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.
"There is an easy process for configuring it, and it is straightforward to implement the device from scratch."
"Fortinet FortiGate is stable. It's used across all the countries, this is the way most multinationals run their system."
"The solution is stable."
"We use the FortiGate Sandbox to detect zero-day vulnerabilities, such as anomalies or malware, that are unknown and have not yet been discovered."
"It is very flexible to use."
"The dashboard I have found the most valuable in Fortinet FortiGate."
"I like Fortinet FortiGate's antispam filter, SPN, and clustering features."
"Unified Threat Management (UTM) features."
"The most important point is the detection engine which is now part of the next-generation firewalls and which is supported by Cisco Talos."
"So far, it has been very stable."
"It makes it very easy to have delineated roles and responsibilities between network engineering and network security."
"The most valuable feature is the anti-malware protection. It protects the endpoints on my network."
"It's very scalable. You can go to different models of the ASAs and they scale up to as big as you want to go."
"Cisco tech is always good and helpful. I would rate them as 10 out of 10."
"The VPN feature is the most valuable to us because it accomplishes the task well. We're able to do everything we need to do."
"Provides good integrations and reporting."
"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."
"It gives a more accurate assessment of a virus in terms of whether it's truly a virus, malware, or a false positive. We have some legacy software that could pop up as being something that is malware. WildFire goes through and inspects it, and then it comes back and lets us know if it's a false positive. Usually, when it finds out that it's not a virus, it lets us know that it's benign, and it can exclude it from that scan, which means I don't even have to worry about that one popping up anymore."
"What I like about Palo Alto is that it is a complete product, with everything in it."
"It is the best device in comparison to other network products in the marketplace."
"The most valuable feature is the cloud-based protection against zero-day malware attacks."
"The solution is easy to use and the Panorama feature is good. The software management or the malware blocking and some authentication management system are good."
"The most valuable feature of Palo Alto Networks WildFire is its ability to adapt to environments and its robustness."
"The most valuable feature for us is the VPN."
"The pricing could be a bit better, especially when you consider how they have the most basic offering priced."
"It is very expensive, and their support is not very good. I hope that their technical support will be better in the future."
"I'm not sure if it's something that they already have or are developing something, however, we need some dedicated features for container security."
"MTBF: Hardware failure is more common when compared to SonicWall or Cisco ASA."
"I would like some automated custom reporting."
"Improvement is needed in the Web Filter quotas to restrict users with allocated quotas."
"Its price could be better."
"The support structure needs to be improved because every time we contact them, there is a delay in the response."
"The overall licensing structure could improve to make the solution better."
"The user interface is too complex for people who are not trained to or certified to engage with the product. The interface should be easier to use."
"The configuration in Firepower Management Center is very slow. Deployment takes two to three minutes. You spend a lot of time on modifications. Whereas, in FortiGate, you press a button, and it takes one second."
"It needs to provide the next-generation firewall features that other vendors provide, like data analytics, telemetry, and deep packet inspection."
"Cisco Secure Firewall’s customer support could be improved."
"While this applies to all vendors, pricing can be always lower. In my opinion, Cisco is the most expensive. The pricing can be reduced."
"If I need to download AnyConnect in a rush, it will prompt me for my Cisco login account. Nobody wants to download a client to a firewall that they don't own."
"If I want to activate IPS features on it, I have to buy another license. If I want Cisco AnyConnect, I have to buy another license. That's where we have challenges."
"As a firewall and 360 degrees of security, there needs to be more maturity."
"The initial setup was complex."
"Management and web filtering can be improved. There should also be better reporting, particularly around web filtering."
"The support is good but they could be faster."
"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."
"When comparing this solution to others it is not as good overall."
"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."
"The VPN and decryption need improvement."
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 Juniper SRX Series Firewall, Proofpoint Email Protection, Fortinet FortiSandbox, Check Point SandBlast Network and Zscaler Internet Access.
We monitor all Firewalls 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.