Cisco Secure Firewall Reviews

We use Cisco Secure Firewall in our own company for site-to-site VPN to access our customers and provide remote support.

We sell the solution to our customers as well. They use the ASA or FMC for dedicated networking, for example, the process network. That is, they dedicate the process network or ASA to the user network.

As a Cisco Secure reseller, I add value with my professional background, for example, in Cisco TAC, to my customers. We choose to sell Cisco Secure Firewall because of our partner status with Cisco.

The most valuable feature for the customers is that they can control what communication is allowed and what is not allowed. That is, they can allow or deny client traffic.

It also secures the internal network to allow specific client traffic or machine traffic.

Cisco Secure Firewall helped reduce our clients' meantime to repair by 40%. This is because they can easily segment the network. It's easy to troubleshoot because of micro-segmentation.

Cisco Secure Firewall should be easier to handle. It uses ASDM, which is not easy to understand. It would be better if there was direct access via HTTPS.

I have used this solution for around five years, but my company has been using it for 30 years.

Cisco's technical support for security is good. The support staff are professional and know what to do. I would give them an eight out of ten.

Positive

The deployment of the firewall is more difficult if you want to use all of the features. However, if you're using it only as a VPN, then it's a little bit easier to deploy.

Compared to Cisco Secure Firewall, other firewall solutions are easier to handle because they do not use ASDM. They have direct access via web browsers.

If you're considering Cisco Secure Firewall, take a look at what you want to use the firewall for and what kind of handling you prefer. If you prefer easy handling via browsers, then you may need to use another solution because ASDM is no longer the state of the art.

Overall, I would rate Cisco Secure Firewall at seven on a scale from one to ten.

The I add as a reseller is the professional background.

We primarily use the solution in order to create access rules. That's what I use it for mostly. Sometimes, if I need to do some mapping, I may also leverage this product.  

In terms of access, the solution is great at making sure that the firewall has the right IPs, or that the right IPs are passing through where they should be. 

The product does a good job of making sure that the connection is one that the user can trust. It keeps everything secure.

From what I've already done with ASA, I've noted that it's a very simple solution. 

It is a very user-friendly product. I started with the GUI version. There are different versions. You could have the CLA, and the GUI version if you like. Both are really user-friendly and they're easy to learn. 

We haven't been working with the product for too long, and therefore I haven't really found any features that are lacking. So far, it's been pretty solid.

One of the things that would make my life easier on ASA, especially for the CLA, is if it had an ASBN feature, specifically for the CLA. This would allow you to be able to see at once where a particular object group is being used without having to copy out all the object groups that have already been created.

I don't have to see all the object groups that have been created on that firewall. That's just something that I would really appreciate on the CLA, even though it already exists on the GUI.

I've been using the solution for six months now. It's been less than a year. It hasn't been too long just yet.

The solution has been quite stable.

Most of the clients that we deal with use this solution. No one has ever complained about having a breach or anything, to the best of my knowledge, even though we see some people combine different firewalls together, and use them alongside Cisco ASA. So far, we've not had any issue with Cisco ASA. It's reliable and keeps our clients safe.

I've never tried to scale the product. I haven't worked with it too long at this point. I wouldn't be able to comment on its scalability potential.

I've never dealt with technical support yet. I can't speak to their level or response or their knowledge of the product.

In the past, I've worked with Check Point and Fortinet as well.

I've been handling the implementation. So far, it's been good, even with no prior knowledge of the solution itself. It's my first time working with it.

On my team, lots of people are working on different aspects, and most of the setup is being done by those that have more knowledge about the firewall than we have. We don't have anything to do with the setup, we just make sure that we implement whatever connections the clients already have. It's already broken down that way, just to avoid as many mistakes as possible.

We already have a process for implementation based on the number of connections. The maximum we normally work on each connection is maybe 20 to 30 minutes. However, the process could be as little as one minute. It depends on how many connections we want to add at a time.

We're handing the implementation via our own in-house team.

I'm just handling the implementation and therefore don't have any insights on the pricing aspect of the solution. I wouldn't be able to say how much the company pays or if the pricing is high or low.

That said, the pricing isn't an issue. It's more about what's best for the customer or the client. We want to give the client the best service, and very good protection. If a client begins to worry about pricing, we can't exactly guarantee the same level of safety.

Our company has a partnership with Cisco.

We have different clients and therefore use different versions of the solution. Nobody wants to use an out-of-date version, and therefore, we work to keep everything updated.

Overall, I would rate the solution at a nine out of ten.

We are using this solution for the site-to-site VPN tunnels and VPN Connections.

I like all of the features.

It is my understanding that they are in the process of discontinuing this device.

They are in the process of shutting down this ASA series and will continue with Firepower.

In the next release, it could be more secure.

I have been using Cisco ASA Firewall for six years.

We are not using the latest version.

It's a stable solution. I have not had any issues.

This product is scalable. We have 100 users in our organization.

We will not continue to use this solution. We will be upgrading to either Firepower or Check Point.

Technical support is perfect.

I was using Dell SonicWall before Cisco ASA Firewall.

The initial setup was straightforward. 

It's easy to install and it doesn't take a lot of time for the initial configuration.

It took an hour to install.

I completed the installation myself. We did not use a vendor or vendor team.

There are licensing costs.

I would not recommend this solution. The technology is old and they should move to Firepower or NextGen Firewall.

I would rate the Cisco ASA Firewall an eight out of ten.

Cisco ASA has a well-written command-line interface. Cisco’s AnyConnect SSL VPN is by far the best client VPN technology I’ve ever had to deploy and manage. Upgrades are a breeze. Failovers between units are flawless. FirePower add-ons deepen security with intrusion prevention (IPS), anti-malware protection (AMP), and URL filtering. These particular services can run as a hardware or software module within the ASA. Unlike ASA with CSM, these modules are managed by FireSight, a single pane for all of your FirePower nodes. It’s intuitive and easy to use, but still lacks some automation capabilities (e.g., bulk edits, etc.).

Cisco is a huge name in the networking world. Having a solution that includes their firewall technology adds value from an operability and support perspective. Cisco, although sometimes considered to be "behind the times" with firewall technology, continues to prove it has momentum in the industry through acquisitions such as Sourcefire and OpenDNS, with rapid integration into their systems. Additionally, ASA is synergistic with other security offerings from Cisco, such as ISE, remote tele-office workers, etc.

When running multiple firewalls in your network, you need someone to manage them from a central point. Cisco’s answer is Cisco Security Manager (CSM). Unfortunately, this is a suite of applications that is in much need of an overhaul. It is riddled with bugs and lacks the intuitive experience found in competing vendor offerings. The counter-intuitive interface makes configuration management cumbersome and prone to mistakes. There are software defects within certain modules of the application, resulting in a frustrating experience. Reporting is almost useless. The best part about it is the logging component, but it still is lacking, compared to what you get from other competing vendors.

Aside from management, I think Cisco needs to become more application-focused, something that a few of their competitors shine in.

I've deployed and managed Cisco ASA's for over a decade. I've used the X-series models for about three years now.

I have not encountered any stability issues; this is a solid firewall platform. Stability is where it shines.

The newer clustering capabilities have introduced some solid scalability design options. From a cost perspective, scalability is quite intimidating.

Cisco's TAC engineers are competent, responsive and typically resolve issues in a timely fashion. Do not use them for "best practice"; this is what channel partners are for.

I previously used Check Point. Check Point relied on a thick, Windows-based client and, at the time, did not support transparent contexts. However, Check Point has a solid management platform, which is something Cisco should take some pointers from.

Initial setup is complex for a new user, straightforward for a seasoned user. Tons of documentation is available, but you can easily get lost for days if you've never touched one. Cisco offers ASDM, a GUI wizard that can help set up the firewalls. This is nice for newer folks.

Work very closely with your channel partners to verify you have all the licensing you need (VPN, Firepower, etc.). Pricing is always a challenge. Buy closer to Cisco's EOY and you might save a few bucks.

Before choosing this product, I also evaluated Palo Alto. I really liked their firewall platform, their Panorama management platform, and wildfire technology. Their SSL VPN was seriously lacking. This is a decent option to consider as well.

Read the Cisco Validated Designs (CVDs) regarding ASAs. Find some decent blogs, discuss topologies and scenarios with a seasoned engineer, and get your final design validated by Cisco. Your Cisco SE should be able to assist with this. If you need assistance implementing, work with your channel partner.

Our use for Cisco Secure is for the firewall. 

Network segmentation is the most valuable feature.

The dashboard can be improved. 

I have been using Cisco Secure Firewall for seven years. 

It is stable.

It is scalable. A thousand-plus users are using the solution in my company. 

The initial setup is straightforward. 

Pricing is high.

Overall, I rate the product an eight out of ten. 

We use Cisco IronPort, Firepower, Secure Firewall, Email, and Secure Connect.

As with most products, integration could be better where needed. Sometimes, for example, the Cisco Secure Firewall and IronPort are in a class of their own. When it comes to management and logging, there's room for improvement.

Most of the products aren't configured on their own, but they are related together. There should be some sort of management. We would need a supervisor to manage it before using all of the solutions together.

They address services that belong together. For example, the Secure Client provides remote access. Authentication and multiple-factor authentication are two different products that belong together. There should be a link between both products and between both management interfaces to see, for example, troubleshooting or reporting so that you have both sources together.

It would be great to have all the data correlated to have an overview and one point of administration. 

The grouping of the solutions helps save time. If you have a problem and you have a high-level overview of the system, you can easily dig deeper into the problem. For example, I can check to see why ASA isn't working but the reason for the outage is actually because of Duo. I can spend a lot of time working in the wrong direction because I didn't have an overview.

IronPort stuff looks at first a little bit outdated. It's not a fancy-colored view, but it does its job and is extremely helpful. Debugging on this platform is very easy. 

Firepower's implementation and reliability need room for improvement. 

We address our problems with the relevant people. Some of the quality of their support has dropped. If your problem gets escalated, there are many skilled people who are absolute pleasures to work with. They are brilliant at what they do. 

If you talk to someone who solves the problem within five minutes you can't do any better. But on the other hand, the other end of the range needs improvement.

You can have a case that lasts 15 months in which you have to talk to 20 people to resolve. 

Neutral

The complexity of the installation depends. It's not so easy to install. Each topic needs one management interface. So you end up with 20 to 40 different management platforms. All of them use a tremendous amount of resources. If you're willing to install it, you need a huge pile of hardware. It is not clear what everything does. Some consolidation there would be helpful. Other vendors face the same problem.

We have seen ROI from using Cisco.

I chose Cisco because I've been working with them for 23 years. I choose it for its stability and because they have the right range of products. Most of our IT staff is happy with it.

I would rate it a nine out of ten. 

We have all kinds of use cases. Our customers are large enterprises, and they need perimeter security. Zero trust, network access control, and network segmentation are quite important these days.

We are a partner and reseller. We implement, and we resell. As a Cisco Secure reseller, we have all the expertise. Our customers are usually overworked and have no time to learn how to implement these things and get some expertise. That's what we bring in. We help them select the right solution, select the proper design and architecture, and implement it. They basically lack the time and expertise, and we are a trusted advisor who helps them with their issues.

I'm working with security. It improves the security posture of our customers and protects them from threats. We recently saw a bunch of hacks in Germany and our customers are concerned. We help to protect our customers from that, and that's very important.

The analysis tools and encrypted traffic analysis save time. They help detect security threats and incidents that can cause outages for customers. It's a great improvement.

Application inspection, network segmentation, and encrypted traffic detection or encrypted traffic analysis (ETA) are valuable for our customers. I'm from Germany, and in Germany, people are very concerned about privacy. We have a bunch of public customers, and they have an issue with decrypting traffic, even if it's only for security analysis. They have some fears. So, they are quite interested in the capability to detect threats without decrypting traffic.

The usability of Cisco Firepower Threat Defense is an issue. The product is still under development, and the user interface is very difficult to deal with. That's one area where it should be improved. Another area for improvement, which is also related to the firewall, is stability. We are having stability issues, and we had some cases where customers had a network down situation for about one or two days, which is not great.

As a partner, I have been working here for about nine years, but we offered this solution all the time. The company has probably been doing that for at least 15 years.

Cisco Firepower Threat Defense has improved a lot over the last few years, but we sometimes still have really big issues.

Their support is pretty awesome. It doesn't really matter if you have a hardware issue or a software issue. If it's a hardware issue, you get a replacement quickly, and if you have a software issue, you get quick support. There are also some bad examples. I have one from wireless where after a problem was acknowledged, it needed about one year to get fixed. It depends a little bit on how complex the issue is, but in general, it's quite okay.

We are also selling Fortinet, Palo Alto, and Check Point. We sell all solutions, but I'm quite focused on Cisco. It's mostly because I have the most expertise and experience with it over the years. I've been working with Cisco security solutions for 15 to 20 years. That's where my expertise is, and with Cisco, you have a solution for everything. It's not always the best of breed, but in the overall solution frame, you have something for everything, and they interact nicely with each other, which is great.

The deployment model is totally customer dependent. The way we work, we look at the customer environment and develop a proper deployment model for them. Some of them are using enterprise agreements. It's becoming more and more common, so they can use several solutions at once or with some kind of added use price and other benefits.

I'm not always involved in the deployment. I work as an architect. I do not implement all the solutions I design, but I implement some of them. For me, it's important because, for one, I like it, and second thing is that I need to have some kind of hands-on experience to understand the solution so that I can make better designs.

If you do the initial setup for the first time, it's somewhat complex., but over time, you get the experience, and then it's more or less straightforward. 

Our clients rarely used the firewall migration tool. It gives you a starting point for the configuration, but usually, there are so many things you need to rework afterward. We use it sometimes, but it only does a part of the job.

It does require maintenance. The clients have maintenance contracts for that.

In our company in Germany, just for the security solutions, we have about 20 to 30 engineers. They are experienced in different areas. For the firewalls, we have 10 engineers.

Cisco was never a cheap solution. Compared to other vendors, it's more or less at the same level, except maybe Fortinet which is fairly cheap.

In terms of licensing, we still have issues with the subscription model. Many of our customers are used to buying a solution and owning it. It takes time to convince people to go for the subscription model. That's still an issue for us.

We have Cisco Firepower Threat Defense, email security, web security, and Cisco Umbrella. Most of the time, I am working with Identity Services Engine for identity-related things. That's the main product I work with all the time. I have almost no direct contact with Talos, but I know that below the hood, it just improves all their security solutions.

To those evaluating this solution, I would advise being a little bit careful with it. It interfaces well with other Cisco solutions, so it has value, but it's not always the best solution.

At the moment, I would rate it a six out of ten.

• VPN
• ASDM configuration

For FirePOWER:

• IPS
• AMP
• URL filtering

It's pretty easy to connect between different branches using site to site VPN.

Cost, it's very expensive. To migrate from a Cisco ASA 5550 and not drop in performance, you have to go to a Cisco ASA 5555-X with FirePOWER. To fully use the Cisco FirePOWER IPS, AMP and URL filtering, you are forced to (MUST) buy the Cisco FireSIGHT management centre. You also have to buy licensing for Cisco AnyConnect VPN client

I've been using it since October 2004, so for 10 years.

Due to the cost, I am still waiting for more funds to deploy the final phase, FirePOWER IPS, AMP and URL filtering.

Cisco did an upgrade from v8.2 to v8.3 of the migration system. NAT configuration is different from 8.2 to 8.3. It's not easy to upgrade to 8.3 and above leading to running different software versions.

V8.2 is very stable. With the latest versions it's still early to tell.

Upgrading from v8.2 to v8.3 is a nightmare. The risks of down time are so high that I am forced to run different versions. Stay with 8.2 on all NAT dependent on your ASA, but again it's all about the cost.

Excellent customer service. Cisco listens to their customers.

Excellent customer service and documentation.

We previously used Checkpoint, and I switched because Checkpoint was expensive but now it looks like Cisco is following the same route.

It was not that complex because I was using Cisco routers and switches five years prior.

It was an in-house implementation.

I can't tell right now as I am still investing.

The initial investment on the Cisco ASAs was around one million South African Rand and there's a R200,000 annual maintenance cost with Cisco's partners.

No. I went straight to Cisco because of my experience with their CUCM IPT solutions, routers and switches.

Budget a lot of money, especially on the initial setup and the annual licensing and maintenance cost.