Fortinet : Appoints Michelle Spolver to Chief Communications

New Executive Leadership Role Demonstrates Company's Commitment to Marketing and Value on Communications to Further Drive Global Awareness

SUNNYVALE, Calif. - July 27, 2016 -

Ken Xie, founder, chairman of the board and chief executive officer, Fortinet

'As Fortinet continues to focus on marketing investment, the importance that world-class communications plays in increasing and accelerating awareness is undeniable. Michelle has been an instrumental part of the leadership team at Fortinet for more than a decade, helping lead strategic corporate, product and financial communications through our high growth from a start-up to $1B+ publicly-traded, market-leading company. Her extensive knowledge of the network security industry, relationships with key stakeholders and proven ability to bolster awareness for Fortinet, make me pleased to appoint her to the role of chief communications officer.'

News Summary:

Fortinet ® (NASDAQ: FTNT), the global leader in high-performance cybersecurity solutions, today announced that it appointed global communications industry veteran Michelle Spolver as its chief communications officer. In this newly-created role designed to elevate and expand awareness for Fortinet, working hand in hand with global marketing, Spolver will oversee all internal and external communications, serving as a strategic advisor and further defining and enhancing the company's reputation with key stakeholders. She will report to Fortinet's founder, chairman and CEO, Ken Xie.

Spolver brings more than twenty years of communications and investor relations experience in network security and other information technology sectors to her new role. She has a proven track record of generating market awareness for companies large and small, creating and communicating corporate vision, influencing Wall Street, and developing strategic direction for corporate, product and financial communications.

Spolver most recently served as the vice president of corporate communications and investor relations for Fortinet. In her twelve-year tenure with the company she has been involved in successfully growing Fortinet's brand awareness through its various growth stages, from startup to IPO and beyond. Prior to Fortinet, Spolver held a communications leadership role at Check Point Software Technologies where she ran worldwide public relations and played an instrumental role in driving global market awareness for the cybersecurity company. Prior to Check Point, she drove corporate communications at Compaq Computer Corporation, now HP, where she developed strategic corporate and product PR programs that helped catapult market awareness for the company to becoming the largest supplier of PC systems. Spolver holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Long Beach.

'Fortinet's founding vision continues to play out as the network security market pivots towards integrated, high-performance platforms that protect from IoT to cloud,' said Ms. Spolver. 'Our innovative Security Fabric architecture and the best-in-class technology that attracted me and more than 275,000 customers to Fortinet has catapulted us to a market leader and puts us in a great position to continue to gain share. I'm thrilled to be part of a company and executive team that values the impact of strategic and integrated communications in driving brand awareness and enabling our large market opportunity.'