Brenda crossed her arms. "What about the water park? The point-of-sale tablets for the tiki bar? They’re on a separate network, but they were hit last time too."

Over the next hour, Leo walked Brenda through the new setup. The FortiGate’s web filter blocked access to known malware distribution sites—even if a guest clicked a malicious link in a phishing email. The application control prevented rogue devices like a hacker’s Raspberry Pi plugged into a lobby Ethernet jack from gaining a foothold. And the built-in sandboxing: any suspicious file that made it past the first layer was detonated in a virtual environment inside the firewall itself. If it acted like ransomware, it was shredded.

In Myrtle Beach, where the digital tide came in twice a day with new threats from across the globe, the FortiGate stood guard. Not flashy. Not loud. Just a quiet, relentless sentinel, watching every packet, every connection, every shadow in the wire.

It was not good enough. It was a disaster.