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GenAI Security Finder

Approach · FWG

Firewall or self-hosted AI gateway: keeping AI traffic in-house

In short

Some teams must keep prompts, data and logs on infrastructure they run, for data residency, sovereignty or internal policy. A firewall or self-hosted AI gateway applies AI controls there instead of in a vendor's cloud. On the pages we read, Fortinet describes this with FortiAIGate; Cato describes on-prem protection for homegrown AI apps through Outposts.

By The Inline Desk · GenAI Security Finder · Published 2026-10-26

Desk research from the six vendors' own public pages, read on 7 October 2026. Profiles follow our published method; we did not run the products.

The Prompt Path: three places a GenAI control can sit, in the security cloud, at an AI gateway, or on a firewall or self-hosted gateway.>>>>{}People and agentsAI services andMCP serversYour site or data centreSecurity cloud (SASE or SSE)AI gateway and guardrailsFirewall or self-hosted gatewaySSEAIGFWG
  • SSE · Security cloud (SASE or SSE)
  • AIG · AI gateway and guardrails
  • FWG · Firewall or self-hosted gateway
  • Filled square: described on the vendor pages we read
  • Hatched square: partly described (a narrower scope, or the enforcement point is not stated)
  • Dashed square: not in our sources (it may exist; we did not find it)
The Prompt Path shows where each vendor's own pages describe a control, or where your answers point. It does not measure how well a product works.

When does it fit?

When a regulator, a customer contract or your own policy says AI traffic may not be inspected in a third party's cloud; when the AI apps you protect already run in your own data centre; or when you have a firewall estate and no SASE or SSE yet.

What does it miss?

Remote employees who never pass your sites. A self-hosted control covers what is routed through it, so people working from home or on the road need either a tunnel back to your infrastructure or a cloud control as well.

What should you ask a vendor?

  • Which AI controls run on the self-hosted gateway, and which only in the vendor's cloud?
  • Where are logs kept, and can the vendor reach them?
  • How are detection models and signatures updated on infrastructure you run?
  • Can the same policy apply to remote users through the vendor's cloud?

Vendors that describe it

  • FortinetDescribed

    FortiAIGate is described as a purpose-built FortiGate; with self-hosting, data and logs stay on your infrastructure.

    Source: Fortinet: FortiAIGate · Read 7 Oct 2026

  • Cato NetworksPartly described

    Homegrown AI apps can also be protected on-prem with Outposts; self-hosted enforcement for employee AI use is not described.

    Source: Cato Networks: AI security · Read 7 Oct 2026

Not in our sources: Cisco, Netskope, Palo Alto Networks and Zscaler.

Questions

Is self-hosting slower to update?

It depends on how the vendor ships updates to your gateway. Ask how detection updates reach self-hosted units and how quickly.

Can I combine self-hosted and cloud controls?

Yes. Many companies keep sensitive AI apps on a self-hosted gateway and use a security cloud for employees outside the office.