SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Fortinet – the only provider of ASIC-powered, network-based antivirus firewall systems for real-time network protection – today announced that it has achieved a major milestone in less than one year of commercial availability by shipping in worldwide distribution more than 10,000 FortiGate™ Antivirus Firewall units. This milestone highlights the rapid transition in the network security industry from low performance, software-based solutions to purpose-built hardware platforms capable of handling today's increasingly complex content-based threats. The FortiGate system uniquely screens Web and email traffic in real time at the edge of the network to block virus, worm and other content-based attacks, before they enter the enterprise. "This is a remarkable achievement for Fortinet, and a clear endorsement of our approach to the market," said Ken Xie, Fortinet's founder, president and CEO. "Our exclusive technology platform, our channel partners, and Fortinet's great team have combined to deliver what customers want – and propelled us to a leadership position in this exciting and rapidly growing market."The adoption rate of Fortinet's new generation antivirus firewall platforms has now outstripped that of earlier, legacy technologies which required months or years longer to achieve the same level of market penetration. Fortinet Inc.