AlgoSec Reviews

The primary use case of this solution was to optimize and cleanup all the unused legacy firewall rules from multiple firewalls which was massive in terms of time and effort.

The other user case in our environment was to automate all the manual day to day firewall changes to reduce the turnaround time for application owners.

We wanted to have central visibility for our entire firewall portfolio to see the firewall flow of traffic traversing through multiple layers of firewalls.

Definitely with the help of this solution it made our life easier to optimize and clean up the task within a short span of time which provided the quick visibility of all the rules to be actioned.

Traffic Analyzer provided the centralized view for our IT SOC operations to focus mainly on high-risk firewall rules exposing with explicit any rules.

The other best feature is the Fire flow module which is in the process of implementation to automate the firewall rules changes along with the workflow model right from the requester to the implementer.

Both the modules of AlgoSec solution which has been on-boarded in our environment are amazing to use it as it provides a central end to end visibility of the firewall rules spanning across the multiple layers of the firewall.

It's helping our Risk and Compliance team to assess all our firewall rules periodically and help us to remain compliant. 

It saves a lot of manual time especially in daily operations and increases the turnaround time for business.

It has helped us internally to provide the documentation for our auditing and reporting purposes.

AlgoSec should explore integrating more multi-vendor platforms and should be looking towards ready infrastructure for providing Infrastructure as service (IAAS) on any cloud platforms as the trend and technology is gradually moving from In House platforms to Cloud platforms.

Algosec should also be exploring the integration with the open source firewalls as well.

The GUI features of Algosec solution should be more flexible to use and adopt.

We have been using this solution for one year.

In terms of scalability, it's a license-based model to add license at any point of time when you have any new firewalls added in the portfolio.

Customer service is good but needs more improvement to be on listening side of the customers.

No, this is the first time we have introduced this solution.

Our Initial setup was not so straight forward as we were exploring all the features to its depth so lots of engagement was done with OEM level to explore and implement in our environment.

We went through local vendor support however the involvement from OEM was also huge and phenomenal.

Definitely the simplicity to use this solution is the key factor to be a leader in this competition and the other factor is the response and support model.

We went through the RFP process evaluation for all the magic quadrant leaders of the  market.

Our primary use for AlgoSec is to automate our firewall configuration. We use the AlgoSec system to remotely configure the firewalls, making our life easier.

We are in a multisite environment with plenty of firewalls for perimeter security and LAN segregation for specific proposes. This solution helped us to make the process more dynamic.

It has reduced the workload for the firewall team thanks to the API integration with our ticketing system, handling the standard types of requests automatically. Before having it, we had to create a lot of standard rules that now can now be just pushed from the AlgoSec system.

It has also helped in terms of firewall monitoring. Automatic alerts are sent to the security team so we can react quicker in case something goes wrong or a thread is detected going through the firewall. This is made possible using the simple reports.

The most valuable feature of this solution from an operations perspective is the automation of the firewall rule deployment, working together with our ticketing system.

Any new needs are requested by a user using the internal webpage request. This request is automatically validated against a set of standard rules. If the request is compliant, the new rule sets are automatically configured in the specified firewalls without any human action. This reduces the firewall team's workload and improves efficiency.

It would be nice to have a good tool for network map discovery in the GUI to make it more user-friendly. I would also like to be able to check and modify network maps in a graphical and more intuitive way. This will improve our network overview for new deployments and troubleshooting.

An API to connect to Palo Alto Prisma and Zscaler to be used after SD-WAN deployment would be a helpful feature. We have discussed this with AlgoSec and are hoping to see it in the near future. 

We have been using the AlgoSec solution for four years.

We did not use a solution like this one previously. This is the first time.

I'm part of the team that uses the AlgoSec solution, not on the finance IT team.

Firewall rule base management and FCR processing is the main reason we use AlgoSec.

We also use it for troubleshooting purposes and reporting. In that sense, there are three instances that are the main consumers of it. Our infrastructure management uses reporting to get insights, our Network and Security team does all of the FCR processing and troubleshooting of network problems, and our security department that also uses reporting and is part of the approval process for FCRs that are placed in AlgoSec.       

AlgoSec provided a much easier way to process FCRs and get visibility into traffic. With previous vendors, we had to guess what was going on with our traffic and we were not able to act accordingly.

By automating some parts of the work, business pressure is also reduced since we now deliver much faster. I received feedback from our security department that their FCR approval process is also now much easier. The network team is also now able to process FCRs much faster and with more accuracy.

Most of all, Technical Reviews are now top-notch and AlgoSec does part of the job automatically that had been done manually with our previous vendor.

We now process FCRs much faster, which helps us to deliver faster and implement reworks at a quicker rate.

With Business Flow and Firewall Analyzer, it provides much better visibility into traffic and process flows. Visibility into traffic was our main problem in the past since we had no clue what was going on but now, we have all sorts of analyses and reports. This makes our decision process, firewall clean up, and troubleshooting much easier.

All of the search options needed are there but the search menu could be a bit more intuitive. In other words, I can perform any search I want without any problems but combining different search parameters can sometimes be a problem.

Creating more intuitive menus could be helpful, especially for the first-time users.

For example, it would be useful to be able to save searches with complex structure so they can be easily reused with simple change of parameter. Also, "contain" criteria sometimes misses just like ability to search using any value in basic search box, instead of reaching out to Advanced search (it would be great if simple typing IP address, or Project ID in basic search box lists all rules containing such a value).

We have been using AlgoSec in production for about one year. Before that, we used it as a PoC for around six months.

We have had no issues in the past year.

This solution is very scalable.

We used another vendor prior to AlgoSec but we were not satisfied with the "intelligence" of the product when it came to the processing of FCRs.

We also evaluated Skybox.

I have not seen any major issues with AlgoSec and it is better than the previous product we used. I am glad to have it now.

We use this solution for Firewall Rule Management, to know who did what and why.

We use AlgoSec FireFlow to create Rules for the Firewalls with detailed information. It is used by end-users who supply the requirements for which this rule is needed, and then it goes to Security for approval.

We use AlgoSec Firewall Analyzer to get the audit reports on the firewall and to verify that change, which was approved by the Security and Network teams, is implemented in the right way.

It is a great tool for audit purposes.

Also it tells us if our firewall is compliance with PCI or not.

We use this for Compliance purposes also.

They are both integrated with each other.

This solution is helping us in the long term for managing the firewall configurations.

AlgoSec FireFlow Network Security solution is an end-to-end solution that ensures that firewall changes are approved, necessary, and implemented in the right way.

If some change is not implemented correctly then it warns you right away.

Also, while migrating from Cisco to AlgoSec, we can see the hit counts on the security rules and when the last time each rule was used. Depending on this information, we only use security rules that are more recently used when configuring new firewalls for migration.

For Palo Alto Firewalls, we have configured a lot of virtual routers as part of the network. This segmentation allows different network traffic to be isolated from a security point of view.

For us, it is a great management and audit tool.

This appliance has a lot of great features to offer.

You can buy the physical appliance or VM depending on your company requirements.

Features we like are:

1. Multi-approval AlgoSec Fireflow rule creation system. The end-user can only implement the rule if it is approved by all of the IT groups.
2. Very good integration with other vendor's products like Cisco or Palo Alto Firewalls.
3. This Appliance gives you the full Network MAP, which is obtainable from the Routing table.
4. It is easy to find whether a security policy is blocked, as well as where and by which device.

We love all the features of this device. It can be a bit expensive for small companies but they also have a VM model for that.

It seems that AlgoSec created a VSYS (Virtual system) for each virtual router name, even though our firewall has only a single VSYS. We are ok to work with this, but if this can be fixed in a future release then that will be great.

We have been using this solution for three years.

We have had no Hardware or Software issue so far with this Product.

This Appliance never went down and whenever we did any software upgrades it went very smooth. Also in our environment we had no issues due to any software bugs.

Their Software is pretty stable and bug free.

We love the scalability of this product.

This solution has Five Star technical support.

It is great to work with its Customer and Technical support team.

We used a different solution prior to this one and we had issues integrating with our new firewall vendor which was Palo Alto

The initial setup is straightforward, and we had no issues during the installation.

We performed the implementation in-house.

It seems we have recovered our money on this appliance, so it is money well spent.

Initial setup was not that hard. Vendor did this for us.

Licensing depends on how many firewalls your company has.

They have license options for small to big customers depending on the network.

Price is fair for Licensing and Product.

We evaluated a few other options, including Tufin, before choosing this solution.

My advice is to go with this product. It is easy to set up and use. It has great features and very good technical support to back it.

So far, we find ourselves below limitations on this appliance with the version we are currently running.

Overall, this is a Great security management product with good automation options to help your security teams function.

The primary use of this appliance is for Firewall maintenance and monitoring. Firewalls are a critical component in all organizations. As engineers, we are tasked with more responsibilities. You want to efficiently manage your time and devices, AlgoSec helps tremendously with that.

AlgoSec has improved our organization by providing us with an appliance to assist with our daily Firewall duties. AFA & AFF assist with change detection and logging of user modifications. Also, it's a great tool when preparing for audits and ensuring your firewalls are in compliance.  

The feature I find most valuable is Change Detection email notifications. We are able to track real-time changes made.

Currently, the product is doing everything we have asked for. Its a huge component for our Firewall maintenance. One key component is the integration with ServiceNow for Firewall rule requests. This helps expedite the process and track every step from user to configuration. 

Some area's where the product can improve is with the knowledgebase. Sometimes you have to do additional reading for your particular error.

Some additional features I'd like to see are for the reports. As opposed to showing me the entire objects/rules on the change detection email for that particular firewall, I'd like to see just the changes. I think this would be beneficial to none technical personal that may get overwhelmed with all of the data.

Also, having a Linux or programming background makes troubleshooting easier. That is one challenge I'm working on now to improve fixing our issues quicker.  

So far for what the solution does, it's stable. 

The solution is very scalable so far. 

Support thus far is sufficient for our needs. Their system is very timely and engineers engage you via email first, then migrate to phone and screen share if needed. 

No previous solution.

I wasn't part of the implementation. 

I wasn't part of the implementation. 

I think we have a great ROI due to the improved visibility and management that the solution now provides us. 

I wasn't part of the setup cost. Pricing and licensing seem fair. Licensing depends on how big your organization is. We haven't had any issues with purchasing more licenses for our growth. 

This solution was in place prior to me transitioning to this role. 

No additional comments. 

We use the solution for firewall management (with AFA - AlgoSec Firewall Analyzer) and application network visibility (with AppViz).  

We are running multiple firewalls and hundreds of users who request firewall connectivity.  

When it comes to a large organization with many vendors/partners, our firewalls are more easily managed using the AlgoSec AFA component.  The ease of use, visibility, compliance, and efficiency is unmatched in the industry. 

We have used AlgoSec AFA to have more visibility into the network and know what firewalls to activate. 

AlgoSec AFA has great search tools and firewall cleanup functionality. 

The Algsec AppViz is a newer Algosec element that we will use to improve application security and visibility in our complex network.

The firewall management tool and AppViz for application visibility and security in the network are great. 

The user-friendliness, visibility, compliance and efficiency are unparalleled in the industry. We have more visibility into the network and now we know what firewalls to activate. 

AlgoSec AFA has great search tools.

The firewall cleanup functionality is helpful. 

We also enjoyed the use of AlgoCare which speeds up the ticket troubleshooting process with AlgoSec Support.

I would say that the cases opened with AlgoSec could be solved faster or escalated sooner to the senior engineers/2nd or 3rd tier. AlgoSec Support is very good at responding very fast (faster than the required SLA) and very timely. Their engineers are based either in India or Israel. Each region has its sales person and technical engineer person.  

Another pet peeve is that there are hotfixes for new issues or bugs at least once a month, if not more frequently.  Overall, AlgoSec is trying to improve its case-resolution support team and process, and we are optimistic that our issues or bugs will be fixed much timelier.

We've used the solution for over three years.

It is a very stable product.

The solution is very scalable.

Customer service and support are very prompt, always complying with SLAs. However, the time to resolution can be improved.

Neutral

We did not use a different solution previously.

The initial setup is very straightforward, and the online documentation and AlgoSec engineer support are more than adequate.

We set up the solution in-house.

I am not privy to the financial benefits or ROI for this product.

I am not privy to the cost of the product, as I am a Network Specialist.

The AlgoSec solution was selected before I joined the organization.

We use AlgoSec to provide compliance and for the ease of automating everyday security tasks. We have more than five hundred firewalls and automation is a must. This was the best product in terms of the flexibility and visibility that we needed to manage them across different regions. We can modify policy according to our maintenance schedule and time zones.

AlgoSec has reduced the need for additional manpower and we can now use the time to tackle other security-related issues. For incident response, you can automatically isolate compromised servers from the network.

It helps remove rules with limited impact on other applications. By maintaining a clean security policy, it reduces the risk from the most common attacks and also improves performance.

AlgoSec has also helped increase collaboration between departments. It helps our network department to reduce third-party involvement in policy creation and management.

So far, we are using AlgoSec Analyzer and FireFlow. The Analyzer is more for compliance, risk, and auditing. FireFlow is more for automating rule changes and installation.

Right now I am loving FireFlow for its easy to use interface. You can also get as complex as you are comfortable with. You can add email, scripts, and hooks to certain aspects of the rule creation process.

AlgoSec now has cloud products that they are rolling out. This is the next space for which everyone is dedicating more resources. We would like to see them utilize the cloud to help with performance improvement, and with various processes needed on a daily basis. We have two remote agents that help with daily processing and would like to integrate more power from the cloud to be as flexible as possible.

Provides visibility to firewall policies. 

Single tool to engineer changes and track approvals for audit compliance.

A Central tool to track firewall requests. 

Using AlgoSec API calls to integrate with other apps (ex: central IT request portal)

Standard view of firewall policies, regardless of vendor (ex: Checkpoint and Cisco). 

Built-in reports to aid in policy cleanup (ex: unused rules or objects, covered rules).

Faster HA/DR failover - with very large databases, it takes a long time to failover / failback.

Provide even more REST API calls (ex: rule removal API)

Product and appliances have been very stable.

It easily scaled up to support our hundreds of firewalls.

Both are excellent. 

Customer service is clearly important to AlgoSec. I never get the feeling they're just trying to sell me something, they sincerely try to assist with the best solution for us.

Tech support is extremely knowledgeable and responsive. If I could score them 11, I would. 

Did not use another solution previously.

Initial deployment was straightforward. The FireFlow workflow can be configured to match the existing flow - customizing this to match any workflow permutations takes the most time. 

Through a vendor team. They were top-notch - extremely knowledgeable and great to work with.

Unknown.

Explore the possibility of running on a VM instead of dedicated hardware.

I was not part of the evaluation.

The tool is very flexible. Be sure to allocate sufficient resources to deploy & customize it.