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Cisco IOS Security vs Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco IOS Security
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (21st)
Palo Alto Networks Advanced...
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
7th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
26
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Cisco IOS Security is 1.0%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention is 7.3%, down from 8.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

Karthik Venkataraman - PeerSpot reviewer
User-friendly and excels in documentation, making it easier to resolve issues
Cisco IOS Security is a mature product with extensive capabilities, serving as the base for the defense layer. It offers good network visibility, which helps in rapid response through the Rapid Threat Containment feature. Its deployment and configuration are straightforward. From a networking perspective, for instance, Cisco IOS incorporates time-tested security features. The zone-based firewall feature has significantly influenced our network security management. For instance, when managing multiple geolocations, it's essential to apply geographically appropriate policies. If a customer operates within the UK zone, I need to implement UK-specific policies. This approach is also applicable to customers in the Asia Pacific and UK regions. It enables me to tailor security policies based on the geographical location of my customers, such as adjusting policies for customers in China or Japan. This flexibility helps in creating a comprehensive zone list. Additionally, this feature allows for seamless service agreements between all zones from headquarters, providing access to all zones within the firewall we create. Essentially, it facilitates the creation of zones within the firewall.
Carlos Bracamonte - PeerSpot reviewer
Robust, reliable, simple to install and good technical support
We are attempting to improve the use of URL filtering beyond threat protection. I'm not sure what the remaining threat protection features are off the top of my head. But beyond that, we use URL filtering. We have three approved cases for using external dynamic lists that are stored in a bucket repository. Then, for each URL site that needs to be whitelisted, we add it to the external dynamic list in order to gain access to this email. I would like Wildfire to be implemented. We use the equivalent in Cisco is the integration policies. We have the Wildfire but we are not currently implementing it. We don't have the license to use it, but we are not currently implementing it until we present the use cases that the company gives some value to and they approve the use of it.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The solution is very user-friendly and easy to deal with."
"I've found their network routing to be very good."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco IOS Security is posturing."
"The product has valuable features for business intelligence."
"The VPN connection portal scan works flawlessly, which was a big plus for us."
"The VPN was valuable for us because more people are working from home. It has a lot of reporting and easy-to-use management tools."
"The product's stability is good."
"The security is very good."
"It is a stable product."
"It effectively prevents malware, ransomware, and other attacks."
"One of the most valuable features is the anti-malware protection."
"The initial setup was straightforward. It's quite easy. Deployment took one to two weeks."
"The most valuable features are that it's user-friendly, has interesting features, URL filtering, and threat prevention."
"It's a monster, it's got so many beautiful features. We do deal with other firewalls and we've got a better idea of what other firewalls' capabilities are, any comparison with the Palo Alto I liked the quality of service on the applications that you can control the amount of bandwidth an application is allowed to consume. The best feature is the quality of the application quality of service."
"Most of the features of Palo Alto Threat Prevention are alright. I recommend features like content filtering, IP address, & intelligent firewalls. The reporting feature is very good."
"You can scale the product."
 

Cons

"I think setup could be one area for improvement, because sometimes we don't have people inside so we have to move to the place."
"An area for improvement in Cisco IOS Security is the performance because it's not as stable sometimes. There's also some latency in the solution, which could be improved. Cisco IOS Security integrates with other solutions, but you'll encounter many errors after integration, so this is another area for improvement. I'd like to see enhanced performance and a simplified setup in the next version of Cisco IOS Security."
"Cisco very slowly introduces and implements the products, unlike other brands."
"Cisco IOS Security could improve by having more compatibility with other Cisco solutions."
"We have a very bad experience on the support. They take too much time requesting logs, and they are not coming directly online to resolve the issues."
"The routers, don't have like long-term tendency features, or higher availability features available for the IOS. It could also use a better user interface."
"There are the usual bugs that are inherent to some software upgrades. Sometimes this provides some unexpected issues, however, it happens with all brands all the time."
"I wish it would be more like the next generation firewall technology. There should be more selection between the application and filtering."
"The solution could benefit from improved AI analytics to predict potential attacks before they occur, similar to NDR systems."
"The solution needs to improve its local technical support services. There is no premium support offered in our market."
"The organization mail security solutions could be improved. There is no mail security solution available."
"The installation was complicated."
"The documentation needs to be improved. I need better information about how to configure it and what the best practices are."
"The price of licenses should be lowered to make it less costly to scale our solution."
"In Africa, the technical support is probably not as good as in Europe and the USA because it's a specific premium support, partner-enabled premium support and all of that. But it's really good, I don't really have any complaints, it's fairly good. I'll give them 80%."
"The cost involves the price of the hardware, which is expensive. However, most of the Palo Alto solutions are expensive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool could be priced lower. If you want advanced services, then you need to purchase them."
"The cost of the license, to the best of my knowledge, is approximately two thousand dollars."
"The solution's pricing is very good."
"We need to pay for the license and it is expensive."
"The pricing is very expensive. Normally I do a yearly contract; I don't know the exact pricing, but it's around $75,000 USD per year. That's the standard licensing."
"The pricing for Cisco IOS Security is reasonable compared to other Cisco products."
"It is necessary to pay for a license in order to use the solution. It is on a yearly basis and the price is high."
"Price is certainly something that the IOS technology has fallen behind the competition on."
"If you want to have all of the good features then you have to pay extra for licensing."
"The pricing has improved with the newer generation of their Firewalls, but the price could always be lower."
"The cost involves the price of the hardware, which is expensive. However, most of the Palo Alto solutions are expensive."
"The pricing could be lower."
"It is an expensive solution and I would like to see a drop in price."
"There is an initial, expensive investment but the return is good."
"From one to ten, with one being the most expensive, I would rate the pricing of Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention a one out of ten. It is my understanding that Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention is the most expensive one."
"The pricing and the licensing are pretty competitive at this stage. As a reseller, I would like to see the price come down a little bit so I can compete better against other firewalls because we do that all the time."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
30%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco IOS Security?
Cisco IOS Security is a mature product with extensive capabilities, serving as the base for the defense layer. It offers good network visibility, which helps in rapid response through the Rapid Thr...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco IOS Security?
Pricing can be reduced. I rate the current price for the product a four out of ten.
What needs improvement with Cisco IOS Security?
While I do not have specific recommendations for improvement, pricing can be reduced.
Which is the best DDoS protection solution for a big ISP for monitoring and mitigating?
Arbor would be the best bid, apart from Arbor, Palo Alto and Fortinet have good solutions. As this is an ISP, I would prefer Arbor.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Palo Alto Networks Threat Prevention?
The pricing is competitive, and with current campaigns and discounts, it provides an excellent device for a reasonable price.
 

Also Known As

IOS Security
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Arup Group, Brunel University London, City of Biel, Gobierno de Castilla-La Mancha, K&L Gates , New South Wales Rural Fire Service, Offshore Northern Seas, Transplace
University of Arkansas, JBG SMITH, SkiStar AB, TRI-AD, Temple University, Telkom Indonesia
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco IOS Security vs. Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.