systems security engineer at a tech company with 1-10 employees
Real User
Top 10
Makes it very easy to maintain and manage our policies, the configuration, and various other maintenance of a particular firewall
Pros and Cons
  • "The most unique feature is the ability to help fix any gaps or mismatches in the configuration of the firewall."
  • "AlgoSec cannot be integrated with solutions that require two-step or multi-factor authentication. Embedding multi-factor authentication capability into the solution would be a valuable feature."

What is our primary use case?

We use AlgoSec to monitor multiple firewalls. AlgoSec makes it very easy to maintain and manage our policies, the configuration, and various other maintenance of a particular firewall. It fulfills our requirement and monitors the configuration as well as the policies which have been made by the network team or the administrator of the existing environment.

How has it helped my organization?

AlgoSec provides visibility into our network security policies. With the help of a single management control and the help of the Analyzer, we can monitor and check the gaps and the configuration of the features and functionality of the firewalls. We onboard all of our firewall devices using the single management control. We activated the analysis feature of the solution, which automatically analyzes all the firewalls. We receive notifications whenever there is a gap in any of the firewalls within our environment, giving us visibility into the configuration changes, including whether the policies are in place or not, as well as which ports are open.

AlgoSec provides full visibility into the risk involved in firewall change requests helping us prevent any misconfiguration within the firewalls in order to restrict unwanted entry into our environment.

With AlgoSec's change management and Fireflow module, the solution reduces the time it takes to implement firewall rules by pushing the rules to all the firewalls automatically from a centralized management console, which also improves productivity.

Before implementing AlgoSec, I required two to three hours to configure and set up the policies for a firewall, but with AlgoSec, the time is cut down to half an hour.

It helps reduce human error and misconfiguration by checking the built-in templates in the firewalls. If there are any gaps in the templates, the software fixes them and pushes the policy to the firewalls. 

AlgoSec has helped the organization a lot because it is an automated tool. There is no human interference required. Automation significantly reduces the chance of error when configuring the firewalls, which helps improve our security operations.

AlgoSec has eased the workload of our security operations by monitoring the log files. Previously, the security operations team received many incidents that were not valid or required monitoring, taking up a lot of their time.

What is most valuable?

The most unique feature is the ability to help fix any gaps or mismatches in the configuration of the firewall. The feature helps fill any configuration gaps that are present.

There are various compliance regulations, such as GP or GDPR, HIPAA, PCI, and PCI DSS, that need to be followed. AlgoSec has pre-built templates for each of these regulations, which helps with reporting and compliance requirements specific to each industry. AlgoSec's built-in compliance feature is unique in that it provides company details related to compliance, which is needed for our industry.

The integration of AlgoSec with various other security solutions is a plus. For example, we have integrated AlgoSec with Check Point, Fortinet, and Palo Alto. This seamless integration allows for a more secure environment.

The solution helps simplify the job of our security engineers. Managing a network with 50-100 firewalls typically requires 10 people. However, with the help of AlgoSec, two to three people can manage the same number of firewalls.

We can manage our hybrid network infrastructure whether it is in the cloud or on-premises from a single pane of glass. This allows us to provide a cohesive and consistent experience across both environments. 

What needs improvement?

When we are integrating AlgoSec with a SAML or 2FA authentication tool, there is a small drawback to the solution. When we enter our user ID and password to log in, we get redirected to the console. However, there is no option to log out from the console. We have to close the entire web page in order to log off. The logout page is a mandatory feature that is missing from AlgoSec.

AlgoSec cannot be integrated with solutions that require two-step or multi-factor authentication. Embedding multi-factor authentication capability into the solution would be a valuable feature.

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For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using AlgoSec for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. AlgoSec can be adapted to meet the needs of customers with more or fewer firewalls. For example, if a customer needs to analyze 50 firewalls or 100, the solution can be scaled to meet that need.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is very stable. In the near future, we may get updates or new releases, but if they have the same bug, it won't be a problem.

We currently have 20-plus firewalls and over 1,000 end users from our various teams such as HR and Finance.

How are customer service and support?

We had a great experience working with AlgoSec's professional technical team whose expertise is top-notch.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup process was a bit complex, but after having hands-on experience with AlgoSec, it became a straightforward and easy solution to use. An expert can configure the solution, or integrate it with our existing environment within seven to eight hours. We required a team of eight to ten people for the deployment consisting of network and security administrators.

The steps for our deployment were to first set up the AlgoSec server and enter the license we received from the AlgoSec team, followed by onboarding any devices needed, such as switches and firewalls, and lastly, start analyzing them. 

What about the implementation team?

The implementation was completed in-house.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate AlgoSec a ten out of ten.

A small part of our infrastructure is in the cloud, with the majority being on-prem.

This solution is not an SMB-level solution. It's an enterprise-class solution. AlgoSec is the perfect solution for an organization that has multiple firewalls that can't be managed by a human or small team.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud

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

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
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. The reviewer's company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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Network Security Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Real User
Powerful, easy, and manageable
Pros and Cons
  • "AlgoSec has good tools to manage policies and devices. Many administrators like how it helps you monitor and clean up the policy for the on-premise firewall."
  • "In the new version H32, there are many, many bugs."

What is our primary use case?

I use AlgoSec Firewall Analyzer, BusinessFlow, AppViz, AppChange and CloudFlow. We use the appliances from the AlgoSec framework and the AlgoSec Firewall. The customer environment is mostly managed on-premise.  

How has it helped my organization?

AlgoSec has reduced the time to implement firewall rules in my customers' organizations by about 17%. AlgoSec has helped us keep our firewalls in compliance with data security regulations. It can produce many reports, like the ISO 27001, PCI DSS, and OX. It can even make recommendations to optimize your firewall based on compliance standards. 

For example, one of my clients uses the Palo Alto firewall device together with a user admin Palo Alto device. When the admin device needs to detect configuration on the Palo Alto firewall device, AlgoSec can verify if this is correct and in compliance with standards like ISO. In this example, my customer is conducting an assessment via Palo Alto based on ISO 27001. AlgoSec might provide recommendations, like passive complexity, for the firewall settings because the SMTC hasn't been configured. 

What is most valuable?

AlgoSec has good tools to manage policies and devices. Many administrators like how it helps you monitor and clean up the policy for the on-premise firewall. AlgoSec can give you recommendations to optimize your rules. It supports ITSM, and it's a powerful tool for monitoring firewall change requests.

A large company has many devices working with its firewall as well as many policies for managing router switches and networks. If a single security admin changes one policy, it impacts all the routers throughout the entire network. If you do not have a system for firewall change management, you're vulnerable to human error, misconfiguration, and other problems. AlgoSec has one central management system for managing your planning and implementation policies for your devices and firewall. This minimizes risk.

I think it's simple for AlgoSec to integrate with other security solutions. AlgoSec is supported on device firewalls like Cisco and Palo Alto. To integrate, you just have to verify that it has AlgoSec support. It's relatively easy to integrate with AlgoSec because it communicates using the SHA protocol with just a username and password.

I've used AlgoSec with Cisco ACI but only as a proof of concept. My clients are mostly using Cisco ASA with a Cisco router, Palo Alto, and Juniper.

What needs improvement?

In the new version H32, there are many, many bugs.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using AlgoSec since 2019, so almost two years now.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

In terms of stability, I think it's good for what our end-user wants to do. When you integrate your device on the firewall analyzer and you analyze, AlgoSec can show you the root of your device. AlgoSec can also monitor changes on the specific firewall.  

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

AlgoSec is powerful, easy, and manageable. It's user-friendly and deployment is easy. In my experience, it scales to my clients' needs because it helps track the policy and the changes.

How are customer service and support?

AlgoSec support is good and professional. And before you contact support, you can search the reference AlgoSec portal. For example, if you have issues with the SHA and AlgoSec cannot communicate with a specific firewall. You can search on the AlgoSec help portal. The whole issue is covered on the AlgoSec portal. From the 2018 version of AlgoSec to the latest version, all the references are there on the portal. AlgoSec support responds on schedule to explain the issue and recommend ways to fix it.

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

I know the competitor of AlgoSec is Tufin, but I don't have experience with Tufin. If I did, maybe I could compare AlgoSec with it. At this time, I don't have any comment on its competition.

How was the initial setup?

Setting up AlgoSec is very simple and easy. Because I'm using the VMware appliance for AlgoSec, you can just download everything. After that, you just configure the IP address for AlgoSec, set up a username, and verify your configuration license. For the VMware appliance, it takes maybe 30 minutes to deploy AlgoSec.

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

Licensing AlgoSec is easy. To license AlgoSec, you must get a MAC address on the AlgoSec server, then you can deploy the AlgoSec server in your environment. And if you get a MAC address, you must update on the AlgoSec portal to request the license

What other advice do I have?

I would rate it a nine out 10. It would get a perfect 10 if they fixed the many bugs in the new version.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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