We performed a comparison between Cisco Secure Firewall vs Palo Alto Network Wildfire based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Based on the parameters we compared, with all other factors being more or less equal, Cisco Secure Firewall comes in a bit ahead of Palo Alto simply because of their stronger support.
"I have found Fortinet FortiGate to be scalable."
"The inspection and web security features are most valuable."
"This is an easy solution to deploy."
"I like Fortinet FortiGate's antispam filter, SPN, and clustering features."
"FortiGate Secure SD-WAN includes best-of-breed next-generation firewall (NGFW) security, SD-WAN, advanced routing, and WAN optimization capabilities, delivering a security-driven networking WAN edge transformation in a unified offering."
"The simplicity of the configuration and the stability of the product are most valuable. The VPN concentrator is very useful."
"The most valuable feature is the web filter."
"FortiGate firewalls are user-friendly, and I like the security profiling features."
"Previously, our customers had to always utilize hand-to-hand delivery. Now, they are able to move completely to a secure digital method. They use a strictly dark fiber optics connection from a central location to the endpoint."
"If we look at the Cisco ASA without Firepower, then one of the most valuable features is the URL filtering."
"The most important feature is its categorization because on the site and social media you are unified in the way they are there."
"Firepower has been used for quite a few enterprise clients. Most of our clients are Fortune 500 and Firepower is used to improve their end to end firewall functionality."
"When I was managing these firewalls, I found them easy to understand, easy to deploy, and easy to maintain as compared to some of the other firewalls I have been involved with earlier. The opinion of my coworkers is that it's easy and quick to establish new zones, expand, and maintain."
"The most valuable feature is the access control list (ACL)."
"Cisco tech is always good and helpful. I would rate them as 10 out of 10."
"The best features are stability and scalability."
"A good tool for file scanning and email threat detection, especially when it comes to attachments and communications."
"The solution has plenty of features."
"It catches modified signatures of known viruses."
"The technical support is good."
"What I like about Palo Alto is that it is a complete product, with everything in it."
"Stability is never a concern."
"I love the idea of Palo Alto Networks WildFire. It's more geared toward preventing malware. If someone's laptop or phone is malware-infected, the tool prevents it from uploading valuable corporate data outside the corporate network. That's what I love about Palo Alto Networks WildFire. It stops malware in its tracks."
"The graphic user interface of Palo Alto is good and it's easy to configure."
"There are some cloud-based features that could be much more flexible than they currently are."
"I would like to have logs, monitoring, and reporting for a month without extra fees."
"It should come integrated or have its own type of network monitor tool in a module. There should just be one package, and you are good to go."
"Its customer service could be better."
"The visibility of the network can be better. The GUI can be improved for better visibility of the network flow. Other solutions have better GUI in terms of network visibility."
"I would like to see better pricing in the next release, as well as a simplification of the installation."
"They should improve the interface to make it more user-friendly."
"The sniffing packets or packet captures, can be simplified and improved because it's a little confusing."
"Sometimes, it is not easy to troubleshoot. You need to know where to go. It took me quite awhile. It's like, "Okay, if it doesn't go smoothly here, then go find the documentation." Once you do it, it is not so bad. However, it is sometimes a steep learning curve on the troubleshooting part of it."
"In the past though, colleagues have had issues during the upgrade process. The failover didn't work and production was down."
"The GUI interface could be improved when compared to other solutions."
"Virtual patching would be helpful for servers that are not able to update patches due to compatibility issues."
"Also, they have a Firepower source file that I can work on the ASA device and on Firepower devices. A problem here lies in the way that you manage these devices. Some devices do not support the FMC, and some devices have to be managed through ASDM, and others have to be managed through FMC."
"The reporting and other features are nice, but there is an issue with applying the configuration. That part needs some improvement."
"For the new line of FTDs, the performance could be improved. We sometimes have issues with the 41 series, depending what we activate. If we activate too many intrusion policies, it affects the CPU."
"Cisco ASA is starting to get old and Firepower is taking over. All the good things happening are with Firepower."
"In the future, Palo Alto could reduce the time it takes to process the file."
"The solution can improve its traffic management."
"The price of WildFire should be reduced in order to make it more affordable for our customers."
"The only problem with this solution is the cost. It's expensive."
"The technical support response needs improvement."
"Palo Alto Networks WildFire should be more real-time in nature. The signature updates should happen in a minute or less than a minute to be a very good feature for the customer."
"It would be nice if there was an easier way to install and deploy it, such as through the inclusion of wizards."
"The configuration should be made a little bit easier. I understand why it is as it is, but there should be a way to make it easier from the user side."
Cisco Secure Firewall is ranked 4th in Firewalls with 404 reviews while Palo Alto Networks WildFire is ranked 3rd in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) with 58 reviews. Cisco Secure Firewall is rated 8.2, while Palo Alto Networks WildFire is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Cisco Secure Firewall writes "Highlights and helps us catch Zero-day vulnerabilities traveling across our network". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Palo Alto Networks WildFire writes "Good technical support and provides automatic analysis that saves us time in filtering email". Cisco Secure Firewall is most compared with Netgate pfSense, Meraki MX, Sophos XG, Palo Alto Networks NG Firewalls and Juniper SRX Series Firewall, whereas Palo Alto Networks WildFire is most compared with Proofpoint Email Protection, Juniper SRX Series Firewall, Fortinet FortiSandbox, Check Point SandBlast Network and Zscaler Internet Access.
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