Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users
Software Security Analyst at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Enabled us to help an internal team, one that was totally vulnerable, to have a security solution within a couple of weeks
Pros and Cons
  • "The CVEs are valuable because we used to have a tool to scan CVEs, at the language level, for the dependencies that our developers had. What is good about Prisma Cloud is that the CVEs are not only from the software layer, but from all layers: the language, the base image, and you also have CVEs from the host. It covers the full base of security."
  • "They need to make the settings more flexible to fit our internal policies about data. We didn't want developers to see some data, but we wanted them to have access to the console because it was going to help them... It was a pain to have to set up the access to some languages and some data."

What is our primary use case?

When we started using this tool, the name was Twistlock, it was not Prisma Cloud. We had a container team responsible for modernizing our environment and they created an on-prem solution using Red Hat OpenShift. They started using Twistlock as a way to manage the security of this on-prem environment.

My team, which was the security team, inherited the ownership of the tool to manage all the security problems that it was raising.

When we started using containers on the cloud, our cloud provider was Azure. We also started migrating our security solutions for the cloud, but that was at the end of my time with the company, so I didn't participate much in this cloud process.

We were also sending the logs and alerts to Splunk Cloud. We were managing all the alerts generated by policies and vulnerabilities and the threats from the web. That way, we had a pipeline system sending these alerts to a central location where our investigation team would look at them. So we used the system to manage both cloud and on-prem and connect them.

How has it helped my organization?

We had one team that didn't have any security whatsoever. We helped them to add Prisma Cloud to scan their environment. It was a big issue in the company at the time, because they had a huge environment which was not following the security rules of the company. They didn't have any security. Prisma Cloud helped us to start raising alerts and vulnerabilities. That was a successful case because in the timeframe of one to two weeks, we installed the tool and were teaching the team how to manage it, find their vulnerabilities, and how to fix them. We were able to help a team that was totally vulnerable to have a security solution.

Overall, it covered all the stages that we hoped it would cover.

The solution also reduced our runtime alerts. I don't have the exact numbers but I would say it lowered the number of issues by 70 percent. Our strategy was that we started using the tool for some small applications, and then we started using it for other teams. For the small applications, I can't guarantee the reduction was 70 percent because those solutions were managed by the security team which had smart people who were security conscious.

What is most valuable?

We used the policy features to manage users so that they would not have secrets in their containers. We also used the vulnerabilities, the CVEs, that were being raised by the tool.

The CVEs are valuable because we used to have a tool to scan CVEs, at the language level, for the dependencies that our developers had. What is good about Prisma Cloud is that the CVEs are not only from the software layer, but from all layers: the language, the base image, and you also have CVEs from the host. It covers the full base of security.

The compliance is good because it has a deep view of the container. It can find stuff that only administrators would have access to in our container. It can go deep down into the container and find those policy issues.

We also started looking for the WaaS (Web-Application and API Security) solution, but we didn't implement it during the time I was at the company. We tested it. What's good about the WaaS is that it's almost a miracle feature. You can find SQL injection or cross-site scripting and defend against that by setting up Prisma Cloud and turning on the feature.

Prisma Cloud also provided risk clarity at runtime and across the entire pipeline, showing issues as they were discovered during the build phases. It provided a good rating for how to prioritize a threat, but we also had a way to measure risk in our company that was a little bit different. This was the same with other scanning tools that we had: the risk rating was something that we didn't focus too much on because we had our own way to rate risk. Prisma Cloud's rating was helpful sometimes, but we used our risk measurement more than the tool's.

What needs improvement?

One problem was identifying Azure Kubernetes Services. We had many teams creating Kubernetes systems without any security whatsoever. It was hard for us to identify Kubernetes because the Prisma Cloud could not identify them. From what I heard from Palo Alto at the time, they were building a new feature to identify those. It was an issue they were already trying to fix.

In addition, when it comes to access for developers, I would like to have more granular settings. For example, in our company we didn't want to display hosts' vulnerabilities to developers, because the infrastructure or containers team was responsible for host vulnerabilities or the containers. The developers were only responsible for the top application layer. We didn't want to provide that data to the developers because A) we thought it was sensitive data and B) because it was data that didn't belong to developers. We didn't want to share it, but I remember having this problem when it came to the granularity of granting permissions. 

They need to make the settings more flexible to fit our internal policies about data. We didn't want developers to see some data, but we wanted them to have access to the console because it was going to help them. One possibility was to develop our own solution for this, using the API. But that would add complexity. The console was clean and beautiful. It has the radar where you can see all the containers. But we just didn't want to show some data. It was a pain to have to set up the access to some languages and some data.

Another thing that was a pain was that in our on-prem environment there was a tool that sometimes generated a temporary container, to be used just for a build, and Prisma would raise some compliance issues for this container that would die shortly. It was hard to suppress these kinds of alerts because it was hard to find a standard or a rule that would fit this scenario. The tool was able manage the whole CI/CD pipeline, including the build as well—even these containers that were temporary for a build—but sometimes it would raise too much unnecessary data.

Also, one of the things that it's hard to understand sometimes is how to fix an issue. We managed to do so by testing things ourselves because we are developers. But a little bit of explanation about how to fix something would help. It was more showing what the problem was than it did about how to fix it.

Buyer's Guide
Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,036 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

I used Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks for about a year and a half.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's pretty much stable, as much as containers are stable. It is more about the container solution itself, or how Kubernetes is managed and the state of health of the containers. As Prisma is a container solution itself, it was as good as the Kubernetes environment could make it. 

I don't know about the Prisma Cloud SaaS solution because we didn't use it, but the on-prem solution was as reliable as our Kubernetes system was. It was really reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's pretty scalable because of the API. I liked how simple the console was and how simple the API was. There was no complexity; it was straightforward. The API documentation was also very good so it was pretty easy to scale. You could automate pretty much everything. You could automate the certificate information, you could automate the access for developers, and a lot of other stuff. It was a pretty modern solution. Using APIs and containers, it was pretty scalable.

How are customer service and support?

We used their technical support many times and it was very good. The engineers there helped us a lot. They were engaged and interested in helping, and they were polite and they were fast. When we raised an issue to high priority, they answered faster. I would rate their support at five out of five.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Prisma Cloud was the only solution we had for container security. We had other tools such as SAST and DAST tools, as well as open source management tools. Those intersected somewhat with what Prisma does, but Prisma had access to the whole environment, so it's a little bit different.

What other advice do I have?

We used the API from Prisma Cloud. We had a Jenkins pipeline with a lot of scripts to automate the installation of Prisma Cloud and the patching updates as well.

In our company, the security team had about 10 people, but only two were responsible for Prisma Cloud. As I mentioned, we inherited ownership of it from the containers team. In the containers team, we had a guy who was our main contact and who helped us. For example, when we needed to access a certain environment, he had to manage access so that it could have privileged access to do what it needed to do in the container environment. So overall, there were three people involved with it.

We used Prisma Cloud extensively. We used it across the whole on-prem environment and partially on cloud. We were at around 10 or 20 percent of the cloud. I think that nowadays they have probably reached much more than that, because we were just beginning on the cloud at the time.

Smaller companies should probably use the SaaS. I know that Azure and the cloud providers already have different ways to use tools in an easy manner so that you don't need to manage the infrastructure. So smaller companies should look into that. The infrastructure solution would be more for big companies, but I would recommend the solution for big companies. I would also recommend it for small companies. In terms of budget, sometimes it's hard to prioritize what's more important, but Prisma fits into different budget levels, so even if you have a small environment you can use Prisma's SaaS solution.

I was pretty satisfied with it. My impression of Prisma Cloud was pretty good. It's an amazing tool. It gives the whole view of your container environment and connection with multiple platforms, such as Splunk. It is a good solution. If I had my own company and a container environment, I would use it. It can fit a huge container environment with a lot of hosts, but it can also fit a small container environment. Azure also provides built-in solutions to install Prisma in your application. So there are different solutions for various container environments. The company I was in had huge container environments to monitor, on-prem and in the cloud, and the tool fit really well. But the tool also fits small environments.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Governance Test and Compliance Officer at Thales
Real User
We are able to filter alerts by security level so our teams understand which situations are critical
Pros and Cons
  • "I was looking for a vulnerability scanner and I was looking for one place in which I could find everything. This tool not only does vulnerability scanning, but it also gives me an asset management tool."
  • "We would like it to have more features from the risk and compliance perspectives."

What is our primary use case?

I was looking for one tool which, as a WAF, could provide me with information regarding applications  and with features where I can oversee things.

We use the solution's ability to filter alerts by levels of security and it helps our teams understand which situations are the most critical. Based on the priorities that I get for my product, I can filter the notices the team needs to work on, to those that require immediate attention. That means it's easier for me to categorize and understand things exactly, on a single dashboard. I can see, at one point in time, that these are my 20 applications that are running. Out of them, I can see, for example, the five major vulnerabilities that I have — and it shows my risk tolerance — so I know that these five are above my risk tolerance. I know these need immediate attention and I can assign them to the team to be worked on immediately.

How has it helped my organization?

Instead of going for multiple tools, this tool has helped me to have one platform where I can have all the features and information I'm looking for.

The tool is working on the principles of governance, risk, and compliance as well. It even helps me in application-level firewall security. It's not just a single tool. It has helped me find out details about multiple things.

The integration with user tools is pretty easy; it's user-friendly.

In terms of a reduction in alerts, it has helped me out in not putting unnecessary time into a couple of things, which can be figured out at a glance. I would estimate the reduction in alerts at about 40 percent.

What is most valuable?

I was looking for a vulnerability scanner and I was looking for one place in which I could find everything. This tool not only does vulnerability scanning, but it also gives me an asset management tool.

It has been good in my test environment when it comes to scanning my infrastructure.

What needs improvement?

We would like it to have more features from the risk and compliance perspectives.

On the governance side of it, we did want it, but the licensing costs for that are so high. As a result, I have to integrate this solution with a couple of additional tools. For example, suppose I wish to assign something to an organization or to another person. To do that I have to integrate it with something like JIRA or Confluence where I can ask them to provide the pieces of information. If the licensing costs were a little lower, I would have been able to assign it then and there. As it is, though, I need to assign it from one platform to another platform, one where the team of engineering people is working. I still need to go to multiple platforms to check if something was assigned, and I have to keep checking between the two platforms to see whether it's not done or not.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks for five months, testing it and evaluating it during that time. We are planning to purchase it.

I have been evaluating this product from the point of view of DevOps. I have not been evaluating it from the security operations point of view.

Prisma Cloud actually has two solutions. One is a cloud-based solution and the other is their on-premise solution. I have had a look at and tested both of these tools.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's a stable product.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's scalable. We discussed that with them. We also discussed the scenario where I want to move from one cloud environment to another, or if I make some other changes. How flexible is the tool as far as working with different cloud environments goes? And it is perfectly fine in that regard.

If we deploy it, I will be using it quite extensively for my day-to-day vulnerability scans.

How are customer service and technical support?

I would rate their technical support at nine out of 10. They have been very supportive. Every time I have called them they have been there for me.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I was using multiple tools from here and there: one tool for vulnerability scans, one for risk management. But this has provided me an answer for not just one tool but for multiple requirements that I have.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was easy. I got to help from their technical department and the device is more or less plug-and-play. If you have specifications which are required by the cloud, and your products are running on those specific cases, then it becomes quite easy. You just have to install it and it's good to go in your infra.

Since I did it for my development center only, I just had to install one installer and then the agents were installed automatically after running a script. For the whole environment, it could not have taken more than a day or two.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Security tools are not cheap. This one is a little heavy on the budget, but so are all the other security tools I have evaluated.

There are no additional costs to the standard licensing fees for Prisma Cloud.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I looked at Trend Micro Cloud One Workload Security. Both it and Palo Alto Prisma Cloud are good for container-level security and scanning. But the financial part of it and budgeting play an important role.

With Prisma, it's not just one feature. It has also provided me with solutions for a couple more of my requirements. That was not the case with Trend Micro. In addition, Prisma Cloud was easy for me to figure out. The only con I see in Prisma Cloud is that because of its cost, I have to use multiple tools.

What other advice do I have?

It's a good tool. I would tell anybody to give a shot. It's easy, it's user-friendly; it's like a plug-and-play tool.

I am a single point of contact for this solution, right now. I'm working on it with my entire management to review things. I have to coordinate because of the multiple platforms they have. Roles have been assigned at different levels. There is a consultant's role, a reviewer's role, and there is an implementer's role. The latter is supposed to be working with them.

Root cause analysis needs to be done at my own level. The solution does inform me that a predicted vulnerability exists and this is the asset where it could be happening. But the intelligence has to be provided by the security consultant.

If something becomes visible during the build phase, we already have a pretty good area where we can change the product so that it does not impact the production environment.

The solution provides an integrated approach across the full lifecycle to provide visibility and security automation and, although we have not started using that part of it yet, it will definitely enable us to take a preventive approach to cloud security when we do use it.

Overall, it provides all the pieces of information that you require, in one place and time. I think it's going to be good to work with them.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
816,036 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user1272177 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager - cybersecurity at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Sophisticated, easier, more user-friendly, and has a flexible deployment
Pros and Cons
  • "I would say Twistlock is a fairly sophisticated tool."
  • "In terms of improvement, there are some small things like hardening and making sure the Linux resources are deployed well but that's more at an operational level."

What is our primary use case?

In terms of our use cases, we are a telecom firm and we work a lot with telecom firms around the world, and so we have a lot of solutions other than Twistlock. We have applications, we have consumer-based solutions that we run on a daily basis, and heavily regulatory processes as well. We found it's better that we move our core application than our user systems on container because they're quick, they're effective, easy to deploy, and easy to maintain. But because of the sanctions, heavily regulated security is a very core part of the entire environment, and thus we had to go ahead and look for a solution that would help automate that security part and because it was almost impossible to go about doing that manually.

What needs improvement?

In terms of improvement, there are some small things like hardening and making sure the Linux resources are deployed well but that's more at an operational level. Day-to-day, we do find a lot of issues but having a tool to help us with them is what we want because manually, it's not feasible for us. Other than that, we not really looking for any other add-ons or plug-ins because that was our core problem.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using Twistlock for just under five months. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We had deployed it on-prem like it was on our infrastructure. It is primarily in our hands how we want to scale it because we could have run that across all of our data centers and multiply the licenses because it was fairly easy to acquire this. We have a running relationship with Palo Alto but we did not face any direct issues with scalability at the moment because we were running it on our premises.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have people from Palo Alto. We have not had any major issues as such therein we had to reach out but there are some times we create service tickets that go to Palo Alto because Twistlock has networking image of audio open-source development so maybe sometimes there are glitches in that, and we reach out to them but more often the network is just that. We've never had any issues, major or drastic, issues that we need to reach out to L1 and L2. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was very complex. We have more than 10,000 servers on-premises and this is excluding what we have off-prem and on cloud deployment as well.

What about the implementation team?

We used an integration because we got them from Palo Alto. We have a network firewall from them. 

What other advice do I have?

I would say Twistlock is a fairly sophisticated tool. It's not the most user-friendly so if somebody wants to use it for their deployment, their firm, they need to have the right people on your team to know how to use it because it's not a plug and play kind of software, like Aqua Security which is a little more plug and play. I think it's easier, more user-friendly, and has a more flexible kind of deployment. If you can configure it well, Twistlock is a lot better in providing you real-time statistics than Aqua Security.

I would rate it an eight out of ten. 

I recommend two months of POC in this. It's fairly new but until now it's been pretty good.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer2540838 - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Engineer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
Helped us to gain the confidence that we can proactively monitor a cloud environment or a repository
Pros and Cons
  • "Visibility and control are the most utilized features. A dashboard is available to us where we can view different categories. We can see any IAM-related risks, any discovered vulnerabilities, any incidents, or any network-level issues."
  • "The Application Security dashboard was not as user-friendly as the Cloud Security dashboard."

What is our primary use case?

I have onboarded AWS environment accounts for some clients and some online hosted repositories on third-party platforms.

We currently have four modules. We have Application Security, Runtime Security, and Cloud Security. The latest one is Data Security, but I have only been using the other three modules.

How has it helped my organization?

I have mostly onboarded accounts. I have not used its other features much. I am aware of the environment dashboard that we get after 24 to 48 hours of scanning. The suggestions that they give are in a curated manner. We can see what steps we can take to minimize risk or remove critical or high-level vulnerabilities. This categorization based on severities helps us to prioritize which risks need to be remediated first.

It helps us to prioritize. We can see what is the scenario at the network level, identity level, or Internet exposure level. On the basis of these categories and on the basis of severity, we get the whole cloud security posture of the environment and also the suggestions.

It has helped save some time. The customer environment can be very vast, and the use cases can vary. A startup environment or beginner-level cloud environment is easy to check manually, but for users who have been using cloud environments for three or four years, manual checks are not efficient. Prisma Cloud saves time and costs. We are able to give a much more informative review of the cloud environment.

Prisma Cloud is a cloud-native application protection platform. That is what we showcase to our potential customers. It has helped us to gain the confidence that we can proactively monitor a cloud environment or a repository. One of my recent use cases was related to the repository. The establishment of trust is there, and the extent of cloud security services has also rapidly increased for our organization. This offering has been a great pillar for our organization.

It not only provides the risks and misconfigurations; it also includes compliance, so the industry-level standards are also monitored.

I started onboarding environments only two or three months ago. After the first scan, I could see the cloud security posture on the dashboard. In some cases, I could see misconfigurations and some package-level vulnerabilities. They were all categorized on the basis of severity. I discovered all these things. Out of them, some issues were commonly found. We are able to resolve them in the easiest manner. Considering the number of issues that it discovered, it would have taken us months to monitor all the events manually. The customer environment keeps changing and the requirements also change, so the cloud security posture also changes. Prisma Cloud scans on a regular basis and saves a lot of time.

The visibility level that it provides is the best. It is not restricted or limited to a few attacks or vulnerabilities. Every day, any type of attack can happen. There can be an attack of any severity. We are able to see all the possible incidents and all the possible issues in the environment. It has made us proactive, so our confidence has also improved.

The dashboard gets updated on a real-time basis. The first time, it takes 24 to 48 hours. After that, the latest scan is always available. It is consolidated. We get a detailed and comprehensive view from Prisma Cloud. It is easily accessible from the command center.

Prisma Cloud has saved us time. It helps us to fulfill our commitments. Without Prisma Cloud, it would take us double time to deliver to our customers what they want.

I believe it covers the containers and host-level security. It does provide information about how many hosts are in the environment and how many containers are deployed on Prisma Cloud. It tells us if any of the containers or hosts are affected and by which vulnerability. A comprehensive view of all that is available. We can see package-level vulnerabilities for PHP packages, Python packages, etc.

What is most valuable?

Visibility and control are the most utilized features. A dashboard is available to us where we can view different categories. We can see any IAM-related risks, any discovered vulnerabilities, any incidents, or any network-level issues. So, visibility and control are the most utilized parts. We can also view possible remediation or suggestions for each of the issues.

What needs improvement?

I recently onboarded some of the repositories, and for that, the issues were categorized into four types. The view was not very easy to understand. The Application Security dashboard was not as user-friendly as the Cloud Security dashboard. The Application Security dashboard can be improved in terms of UI. The categories provided should be helpful for the ones who are using it for the first time.

Other than this, I do not have any areas for improvement. I am a new user. I entered the domain of cloud security only six months ago. Before that, I was in a different domain. As of now, I see Prisma Cloud as an excellent tool.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Prisma Cloud in my current job role for the last six months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable. I have not had any issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I have not faced any limitations.

How are customer service and support?

I have not interacted with their support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have not worked with any similar solution previously.

How was the initial setup?

It was already installed when I joined. I only had to ask for some admin access, which was configured by the internal team in the organization, and my account was easily onboarded. 

The client account onboarding was also seamless. So far, we have onboarded five to ten accounts. Regarding the number of users, we provide limited access because it is a matter of cloud security. Overall, there are five to ten users, which also includes customers with view-only access.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

It was already here when I joined.

What other advice do I have?

I would absolutely recommend Prisma Cloud for cloud security posture management. It is great for onboarding cloud accounts. It is also good for onboarding repositories to improve application security.

I would rate Prisma Cloud a ten out of ten.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
Flag as inappropriate
PeerSpot user
Technical Architect at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
Saves troubleshooting time and costs, and provides a single pane of glass for multiple clouds
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a good solution. Each team should utilize it. Every good organization is now moving towards or trying to be provider agnostic, so if you are using multiple providers, you should at least give Prisma Cloud a try."
  • "The first time I looked at Prisma Cloud, it took me a while to understand how to implement the integration or how to enable features by using the interface for integration. That portion can probably be improved."

What is our primary use case?

We were using it for remediation. I was working on a client's project on behalf of our company, and they had multiple subscriptions. They were using not only Azure but also AWS. Rather than managing remediation and governance separately through different clouds, it was proposed to use Prisma Cloud as a single place for remediation of everything.

How has it helped my organization?

Prisma Cloud provided a single window for all security issues, irrespective of the subscription, account, or service provider I was trying to see. The information was totally transparent with Prisma Cloud. Otherwise, it was a daunting task for us to manage everything within AWS itself because each region's or subaccount's data needed to be moved over to another account to see a full picture, and a similar approach was required in Azure as well. The data from a different subscription needed to be copied, which required a batch process to do this job on a daily basis. By integrating AWS and Azure subscriptions with Prisma Cloud, the same task became easier. It was as simple as adding a new account and a credential. That was it. Prisma Cloud took care of the rest of the functions

Prisma Cloud provided security spanning multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud environments. We integrated it with AWS and Azure with multiple subscriptions for each.

With both AWS and Azure, the presentation of the native cloud data was not good. We were more comfortable looking at the same data in Prisma Cloud.

Automation is possible with Prisma Cloud, and that is why we liked it. Automation is still not that good in the native clouds, and Prisma Cloud definitely has an edge compared to the facility that AWS or Azure provides. Although it is an additional cost for IT, overall, there are cost savings. I am not aware of the features provided by GCP. I did not integrate it with Prisma Cloud, but at least with AWS and Azure, Prisma Cloud works much better.

Prisma Cloud provides an agent that can scan container images or Docker images. Otherwise, for Docker images and accounts, AWS provides its own tool and its own format for the report. Similarly, Azure provides its own format to scan those images. We used the agent provided by Prisma Cloud. It unified the approach. Irrespective of the provider, the format of the output and reports was similar. It was easy to compare apples to apples rather than comparing apples to oranges, which definitely is a challenge when we use different cloud providers. Prisma Cloud solved that problem for us.

The level of abstraction is sufficient enough. The complexity is hidden. Only the information that is relevant is displayed, which is better from a developer's perspective because developers do not need to handle that complexity. If architects, like me, need to understand those complexities, they can go into a respective subscription and get the details. The level of abstraction was good enough with Prisma Cloud.

Prisma Cloud provides a single tool to protect all of our cloud resources and applications, without having to manage and reconcile disparate security and compliance reports.

Prisma Cloud reduced the alert investigation time because now, we have a single window. It is quite easy for anyone. A single resource can work on the alerts and memorize similar issues in the past and work on the current issues faster. It has improved productivity.

Prisma Cloud reduced costs. With the different service providers and different subscription models that we had previously, we divided the subscriptions between the analysts. They were responsible for the issues related to the subscription. We had a team of six people previously. After the implementation of Prisma Cloud, all the issues got consolidated, and our team size got reduced to two. The productivity increased because the same analyst could see past issues, revisit those issues, learn quickly, and fix similar issues. They got an idea of how to fix a similar issue, so the overall productivity increased, which reduced the cost.

What is most valuable?

When we work on, for example, AWS, we need to consolidate the data from different regions, which is an exercise in itself. The same exercise or similar exercise can easily be done in Prisma Cloud. It is as easy as registering a new subscription to AWS, and you start seeing all that data. For example, it is very easy to do analysis of the Defender data, which can include warnings, errors, etc. Although it is natively AWS data, the presentation is not easy for a developer. Prisma Cloud makes it a bit easier. 

What needs improvement?

The first time I looked at Prisma Cloud, it took me a while to understand how to implement the integration and how to enable features by using the interface for integration. That portion can probably be improved. I have not looked at the latest version. I used the version that was available three months back. It is portal-based, and they might have changed it in the last three months, but at that time, integration was a bit tricky. Even though documentation was available, it took a while for a new person to understand what integration meant, what will be achieved after the integration, or how the integration needed to be done on the Azure or AWS side. That was a bit challenging initially.

For how long have I used the solution?

I used it for eight or nine months. I last used it about three months ago.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable.

How are customer service and support?

The client's team interacted with the customer support team. We used to highlight the issue to them, and they used to contact Palo Alto's support. We required their support two or three times, but I or my team was not directly involved with their customer support for help.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have not used a similar solution before.

How was the initial setup?

I was involved in the implementation. It was all cloud-based. There is a bit of a learning curve when trying to understand how to integrate it. Although some good documentation is available for Prisma Cloud, it was still a bit difficult to understand the product initially. However, the UI that analysts use to work on issues and remediation is quite good. It is not complex. After you have done one or two integrations with your AWS or Azure account or subscription, it becomes a routine activity. It is easy to integrate more subscriptions, but the initial one or two subscriptions of the AWS or Azure account will take some time because some features need to be enabled on the respective cloud as well. It is not only the configuration on the Prisma Cloud side. Some configuration is required on the AWS or Azure side as well.

It is a website, so deployment is not a challenge. It is as simple as registering an account and making the payment, which the IT team already did before they created an account for us, so, as such, there is no deployment. If we want to use an agent, then certainly some deployments are required on the machines, but that is the agent deployment. The product itself does not require any deployment.

From a maintenance perspective, not much maintenance is required. It is a one-time integration. It will then be set for a few years unless you want to remove some of the subscriptions or something changes in Azure or AWS. There is a limitation on the Azure or AWS side but not on the Prisma side, so maintenance is there, but it is low.

What was our ROI?

There was a cost reduction. That was the benefit that we had visualized while evaluating Prisma Cloud as one of the possible solutions. The complexity of IT operations had also reduced, and the team size had also reduced after implementing Prisma Cloud.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We used the enterprise edition. A standard edition is also there. I am aware of these two editions. I know that there is some cost, but I do not have the exact figures with me. The cost was not on the higher side. Overall, the cost gets recovered with its implementation.

What other advice do I have?

I have not compared it with other tools, but overall, I found it to be pretty good when resolving the challenges that we were facing early on. I did not get a chance to look at the Gartner report in terms of where it stands, but based on my experience with this solution, I was quite satisfied.

It is a good solution. Each team should utilize it. Every good organization is now moving towards or trying to be provider agnostic, so if you are using multiple providers, you should at least give Prisma Cloud a try.

Prisma Cloud enables you to integrate security into your CI/CD pipeline and add touchpoints into existing DevOps processes. I know it is possible, but we were already using some other tools, so we did not try this feature. We already had a good process utilizing other scanning tools, so we did not try that feature, but I know that they have this feature.

Prisma Cloud provides risk clarity at runtime and across the entire pipeline, showing issues as they are discovered during the build phases, but this is linked to the CI/CD pipeline, which we did not implement. We looked at the risk level of the infrastructure deployed. We also looked at which cloud platform is having issues. The risk-level clarity was certainly there. It was possible to see the risk level and prioritize the activities or other items with a higher risk, but we never tried CI/CD pipelines.

Overall, I would rate Prisma Cloud a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1862622 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Specialist at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Top 20
Offers the visibility and control we require, regardless of the complexity or distribution of our cloud environments
Pros and Cons
  • "Due to the maturity of most companies, security posture management is the most valuable feature."
  • "The solution does not currently support servers for GCP."

What is our primary use case?

We utilize all the modules of Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks, and it is fully integrated into the host control manager on GitHub. We employ this solution to achieve complete visibility from the moment we write our ISE to the actual management of the cloud environment. This approach offers a clear view of our security posture, and the container security component provides valuable insights to assist us in our architectural process.

Our security team is the primary user of the solution, followed by SREs and developers.

How has it helped my organization?

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks offers security that covers various environments. This is crucial as it provides visibility into running processes, allowing for a better assessment of the current security status and giving our knowledge center peace of mind. Moreover, it enables us to leverage all the available modules.

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks is highly comprehensive, and I would recommend this solution to anyone due to its complete visibility into the cloud and its efficient deployment process, which makes the solution worth the cost.

The solution's security automation capabilities, if configured correctly using various playbooks, can introduce different security gates. This automated playbook has the potential to save us 70 percent of the work.

I would rate Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks a nine out of ten for its proactive approach to cloud security.

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks has significantly enhanced the functioning of our organization. Through CIM, we can examine IIM posture to determine the permissions granted to users and the status of all shared entities. Additionally, CSPM provides an accurate inventory of all running elements, which we utilize to bolster our security posture. This allows us to effectively identify various threat levels and obtain a precise overview of the environment.

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks is one of the most comprehensive solutions for securing the entire cloud-native development lifecycle, including the build, deploy, and run phases. By integrating with various components within my development cycle, I can access data from different data centers and formulate a security strategy to ensure ongoing protection.

The solution offers the visibility and control we require, regardless of the complexity or distribution of our cloud environments. This visibility enables us to enhance our security and compliance posture by adhering to the recommendations.

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks enables us to integrate security into our CI/CD pipeline and add touchpoints to existing DevOps processes by integrating with the infrastructure code. This allows us to enhance security at various stages of the deployment process. The touchpoints in our DevOps processes are seamless. 

The solution provides us with a single tool to protect all our cloud resources and applications without the need to manage and reconcile multiple security and compliance reports. It allows us to have a better understanding of our environment, from the infrastructure code to the cloud, providing a more comprehensive picture.

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks provides risk clarity at the run and across the entire pipeline showing issues as they are discovered during the build phases. This makes it much easier for our developers to actually take into consideration some of the recommendations that are given.

The solution has helped us reduce run time alerts and shave down a few issues by 40 percent.

The solution has reduced alert investigation times because we can gather all the necessary information for investigation in one place.

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks has saved us approximately 20 million shillings.

What is most valuable?

Due to the maturity of most companies, security posture management is the most valuable feature.

What needs improvement?

The data container component can be improved since it lacks intuitiveness. Therefore, we need to thoroughly comprehend the tool in order to utilize it effectively.

The number of cloud providers in terms of data security needs improvement. The solution does not currently support servers for GCP.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks for around three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks is stable. Any issues we have are usually resolved within a few hours.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks is scalable.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We transitioned from using EDR solutions, and after testing several options that necessitated extensive configuration, we ultimately switched to Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks, which provided a balanced solution.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward. The first time I deployed the solution, it took around three hours, but now I can do it in under an hour. The deployment is usually done through APIs, and we can also employ the production code to deploy containers.

What about the implementation team?

The implementations are completed in-house.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The licensing structure is highly comprehensive. Although the cost can be high, the value is worth the price tag.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated Wiz.

What other advice do I have?

I give Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks a nine out of ten for its ease of use, value, and support.

One Prisma engineer or security person with training is able to maintain the solution. For our mature organization, we utilize all of Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks tools.

I recommend Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks. The solution is easy to use and intuitive for the most part. The licensing is comprehensive and straightforward, and the modules can be easily integrated to improve our development.

In Africa, many people do not typically associate the cloud with security due to the prevalence of on-premises security solutions. However, upon utilizing Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks, we have come to realize that it is an excellent and secure tool.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
HariharanManikumar - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Presales & Solution Architect at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
MSP
Reasonable price and helpful for containers and serverless security, but needs more coverage in terms of cloud vendors and a few enhancements
Pros and Cons
  • "The container and serverless security is most valuable. It is quite a new technology for this region. Even though containers have been there for a long time, the adoption of containers is very minimal in this region. When it comes to using Kubernetes containers in a complex architecture, there is a lack of security in the market. People aren't aware of the security controls or the process for governance. Container security provided by Prisma Cloud is quite good at filling that gap."
  • "We identified two things that we felt would be great to have, but they are under NDA. So, I can't disclose them. Other than those two things, we identified a generic bug in the secret key management service on AWS that needs to be fixed. We reported it to them, and we want them to fix it."

What is our primary use case?

We are a system integrator. My organization has a cloud practice, and we focus on cloud security. Predominantly, Prisma Cloud is used to identify misconfigurations in the cloud.

We have been using Prisma Cloud for two specific customers on Azure Cloud. It is quite a new organization, and we currently have two customers, but in my previous organization, we had about eight customers.

We predominantly focus only on the cloud. We don't work with hybrid models. MultiCloud is there, but we haven't worked on MultiCloud as of now. This specific region is more into Azure Cloud. Azure has a data center over here. Therefore, the adoption of AWS or Google is not high in this region. For data compliance, customers want to stick to a cloud vendor that has a data center in this region.

How has it helped my organization?

My 18 years of experience is purely in serving the US and Europe markets. I am quite new to the UAE and the gulf region, and I found that this region is not very mature when it comes to cloud security. The majority of the CISOs are not aware of cloud security controls that need to be implemented, and they only speak about traditional security such as EDR, endpoint security, DLP, etc. So, there is a big potential for cloud security, specifically at the containers and serverless layer.

When we evaluated solutions, we carried out PoC not only for two customers but also for the other six accounts, and they were pretty shocked to know that there were a lot of misconfigurations in the cloud. This region lacks cloud security skills, and there are not many cloud security experts or solution architects to design proper architecture. When we carried out the PoC, they became aware of the misconfigurations and security gaps. It helped them to identify the potential risks they have in the cloud. Generally, with security, it is not easy to measure the outcome or gain from a solution because it purely depends on the breach and the data loss, but so far, we have helped two organizations in fully implementing the solution, and the other four are still in the PoC process.

We purely focus on the container and serverless security, and we predominantly work with Cloud Posture Management (CPM). We opted for Prisma Cloud because we found Prisma Cloud to be better in terms of the overall posture and integration. There are other products in the market, but they don't have a complete and broad portfolio range when it comes to containers or serverless functions. Prisma Cloud has good integrations. You can integrate vulnerability management for the overall risk score. When it comes to commercials, costing-wise also, it is far more reasonable for the customers.

It is good for helping us to take a preventative approach to cloud security. It identifies all the controls and gives an overall picture. For example, it tells us the portion that has misconfiguration. So, we can fix that portion. It is a very good preventative tool. Certain customers predominantly use it for one-time assessments, which I don't recommend. It should be an ongoing assessment to have a good incident response as soon as an alert comes in. Normally, people just ask for a weekly report or monthly report to identify their security posture. Instead of that, they should have a real-time incident response solution to act as a preventative tool. As soon as an alert is generated, there must be someone to immediately work on it, and having such a tool really helps.

It provides the visibility and control we need. In my previous organization, we had quite a complex environment with about 30 Kubernetes clusters. As compared to other tools, it provided better insights, but I haven't evaluated it for much more complex architectures. When it comes to serverless architectures, our work has been minimal. Therefore, I cannot confirm or guarantee whether Prisma Cloud will satisfy a highly complex environment.

It gives the overall picture of compliance when it comes to the cloud security portion. We also have a couple of custom dashboards wherein we integrate the security risk score from other tools. Before implementing this solution for the customers, there was no proper mechanism for the cloud. They only had the vulnerability management reports, the SIEM score, or the application VAPT reports, but they did not have any visibility to anything on the cloud in terms of overall compliance and container security. It definitely gave visibility to the CISOs. A lot of people are still concerned about whether the cloud is secure, whether they need to migrate to it, and whether they have proper security controls for containers and serverless security. It gives better exposure to them. We do have proper tools with CISO-enabled dashboards using which they'll be able to see the score. 

It has reduced runtime alerts by 60% to 70%. 

It has reduced the alert investigation time. False positives are reduced. So, we are able to focus on what has been highlighted. At certain times, we need to accept certain changes, and it also gives us the flexibility to mark something as safe. Based on the change control, we can disable the alert so that the alert is not repeated until the change is completed. We have the functionality to do it.

What is most valuable?

The container and serverless security is most valuable. It is quite a new technology for this region. Even though containers have been there for a long time, the adoption of containers is very minimal in this region. When it comes to using Kubernetes containers in a complex architecture, there is a lack of security in the market. People aren't aware of the security controls or the process for governance. Container security provided by Prisma Cloud is quite good at filling that gap.

What needs improvement?

We identified two things that we felt would be great to have, but they are under NDA. So, I can't disclose them. Other than those two things, we identified a generic bug in the secret key management service on AWS that needs to be fixed. We reported it to them, and we want them to fix it.

It is very good with predominant cloud vendors, such as AWS, Azure, and GCP, but I am not sure about its efficiency when it comes to other cloud vendors. They should expand its coverage to other cloud vendors such as Alibaba Cloud and Oracle Cloud, which are quite common in this region. I am not sure if they have a full-fledged Oracle Cloud controls evaluation. If they can improve it in terms of the MultiCloud aspect for the organization, it will be helpful, especially in this region.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with this solution for almost three years. In my previous organization, I worked with it for two years, and it has been about eight months since I joined my current organization. Here also, we have opted for Prisma Cloud.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Its stability is good. We didn’t have any issues with it.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In my earlier organization, we used it for a bigger client with about 3,000 VMs in AWS and about 30 to 40 clusters. We did not have any challenge with its scalability. As we started putting things, it was working well. 

In this organization, we only have two small customers. There is not much workload. We haven't had any issues. It works fine.

How are customer service and support?

In my earlier organization, I worked directly with Prisma Cloud support. Their support was good. My engagement was minimal, but the initial support from them was quite good. When I had some RFCs and RFIs coming in, their turnaround times were quite less. We had a very good rapport with them. We had a specific account manager who handled any RFCs and PoCs. Their support was good, and we didn't have any challenges. 

In this organization, we have been working with a channel partner, and there have been a few challenges because they are also occupied with other proposals and tasks. The same partner also works with other competitor organizations. Overall, I would rate their support an eight out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

In my previous organization, we were using the Skyhigh networks. Earlier, it was Sky network, and later on, McAfee acquired it and made it a CASB and cloud posture management product. We had a couple of challenges with it. So, we evaluated a lot of products and shortlisted Palo Alto Prisma Cloud. 

How was the initial setup?

It is straightforward. They provide two options. You can configure it manually or just grant access. It can then easily sync up. They also provide the cloud formation templates to spin up in minutes. So, it is straightforward and very simple.

What was our ROI?

It is hard to measure cost savings at this time because it is quite a new investment for the organization. Cost savings will be there in terms of security and reducing the development time and error fixing time, but it will take some time to measure that.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Its price is reasonable as compared to other products. The main challenge is explaining the licensing model to customers. It isn't a problem related to Palo Alto. Commonly, people don't understand cloud licensing or security licensing. When they have fixed virtual machines, they know what they are going to be charged, but when it comes to cloud automation, it is hard for them to get clarity in case of high workloads or when they have enabled auto-scaling, etc. It would be helpful if Palo Alto can educate people on their licensing programs.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated multiple products after I came into this organization. We evaluated various CSPM and container security products, such as Aqua Security and Rapid7.

Nowadays, every vendor has come up with a cloud posture management tool. So, we carried out a couple of PoCs in specific customer accounts that had an almost similar type of infrastructure, and based on the outcome, we found Prisma Cloud to be better in terms of identification of miscontrols and security. The cost also played a major role. As compared to other products, it was reasonable. So, the feature set for fulfilling customer requirements and the cost were the two factors that played a major part.

The third factor was the flexibility to work with the vendor. In terms of partnership and support, we felt that being a Palo Alto product, Prisma Cloud would be better. Palo Alto has better service over here, and their channel partners are quite flexible to work with on initial customer demonstration and other things. We felt much more comfortable with Prisma Cloud in all these three aspects.

What other advice do I have?

When it comes to its security automation capabilities, currently, not every customer prefers to automate. We have been trying to implement automation, and when the right access was given, we did a certain amount of automation to immediately block the firewall rules or revoke access when any privileged access has been given. We have been doing a little bit of automation, and it has been good. We are able to achieve our goals. Out of two customers in this company and eight customers in my previous company, only three customers preferred to do automation to a certain extent. The rest of them wanted the alerts to be sent to the incident response team of their SOC. They wanted their team to act upon them. They only allowed us to automate high severity ones or highly critical ones. For example, they only allowed us to automate things like immediately blocking access to specific ports or IPs, but we haven't tried the automation to a full extent.

It enables you to integrate security into your CI/CD pipeline and add touchpoints into existing DevOps processes. We implemented it for just one use case. Before that, we were using Qualys Container Security in the CI/CD pipeline. After switching to Prisma Cloud, I did not have an opportunity to evaluate it completely because I moved to another organization. In my previous organization, we had expertise in DevOps. We had a dedicated DevOps team with almost six years of experience in automating the entire deployment of servers infrastructure, as well as applications. It was pretty easy for them to implement or integrate any security tool into the CI/CD pipeline. In my current organization, we don't have an expert team, and we struggle a bit in implementing things because there are multiple CI/CD deployments from Jenkins to Amazon's native one and Git. So, we take support from Palo Alto to get things deployed during the PoCs. In my previous organization, it was also easier for us to implement because the training provided from the Palo Alto side was quite good, and we had a lot of training materials in the partner portal. We utilized them. We got in touch with the technical team, and we implemented things quite faster, but here, there is a bit of lag because we don't have expertise in DevOps for implementations or integrations.

It can provide risk clarity at runtime and across the entire pipeline, showing issues as they are discovered during the build phases. Shifting your security to the left cuts down the entire life cycle of application deployment, and it does help to fix the security issues at the beginning of the development life cycle itself. We have not seen a large amount of time being cut down. That's because, typically, teams deploy the code, and then initiate a security scan. By integrating these things into the early development cycle, the time can be cut down to three weeks from about one and half months.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
reviewer1525530 - PeerSpot reviewer
Advisor Information Systems Architect at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Gives you at-a-glance compliance security, but microsegmentation still needs improvement
Pros and Cons
  • "Prisma Cloud's monitoring features such as the compute compliance dashboard and the vulnerability dashboard, where we can get a clear visualization of their docker, have also been valuable. We can get layer-by-layer information that helps us see exactly where it's noncompliant. They update the dashboards quite frequently."
  • "They charge seven workloads for monitoring one compute, and that is quite expensive. This makes it difficult to move fully with the compute part because of the workload."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case is to certify blueprints. We are helping both on the CSPM and the CWPP parts of it. We monitor the compute infrastructure and certify the project.

CACS for CSPM, we certify against the NIST 800-53 compliance standard.

What is most valuable?

For the compliance part, we have found the pie graph, where we can see all of the compliance standards in one go, to be a valuable feature.

Prisma Cloud's monitoring features such as the compute compliance dashboard and the vulnerability dashboard, where we can get a clear visualization of their docker, have also been valuable. We can get layer-by-layer information that helps us see exactly where it's noncompliant. They update the dashboards quite frequently.

Their data security feature is quite good as well.

Their training modules are good, and my team is okay with them.

What needs improvement?

Microsegmentation still needs improvement.

For data security, they have only specific regions like the US, and they need to move to Asia as well.

The most important thing has to do with the computing, licensing, and costing. They charge seven workloads for monitoring one compute, and that is quite expensive. This makes it difficult to move fully with the compute part because of the workload.

Their training modules need to have more live examples. We need to refer to the YouTube channel or follow Palo Alto to get the reference. If they can refer to the YouTube channel in their training and indicate that it can be referred to for further information, it would be good.

On their portal, they do not have which services are available in each region. While searching, it's very hard to find in which location a service is enabled. So, it would be great to have a list of services for each region.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Prisma Cloud for eight months. It is a SaaS solution.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's stable as of now; it has not been down in the last eight months.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable as of now. We have 20 VMs.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is good. From what I've observed though, different regions seem to have different SMEs, subject matter experts, and different people have different knowledge. So, there is definitely a gap between the different SMEs.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We were using AWS products.

We switched because of twist lock for compute security. The Prisma Cloud dashboard is powerful, and it gives you at-a-glance compliance security against many standards. We can also write our own custom policies if we want to build our own standard. So, there are lots of benefits with Prisma Cloud.

How was the initial setup?

It's a SaaS, so the initial setup is pretty straight forward. We are still onboarding, and most of the customers are in the dev environment as of now and not production. So, it was quite smooth. They have their contributions filed on the portal, the cloud formation templates.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The licensing cost is a bit high on the compute side. We get a corporate discount, which helps reduce overall cost. In some cases, you may need to have two licenses to onboard a project, which would make it expensive.

What other advice do I have?

If your specialization involves blueprint certification against a compliance standard, then you can go with Prisma Cloud. It is very powerful for data loss prevention, and I would rate it at seven on a scale from one to ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: November 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Prisma Cloud by Palo Alto Networks Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.