Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW)

Cisco Secure Firewall stands as a robust and adaptable security solution, catering to organizations of all sizes. It's designed to shield networks from a diverse array of cyber threats, such as ransomware, malware, and phishing attacks. Beyond mere protection, it also offers secure access to corporate resources, beneficial for employees, partners, and customers alike. One of its key functions includes network segmentation, which serves to isolate critical assets and minimize the risk of lateral movement within the network.

The core features of Cisco Secure Firewall are multifaceted:

• Advanced threat protection is achieved through a combination of intrusion prevention, malware detection, and URL filtering technologies.
• For secure access, the firewall presents multiple options, including VPN, remote access, and single sign-on.
• Its network segmentation capability is vital in creating barriers within the network to safeguard critical assets.
• The firewall is scalable, effectively serving small businesses to large enterprises.
• Management is streamlined through Cisco DNA Center, a central management system.

The benefits of deploying Cisco Secure Firewall are substantial. It significantly reduces the risk of cyberattacks, thereby enhancing the security posture of an organization. This security also translates into increased productivity, as secure access means uninterrupted work. Compliance with industry regulations is another advantage, as secure access and network segmentation align with many regulatory standards. Additionally, it helps in reducing IT costs by automating security tasks and simplifying management processes.

In practical scenarios, Cisco Secure Firewall finds diverse applications. It's instrumental in protecting branch offices from cyberattacks, securing remote access for various stakeholders, safeguarding cloud workloads, and segmenting networks to isolate sensitive areas.

User reviews from PeerSpot reflect an overall positive experience with the Cisco Secure Firewall. Users appreciate its ease of configuration, good management capabilities, robust protection, user-friendly interface, and scalability. However, some areas for improvement include better integration capabilities with other vendors, maturity, control over bandwidth for end-users, and addressing software bugs.

In summary, Cisco Secure Firewall is a comprehensive, versatile, and reliable security solution that effectively meets the security needs of various organizations. It offers a balance of advanced protection, user-friendly management, and scalability, making it a valuable asset in the realm of network security.

Check Point NGFW is a next generation firewall that enables safe usage of internet applications by blocking malicious applications and unblocking safe applications. Check Point NGFW, which uses deep packet inspection to identify and control applications, has features such as application and user control and integrated intrusion prevention (IPS), as well as more advanced malware prevention capabilities like sandboxing.

Check Point NGFW includes 23 firewall models optimized for running all threat prevention technologies simultaneously, including full SSL traffic inspection, without compromising on security or performance.

Benefits of Check Point's Next Generation Firewall

• Robust security: Check Point NGFW delivers the best possible threat prevention with SandBlast Zero Day protection. The SandBlast protection agent constantly inspects passing network traffic for exploits and vulnerabilities. Suspicious files are then emulated in a virtual sandbox in order to detect and report malicious behavior.
  
  
• Security at hyperscale: On-demand hyperscale threat prevention performance provides cloud level expansion and resiliency on premises.
  
  
• Unified management: Check Point's SmartConsole makes it easy to manage and configure network security environments and policies. With the SmartConsole, users can manage all the firewall gateways and access logs and install databases from one location. Unified management control across the network increases the efficiency of security operations and reduces IT costs.
  
• Continuous logging: Check Point NGFW’s Threat Management feature detects vulnerabilities and logs them. Using the logged data, users can easily create and implement efficient security policies.
  
  
• Remote access: The remote access VPN provides a seamless connection for remote users.

Check Point NGFW is suitable for organizations of all sizes, from small businesses to larger enterprises.

Reviews from Real Users

Check Point NGFW stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its intrusion prevention feature as well as its centralized management, which makes it very easy to deploy firewall policies to many firewalls with one click.

Shivani J., a network security administrator, writes, "Check Point has a lot of features. The ones I love are the antivirus, intrusion prevention, and data loss prevention."

G., a network administrator at Secretaría de Finanzas de Aguascalientes, writes, “Within the organization, the inspection of packages has given us great help in detecting traffic that may be a threat to the institution. The configuration of policies has allowed us to maintain control of access and users for each institution that is incorporated into our headquarters.”

Arun J., a senior network engineer, notes, “The nicest feature is the centralized management of multiple firewalls. With the centralized management, we can easily use and operate multiple firewalls as well as create a diagram of them.”

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls are next-generation firewalls used for security to protect networks from threats and attacks. It is used for perimeter security, data center protection, and managing secure access to environments. Users highlight the NGFW's effectiveness in providing comprehensive security without impacting network performance. Users appreciate its ease of use, particularly in setup and ongoing management, making it a favored choice for businesses looking to secure their cloud environments.

The firewall provides application control, malware protection, scalability, stability, user-friendly interface, threat hunt capabilities, application visibility and awareness, URL filtering, traffic monitoring, machine learning for attack prevention, a unified platform for all security capabilities, DNS security, VPN, and embedded machine learning. Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls is easy to manage, reliable, and balances security and network performance well. It also provides complete visibility through logs and alerting.

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls Features

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

• Secure Application Enablement (App-ID, User-ID, Content-ID)
• Malware Detection and Prevention (threat prevention service, buffer overflows and port scans, anti-malware capabilities, command-and-control protection, and WildFire)
• DNS Security (URL filtering, predict and block malicious domains, signature-based protection, extensible cloud-based architecture)
• Panorama Security Management (including graphical views and analytics, manage rules and dynamic updates, customizable application command center (ACC), log collection mode, physical or virtual appliance)
• Threat Intelligence (high-fidelity threat intelligence, priority alerts, automatic extraction and sharing of prevention indicators, native integration with Palo Alto Networks products)

Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls Benefits

There are several benefits to implementing Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

• Dedicated management interface for managing and initial configuration of the device
• Regular threat signatures and updates
• Import addresses and URL objects from the external server
• Configure and manage with REST API integration
• Great throughput and connection speed is fair even in high traffic load
• Deep visibility into the network activity through Application and Command Control
• Easy to manage and very user friendly

Reviews from Real Users

Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls users.

A Solutions Architect at a communications service provider says, “The product stability and level of security are second to none in the industry. We value the security of our client's infrastructure so these features are valuable to us. An example of a very valuable feature behind Palo Alto is the application-aware identifiers that help the firewall know what its users are trying to do. It can block specific activities instead of just blocking categories. For example, you can block an application, or all unknown applications.”

PeerSpot user Gerry H., CyberSecurity Network Engineer at a university, mentions that the solution has a “Nice user interface, good support, is stable, and has extensive logging capabilities.” He also adds, “Wildfire has been a very good feature. This solution provides a unified platform that natively integrates all security capabilities, which is 100% important to us. This is a great feature.”

Eric S., Network Analyst at a recreational facilities/services company, states, "With its single pane of glass, it makes monitoring and troubleshooting a bit more homogeneous. We are not looking at multiple platforms and monitoring management tools. It is more efficient from that perspective. It is more of a common monitoring and control system for multiple aspects of what used to be different systems. It provides efficiency and time savings."

The FortiGate Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) from Fortinet is a comprehensive cybersecurity solution designed to cater to a wide array of organizational needs. It integrates seamlessly into the Fortinet Security Fabric, offering robust protection against various internal and external threats, including attacks, malware, and vulnerabilities. The NGFW is known for its advanced features such as SSL inspection, application control, visibility enhancements, and an effective intrusion prevention system (IPS). This IPS plays a critical role in identifying and blocking malicious traffic by monitoring and inspecting incoming data.

FortiGate NGFW can be deployed in diverse environments, including on-premises, in the cloud, or hybrid setups. The firewall is equipped with next-generation antivirus capabilities, IPS, web filtering, sandboxing, and intelligent security automation features like threat intelligence integration and automated incident response. Its reporting and analytics tools are comprehensive, aiding in enhancing an organization's security posture.

A notable aspect of the FortiGate NGFW is its diverse and highly rated features, including a powerful VPN, a user-friendly Firewall Management Console, policy-based controls, and advanced reporting and logging capabilities. The system also supports Identification Technologies, Visualization Tools, Content Inspection, and seamless integration with Active Directory and LDAP directories. Its High Availability and the flexibility to deploy in various configurations, such as on-premises or as a Virtual Machine, make it a versatile choice for different business needs.

The FortiGate NGFW also excels in providing secure connectivity. It supports various VPN protocols, offers SD-WAN for intelligent traffic routing, and integrates SASE for unified security and networking solutions. These features contribute to improved security, reduced operational costs, and increased agility for organizations.

When it comes to user experiences and satisfaction, FortiGate NGFW has garnered positive feedback, with an average rating of about 4.26 out of 5 on PeerSpot Reviews. Users from diverse roles, including core network teams, technical officers, and cybersecurity engineers, and from various sectors such as tech services, education, and finance, have found the solution effective. This indicates its versatility and suitability across different company sizes and types.

However, there are areas for improvement. Enhancing the details in Logging Services and making 10 Gigabit Interfaces available for lower models are some suggested enhancements. Simplifying the installation of FortiAP services is also noted as a potential area for improvement.

Forcepoint Next Generation Firewall is a versatile and comprehensive solution for perimeter security, offering features such as SD-WAN, IPS, VPN, and cloud or on-premises subscription keys. It is preferred by many clients over Cisco and is used for obligation redundancy, VPN access, and as the main point of security in infrastructure. 

The product is praised for its simplicity, flexibility, complete feature set, scalability, and central management capabilities. Other valuable features include IPS, firewall, sandbox, application control, filtering, security management center, connectivity, and integration capabilities.

Barracuda CloudGen Firewall is a comprehensive network security solution that provides advanced protection for organizations of all sizes. It offers next-generation firewall capabilities, including application control, intrusion prevention, and web filtering. 

With its integrated VPN functionality, it ensures secure remote access for employees. CloudGen Firewall also includes advanced threat intelligence, leveraging real-time updates to detect and block emerging threats. Its centralized management console simplifies administration and provides visibility into network traffic. 

CloudGen Firewall can easily adapt to changing business needs based on its scalable architecture. 

Huawei's Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) is a cutting-edge security solution designed to protect networks from advanced threats. With its advanced threat detection and prevention capabilities, the Huawei NGFW ensures the highest level of network security. 

The product offers comprehensive security features, including intrusion prevention, application control, and URL filtering, to safeguard against a wide range of cyber threats. The NGFW also provides deep packet inspection and advanced threat intelligence, enabling real-time threat detection and response. 

With its high-performance architecture, the Huawei NGFW delivers fast and efficient security without compromising network performance. It is easy to deploy and manage, thanks to its intuitive user interface and centralized management platform. 

The NGFW also supports flexible deployment options, including virtualization and cloud integration, making it suitable for various network environments.