency comms, and payment gateways. Portable platforms Use Kubernetes and containers, keep state externalized, and standardize infra with Terraform/Ansible so you can redeploy fast when a region (or a provider) wobbles. (Today’s DNS hiccup is exactly the kind of scenario this protects against.) Resilient data layers Replicate data asynchronously across clouds/regions; choose databases with cross‑region failover and test RPO/RTO quarterly. If you rely on a managed database tied to one region, design an escape hatch. Traffic and identity that float Use global traffic managers/DNS to shift users automatically; keep identity (MFA/SSO) highly available and not hard‑wired to a single provider’s control plane. Run the playbook Document health checks, automated cutover, and comms templates. Then practice —tabletops and live failovers. Many services today recovered within hours, but only teams with rehearsed playbooks avoided user‑visible downtime. The bottom line Cloud concentration risk is real. Outages will happen—what matters is whether your constituents, students, and staff feel it. A pragmatic multi‑cloud stance limits the blast radius and keeps your mission‑critical services online when one provider has a bad day. Need a resilience check? Akins IT can help you prioritize which systems should be multi‑cloud, design the right level of redundancy, and validate your failover plan—without overspending. Let’s start with a quick, 30‑minute review of your most critical services and RPO/RTO targets. (No slideware, just actionable next steps.)

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