Cisco Sourcefire SNORT vs Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB comparison

Cancel
You must select at least 2 products to compare!
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Sourcefire SNORT and Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Darktrace, Vectra AI, Check Point Software Technologies and others in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS).
To learn more, read our detailed Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Report (Updated: April 2024).
769,479 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The whole solution is very good, and stable.""The most valuable feature of this solution is the filtering.""The most valuable feature is the ability to automatically learn the traffic in our environment, and change the merit recommendations based on that.""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.""Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is easy to configure and the reporting is great. It's also very user-friendly.""The most valuable features of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT are the dashboard for monitoring events.""It simplifies the configuration process by offering pre-defined base configurations, including security and connectivity settings.""Solid intrusion detection and prevention that scales easily in very large environments."

More Cisco Sourcefire SNORT Pros →

"The Palo Alto solution has improved our organization by providing threat protection across a variety of internet connections. Our company also gets valuable insights regarding threat analysis.""The most valuable feature is that the product can do everything in a single device, including the firewall, rules, and the PBL. It also has good routing and switching.""Prohibited URLs can be listed by category.""It's allowed us to have better visibility and protection from threats.""Being able to manage blacklists and whitelists easily is very useful, especially for internal access and limiting outbound access.""The initial setup is easy.""Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB is easy to use, easy to operate, and easy to edit."

More Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB Pros →

Cons
"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 would like to have analytics included in the suite.""The customization of the rules can be simplified.""The cloud can be improved.""While the alerts they offer are good, it could improve it in the sense that they should be more detailed to make the alerts more useful to us in general. Sometimes the solution will offer up false positives. Due to the fact that the alerts aren't detailed, we have to go dig around to see why is it being blocked. The solution would be infinitely better if there was just a bit more detail in the alert information and logging we receive.""To be frank, the product is not really stable, although they're working on that. Whenever I go to the technical community with an issue, they will usually say that it is not there yet, but the technical team are working on it. The issues are not insolvable. I think they should just keep working on the product to make sure that the product can become very stable. The technical support is great. I appreciate that. We have a lot of communities supporting Firepower now, so you can find help for whatever issue you have.""With the next release, I would like to see some PBR, so that you can do the configuration with the features.""The solution's approach to managing traffic blocking is confusing and impractical."

More Cisco Sourcefire SNORT Cons →

"The solution is a bit expensive.""We have had some challenges with making Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB work with ELK stack.""One way Palo Alto can improve is by offering sandboxing. I don't know if they currently offer a sandboxing feature together with the firewall or not. They should provide secure sandboxing with the firewalls.""Performance monitoring could use improvement.""An area for improvement would be the technical support, which can be slow.""For hosting sites like Blogspot, they host sites that should be in different categories, but get lumped together in general. There needs to be more granularity or multiple categorizations.""It is an expensive solution and not everyone has the budget for it."

More Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "We have a three-year license for this solution."
  • "Licensing for this solution is paid on a yearly basis."
  • "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."
  • More Cisco Sourcefire SNORT Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "It is more expensive than ASA but is far cheaper than Checkpoint. So, pricing wise, it is right in the middle."
  • "Expensive, but that's because it provides everything."
  • More Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB Pricing and Cost Advice →

    report
    Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) solutions are best for your needs.
    769,479 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:The product is inexpensive compared to leading brands such as Palo Alto or Fortinet.
    Top Answer:The product is inexpensive compared to leading brands such as Palo Alto or Fortinet. It is cheaper than Palo Alto and comparable to Fortinet. It also depends on Cisco’s discount. Sometimes it's… more »
    Top Answer:The solution has some stability issues. Also, it's complicated compared to other products like FortiGate.
    Top Answer:Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB is a great way to keep your network secure and safe from malicious websites. It's my favorite feature because it allows me to easily customize and tailor… more »
    Top Answer:URL Filtering with Palo Alto Networks PAN-DB can help you protect your networks and users from malicious URLs, but it's not perfect. For starters, the database needs to be constantly updated to… more »
    Top Answer:When it comes to URL filtering, Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB is the way to go. It helps you maintain complete control of your network security by identifying and blocking risky… more »
    Ranking
    Views
    2,043
    Comparisons
    1,518
    Reviews
    6
    Average Words per Review
    472
    Rating
    8.0
    Views
    3,807
    Comparisons
    1,924
    Reviews
    0
    Average Words per Review
    0
    Rating
    N/A
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Sourcefire SNORT
    Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering PAN-DB
    Learn More
    Overview

    Snort is an open-source, rule-based, intrusion detection and prevention system. It combines the benefits of signature-, protocol-, and anomaly-based inspection methods to deliver flexible protection from malware attacks. Snort gained notoriety for being able to accurately detect threats at high speeds.

    Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB is an advanced URL filtering solution that provides a way to control web access, as well as how users interact with online content. With this solution, your organization can prevent credential phishing theft by assuming strict control over which sites users can enter their corporate credentials into. Palo Alto Networks Advanced URL Filtering with PAN-DB provides web protection by using URL database capabilities to help you automatically detect and prevent new malicious and targeted web-based threats instantly.

    Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB Features

    Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

    • Inline protection: Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB provides inline protection from new malicious web pages by using machine learning to detect and block new threats in milliseconds.
    • Anti-evasion: Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB analyzes live web content, disrupting attackers and identifying the true nature of malicious sites hiding behind evasive techniques.
    • Phishing protection: By using Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB, you can spot phishing pages instantly and accurately before they destroy your network.
    • URL database: Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB has a URL database that maintains hundreds of millions of known malicious and benign URLs categorized through a combination of static, dynamic, machine learning, and human analysis.
    • Criteria matching: With this feature, you can designate multiple policy action types based on URL categories or criteria.

    Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB Benefits

    There are many benefits to implementing Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

    • Eliminates security silos: Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB gets rid of security silos so you can attain proper security posture and keep users safe.
    • Cloud native: Because Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB is cloud native, it enables you to easily expand and scale capabilities when necessary.
    • Minimizes operational expenditure: By reducing the need for standalone solutions, Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB helps your organization decrease operational expenditures.
    • Safeguards against phishing: Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB enables you to stop credential phishing attempts by offering layers of prevention to protect your organization from known and brand-new phishing sites.
    • Consistent security policies and capabilities: With Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB, you can deploy advanced URL filtering with hardware appliances, on virtual environments, or in the cloud with the same set of policies and security consistently applied.
    • Increased detection: Detect evasive and targeted attacks by detecting real web traffic and not web crawler data.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB solution.

    Consultant Michael V. says, “What I really like about PAN and what makes it a worthwhile solution is that rather than having an administrator constantly updating a list of prohibited URLs, you can do it by categories. Every one of these URLs gets meta-tagged as hate speech or antisemitic or pornography, or whatever it is, and when you set up the filter everything that's prohibited by HR policy is there. I don't have to maintain anything, it catches everything.”

    PeerSpot user Darshil S., Consultant at a tech services company, mentions, “The multiple categorizations of URLs are quite helpful. For example, if a URL is a social media website, such as facebook.com, it can be classified at a certain risk level - from high to low.”

    Karthikeyan S., Sr. Cloud Data Architect at Sun Cloud LLC, explains, "Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB is easy to use, easy to operate, and easy to edit."

    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
    TRI-AD, Telkom Indonesia
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company27%
    Financial Services Firm18%
    Comms Service Provider18%
    Individual & Family Service9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company19%
    Government9%
    Financial Services Firm8%
    Comms Service Provider7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company13%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Government8%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business22%
    Midsize Enterprise39%
    Large Enterprise39%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business25%
    Midsize Enterprise12%
    Large Enterprise62%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business29%
    Midsize Enterprise29%
    Large Enterprise43%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business22%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise63%
    Buyer's Guide
    Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
    April 2024
    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: April 2024.
    769,479 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is ranked 12th in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) with 18 reviews while Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB is ranked 19th in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS). Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is rated 7.6, while Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Cisco Sourcefire SNORT writes "An IPS solution for security and protection but lacks stability". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB writes "Provides regular updates with an auto download option; prohibited URLs can be listed by category ". Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is most compared with Fortinet FortiGate IPS, Cisco NGIPS, Check Point IPS, Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention and Rapid7 InsightIDR, whereas Palo Alto Networks URL Filtering with PAN-DB is most compared with Check Point IPS, Fortinet FortiGate IPS, Zscaler Cloud IPS, Palo Alto Networks Advanced Threat Prevention and Cisco IOS Security.

    See our list of best Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) vendors.

    We monitor all Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.