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Cisco Sourcefire SNORT vs Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Sourcefire SNORT
Average Rating
7.6
Number of Reviews
19
Ranking in other categories
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (10th)
Forcepoint Next Generation ...
Average Rating
7.6
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
Firewalls (24th), Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (10th), WAN Edge (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Network Security Systems solutions, they serve different purposes. Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is designed for Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) and holds a mindshare of 3.2%, down 4.3% compared to last year.
Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall, on the other hand, focuses on Firewalls, holds 0.4% mindshare, down 0.4% since last year.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
Firewalls
 

Featured Reviews

Jack Poon - PeerSpot reviewer
Jul 31, 2024
Offers ease of setup and good documentation
When it comes to the product's deployment phase, we have a lot of vendor support. We have a lot of skills here in Hong Kong. Our company doesn't find any problem deploying Cisco solutions. The solution is deployed on an on-premises version. Speaking about the time required to deploy the solution, I would say that we have quite a lot of previous experience with deploying Cisco products. We have our company's standard design document, which we need to follow. We have a standard testing procedure for all those features. We just take out some appropriate parts and then compile them into one document for an individual project. It is actually quite easy for us to do the documentation, so it just takes one or two hours, and we can do the implementation because all the materials and testing procedures are already in our company standard documents, so it is not that difficult for us.
OusaidAbaz - PeerSpot reviewer
Mar 19, 2024
Provides decent protection for the LAN but complicated interface
We had some licensing issues with its web filtering capabilities. That's why we migrated our web filtering to Cisco Umbrella. Moreover, the interface is complicated. It's difficult to locate all the necessary menus and functions. For example, one of the many issues is with SSH. Even now, we haven't successfully opened the port to connect using SSH mode when we want to change the configuration. It's like a black box—not very open to changes and customization. It's simply not easy to configure. There are other problems, too. For example regarding Forcepoint's Websense component. We had a lot of problems managing the web settings within Websense. That's why we migrated to Cisco Umbrella for cloud-based web filtering. It's not that Forcepoint is inherently bad. The issue is that it's not user-friendly. It is not easy to use. The developers need to redesign the interface (GUI) for better management. It is very difficult to manage. For example, simple actions require too many clicks compared to FortiGate or Palo Alto. That's the main problem.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It has a huge rate of protection. It's has a low level of positives and a huge rate of threat protection. It's easy to deploy and easy to implement. It has an incredible price rate compared to similar solutions."
"It simplifies the configuration process by offering pre-defined base configurations, including security and connectivity settings."
"The solution is stable."
"The most valuable feature is the visibility that we have across the virtual environment."
"The whole solution is very good, and stable."
"Solid intrusion detection and prevention that scales easily in very large environments."
"In general, the features are all great. However, if I need to take hardware for ASA, because they need to upgrade to Firepower, we want to create rules. For that, most of the time we go to the command line. Right now Firepower is working really hard on the grid. You can apply all those rules to the grid. Even if you want to monitor the logs, for example, the activity will tell you which particular user has been blocked because of that rule. Firepower's monitoring interface is very good, because you can see each and every piece. ASA also had it, but there you needed to type the command and be under the server to see all that stuff. In Firepower you have the possibility to go directly to the firewall. The way the monitoring is displayed is also very nice. The feature I appreciate most in Firepower is actually the grid. The grid has worked very well."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the filtering."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the support."
"The central security management center and the content management center are very good."
"It is a stable solution, and there are no issues so far."
"The feature that we like the most about Forcepoint is that we know the technology and have confidence in it. We can have several functionalities to simplify operations and management. We can combine functionalities like log ownership to review the number of devices in the infrastructure."
"Forcepoint is a complete package because it has network and systems applications. Other firewalls are only for the network."
"One of the most valuable features is having the ability to cluster multiple firewalls even if they are different versions."
"They offer templates that provide detailed reports categorized by user, device, and internal network access."
"The simplicity of the solution is its most valuable asset. It's very user-friendly."
 

Cons

"The main dashboard of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT could improve."
"I would like to have analytics included in the suite."
"The pricing needs to be improved. We have lots of low-budget clients around us. Budget constraints are always a deterrent in our market."
"The customization of the rules can be simplified."
"With the next release, I would like to see some PBR, so that you can do the configuration with the features."
"The initial setup is a little difficult compared to other products in the market. It depends on the environment. If we are doing any migration, it might take months in a brown-field environment."
"I want to see a better dashboard for the product. The dashboard can be a bit modified or enhanced."
"If the price is brought down then everybody will be happy."
"Making this solution easier to use would be an improvement."
"Next Generation Firewall's configuration could be improved."
"The company should update the URL filtering database. They need to enhance the URL filtering and make it easier to customize."
"Management could be better. They can improve the management. I think all our customers can't accept firewalls that have standalone management. So, they prefer Fortinet or Palo Alto. But overall, inspection and other features are working fine."
"Forcepoint is a little difficult to configure compared to its competitors."
"When it comes to a complex deployment, the rules, firewall features, SD-WAN core features, and auto-scaling can cause the device to be not quite stable."
"Forcepoint would be improved if there were more training available."
"The solution needs to build upon its network functionality. It needs to be a bit smarter."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing for this solution is paid on a yearly basis."
"We have a three-year license for this solution."
"I don't know the exact amount, but most of the time when I go to a company with a proposition, they will say, "This thing that you are selling is good, but it's expensive. Why don't you propose something like FortiGate, Check Point, or Palo Alto?" Cisco device are expensive compared to other devices."
"The cost is per port and can be expensive but it does include training and support for three years."
"If one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is cheap, I rate the tool's price as a five."
"We have just a subscription for the cloud, and this license is great. The license is so good."
"The big advantage of this solution is that we can select the right model for our requirements, which is not too expensive."
"Forcepoint is very expensive but it's really secure."
"There is a license required to use this solution and we can purchase it for one, two, three, or five years."
"The pricing should be more competitive against other vendors in the market."
"We have found the price could be reduced. It is a little expensive."
"I consider Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall's price to be good."
"It is an affordable product. We purchase its yearly license."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
22%
Financial Services Firm
9%
University
7%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
The product is inexpensive compared to leading brands such as Palo Alto or Fortinet.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
If one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is cheap, I rate the tool's price as a five. There are some other tools in the market that are more expensive than Cisco. There are no additional c...
What needs improvement with Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
Cisco offers the Cisco DNA Center, which is a source that provides crucial information for us to monitor performance, and see whether there is any trouble. We are using Cisco DNA center, but again,...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall?
There is a need to make payments towards the licensing charges attached to the product. The product is not expensive.
What needs improvement with Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall?
My experience with this Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall wasn't very pleasant due to its complexity. For example, the firewall loses some features when working in a cluster, which is a huge chal...
 

Also Known As

Sourcefire SNORT
Forcepoint NGFW, Stonesoft Next Generation Firewall, McAfee Network Security Platform, Intel Security Network Security Platform
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CareCore, City of Biel, Dimension Data, LightEdge, Lone Star College System, National Rugby League, Port Aventura, Smart City Networks, Telecom Italia, The Department of Education in Western Australia
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)
Find out what your peers are saying about Darktrace, Vectra AI, Check Point Software Technologies and others in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS). Updated: October 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.