WatchGuard Technologies, Inc. - Experts & Thought Leaders

WatchGuard® Technologies, a global pioneer in unified cybersecurity for managed service providers (MSPs), announces new investments in frontier AI for application security, expanding access to advanced capabilities from both OpenAI and Anthropic. Unlike vendors aligned to a single AI ecosystem, WatchGuard is pursuing a multi-model strategy designed to continuously evaluate, adopt, and operationalise the most effective AI innovations for cyber defense. As attackers increasingly use AI to automate reconnaissance, identify attack paths, and accelerate exploit development, WatchGuard is investing in the same technologies to strengthen vulnerability discovery, security testing, threat research, and remediation efforts. Through OpenAI's Daybreak program and Anthropic's Cyber Verification Program, WatchGuard security teams have access to advanced AI capabilities designed for cybersecurity use cases. Greatest defensive value "AI is fundamentally changing cybersecurity for both defenders and attackers," said Marc Laliberte, Head of Security Operations at WatchGuard Technologies. "Cybercriminals are already using these technologies to uncover weaknesses and accelerate attacks. Our responsibility is to ensure defenders benefit from equally powerful capabilities.” WatchGuard is integrating these capabilities across a range of security functions, including product security testing, penetration testing, red teaming, threat research, and vulnerability remediation. By operationalising frontier AI from multiple providers, the company can rapidly evaluate emerging technologies and apply them where they deliver the greatest defensive value. Evaluating emerging technologies Today, more than 25,000 MSPs and security partners rely on WatchGuard solutions to help secure more than 1.5 million companies worldwide. Those organizations depend on security providers to continually evolve alongside a threat landscape that is increasingly shaped by AI. "The future of cybersecurity won't be built on a single AI model," said Joe Smolarski, Chief Executive Officer at WatchGuard Technologies. "That's why we're aggressively investing across the frontier AI ecosystem, giving our teams access to advanced capabilities from multiple providers. As these technologies evolve, we'll continue evaluating, adopting, and operationalising the innovations that help our partners and customers stay ahead of what's next."

WatchGuard® Technologies, a global pioneer in unified cybersecurity for managed service providers (MSPs), announces the appointment of Vincent Hwang as Chief Product Officer, reporting to CEO, Joe Smolarski. Hwang joins WatchGuard at a pivotal moment as the company sharpens its platform and AI innovation strategies to help MSPs simplify operations, reduce tool sprawl, and deliver stronger security outcomes at scale. With deep expertise across cloud, endpoint, network, and SecOps, he will lead the next phase of WatchGuard’s product evolution, focused on making enterprise-grade protection easier to deploy, manage, and monetise for partners serving the midmarket, while advancing AI-driven capabilities that help MSPs operate and scale more efficiently. Scaling cybersecurity products “Vince brings a rare combination of deep cybersecurity expertise and the ability to turn product strategy into real market momentum,” said Joe Smolarski, CEO at WatchGuard Technologies. “He understands our partners, knows how to build platforms that align with how they operate, and has consistently delivered growth by connecting innovation with real-world outcomes. That’s exactly what WatchGuard needs in this next phase of growth.” Hwang brings over two decades of experience as a visionary Cybersecurity product executive, building and scaling cybersecurity products across some of the industry’s most influential companies. He joins WatchGuard from Fortinet, where he led their Cloud Security business, delivering consistent double-digit growth. Early endpoint detection Prior to Fortinet, Hwang played a key role in advancing modern threat protection at Sourcefire and Cisco, where he contributed to the development of early endpoint detection and response (EDR) capabilities and helped shape Cisco’s advanced malware protection and Zero Trust strategies. Previously, he served as CPO at Bitdefender, leading their global product organization including product management and engineering. “WatchGuard has a unique opportunity to define what modern cybersecurity looks like for MSPs and their customers,” said Hwang. “The market is at an inflection point: partners are consolidating vendors and looking for platforms that simplify operations while keeping pace with evolving threats. I’m excited to build on WatchGuard’s strong foundation and accelerate a product strategy that delivers both operational efficiency and meaningful security outcomes.”

WatchGuard Technologies, a global pioneer in unified cybersecurity for MSPs, today announced a new generation of Firebox rackmount appliances designed to help Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and enterprise organizations scale security performance without adding operational complexity. The new Firebox appliances deliver industry-best firewall performance, built-in high-speed connectivity and enterprise-class reliability for large, distributed environments and modern networks. “MSPs and IT teams shouldn’t have to choose between enterprise-grade performance and operational simplicity,” said Andrew Young, Chief Product Officer at WatchGuard Technologies. “With our new high-performance Firebox appliances, we’re enabling partners to confidently support larger, more demanding customer environments while maintaining the streamlined deployment, management, and licensing experience that defines the WatchGuard platform.” High-speed network integrations The new Firebox appliances feature three performance tiers to support evolving MSP and enterprise requirements, including a comprehensive set of high-speed network integrations for native 25G and 100G connectivity. WatchGuard is also the first vendor to incorporate an industry-standard OCP 3.0 expansion bay into a firewall platform, enabling all three models to deliver 100G networking today while future-proofing the architecture for next-generation expansion. The appliances include redundant power supplies and hot-swappable fans as standard to provide the resiliency, uptime and operational continuity required for mission-critical and campus deployments. Larger customer environments “Midmarket and distributed enterprise organizations increasingly require security solutions that provide scalability, performance and efficacy without adding complexity to the operation of the solution,” said Pete Finalle, Research Manager at IDC. “Solutions that can balance operational and security outcomes while reducing overhead are particularly attractive to MSPs seeking versatile solutions that can expand into larger customer environments.” The rapid growth of encrypted traffic and high-speed network modernisation has forced MSPs and IT teams to reconsider their approach to delivering scalable security without sacrificing operational simplicity. The new Firebox appliances provide a clear growth path with predictable security performance, integrated high-speed networking, and simplified management through WatchGuard’s Unified Security Platform®. More complex environments “Our customers expect high performance and reliability, but they also expect simplicity,” said Kris Vastenavondt, Security Engineer and WatchGuard trainer, Infinigate, a WatchGuard Distributor. “The new Firebox appliances give us the ability to support larger and more complex environments while continuing to manage security efficiently across customers.” The new Firebox M4850, M5850, and M6850 appliances are now available through WatchGuard’s global partner network.