Cisco Cognitive Threat Analytics vs Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB comparison

Cognitive Threat Analytics (CTA) enhances web security with breach detection and analytics to stop threats in the network. Online threats have become increasingly sophisticated, targeted attacks are on the rise, and cybercriminals launch their campaigns through a variety of vectors. They can serve up malvertising and deploy exploit kits that install rootkits. They can establish a botnet presence within your infrastructure. Once cybercriminals establish a foothold, more than 90 percent of their threats use the web. There, they can establish channels for command-and-control communications and exfiltrate sensitive information. Analyzing more than 10 billion web requests daily, Cisco Cognitive Threat Analytics finds malicious activity that has bypassed security controls, or entered through unmonitored channels (including removable media), and is operating inside an organization’s environment. Cognitive Threat Analytics is a cloud-based product that uses machine learning and statistical modeling of networks. It creates a baseline of the traffic in your network and identifies anomalies. It analyzes user and device behavior, and web traffic, to discover command-and-control communications, data exfiltration, and potentially unwanted applications operating in your infrastructure.

Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB is an advanced URL filtering solution that provides a way to control web access, as well as how users interact with online content. With this solution, your organization can prevent credential phishing theft by assuming strict control over which sites users can enter their corporate credentials into. Palo Alto Networks Advanced URL Filtering with PAN-DB provides web protection by using URL database capabilities to help you automatically detect and prevent new malicious and targeted web-based threats instantly.

Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB Features

Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

• Inline protection: Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB provides inline protection from new malicious web pages by using machine learning to detect and block new threats in milliseconds.

• Anti-evasion: Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB analyzes live web content, disrupting attackers and identifying the true nature of malicious sites hiding behind evasive techniques.

• Phishing protection: By using Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB, you can spot phishing pages instantly and accurately before they destroy your network.

• URL database: Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB has a URL database that maintains hundreds of millions of known malicious and benign URLs categorized through a combination of static, dynamic, machine learning, and human analysis.

• Criteria matching: With this feature, you can designate multiple policy action types based on URL categories or criteria.

Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB Benefits

There are many benefits to implementing Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

• Eliminates security silos: Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB gets rid of security silos so you can attain proper security posture and keep users safe.

• Cloud native: Because Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB is cloud native, it enables you to easily expand and scale capabilities when necessary.

• Minimizes operational expenditure: By reducing the need for standalone solutions, Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB helps your organization decrease operational expenditures.

• Safeguards against phishing: Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB enables you to stop credential phishing attempts by offering layers of prevention to protect your organization from known and brand-new phishing sites.

• Consistent security policies and capabilities: With Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB, you can deploy advanced URL filtering with hardware appliances, on virtual environments, or in the cloud with the same set of policies and security consistently applied.

• Increased detection: Detect evasive and targeted attacks by detecting real web traffic and not web crawler data.

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB solution.

Consultant Michael V. says, “What I really like about PAN and what makes it a worthwhile solution is that rather than having an administrator constantly updating a list of prohibited URLs, you can do it by categories. Every one of these URLs gets meta-tagged as hate speech or antisemitic or pornography, or whatever it is, and when you set up the filter everything that's prohibited by HR policy is there. I don't have to maintain anything, it catches everything.”

PeerSpot user Darshil S., Consultant at a tech services company, mentions, “The multiple categorizations of URLs are quite helpful. For example, if a URL is a social media website, such as facebook.com, it can be classified at a certain risk level - from high to low.”

Karthikeyan S., Sr. Cloud Data Architect at Sun Cloud LLC, explains, "Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB is easy to use, easy to operate, and easy to edit."