Top Cisco Competitors and Alternatives

Cisco is a significant player in the cybersecurity industry, offering standalone and integrated products to help protect enterprises from an increasingly dangerous threat landscape. Below, we look at how Cisco products match up against the competition.

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Evaluating Cisco and Its Competitors

First of all, it’s important to develop criteria by which to evaluate network security solutions. These criteria also need to be specific to your business affected by factors such as:

• Business Size: How many employees and customers you have.
• Industry: The field or fields you operate in, the cyber risks they pose, and the regulatory requirements you must adhere to.
• IT Infrastructure: How you connect employees, run business operations, and deliver services to customers. IT infrastructure includes hardware, software, network resources, and services.
• Security Risks: The attack surface this infrastructure presents to potential attackers and the specific risks, vulnerabilities, and compliance challenges posed.
• Budget: How much money you have to spend on network security. This includes the licensing costs as well as the cost of running and maintaining the solution.

After assessing internal business factors, the next step is researching and comparing potential network security solutions. Factors to consider when comparing Cisco competitors include:

• Capabilities: The functionality, protections, and tools provided by the solution.
• Customization: The ability to tailor the solution to your security policies and needs.
• Integration: How the solution integrates with your existing IT infrastructure.
• Customer Support: The resources and support provided by the vendor to implement, run, and maintain their solution.
• Performance Impact: If the security system delivers protection without significantly slowing down network latency.
• Scalability: Does the solution support your business as it grows (more users, devices, data, etc.) and adapts to new security requirements?
• Future-Proofing: How does the product receive regular updates and new capabilities to respond to new threats?
• Reporting: Data collection for logging and reporting features to facilitate investigation and audits.
• Regulatory Requirements: Ensure the solution has the capabilities to remain compliant and prove it through proper reporting.
• Pricing: Determine the total cost of ownership beyond just licensing (maintenance, etc) and compare it to the potential cost of a security breach.

The Pros and Cons of Cisco Solutions

Operating in the communications industry since 1984, Cisco is best known for its networking hardware. However, in the 1990s, they began utilizing their networking knowledge to develop cybersecurity products. . Cisco now offers extensive network security solutions, including next-generation firewalls, VPNs, intrusion prevention systems (IPSs), security information and event management (SIEM), and more.

These security products are all informed by the company’s extensive experience developing a wide variety of network hardware solutions. This translates to:

• Coverage: Security solutions for use across different network infrastructures.
• Unified Visibility: Combined data and reporting from across its products.
• Streamlined Security Processes: Including threat prevention, detection, and response.
• Strong Access Control and Authentication: utilizing MFA (multi-factor authentication) and zero-trust models.

However, there are also downsides to their products and areas where Cisco alternatives provide enhanced capabilities.

• Concerning Protection Rate: 2024 CyberRatings released evasion testing data (experimenting with multiple exploits for different evasion techniques) for 8 leading firewalls. 7 of the 8 firewalls demonstrated strong protection rates, scoring above 96%. In contrast, Cisco was given a “Caution” rating after a score of 37.01%.
• Lack of Real-Time Protection: Many Cisco solutions only offer protection after the attack has occurred, especially with advanced threats. Without real-time preventative measures, attackers have a short window to infiltrate networks and steal data before Cisco solutions respond.
• Segmented Solutions: Cisco solutions (including ASA, FTD, and Umbrella) are not unified. Each tool performs logging and policy management independently. With a lack of integration, it is harder to oversee your security products.
• Administrative Challenges: The day-to-day management of Cisco’s security tools is complex and time-consuming. Security teams have to overcome a steep learning curve to prevent errors and ensure proper operations.

Listed below are 6 Cisco competitors offering next-generation firewalls and broader network security solutions.

Top Cisco Competitors

Established in 1993, Check Point is a pioneer in cybersecurity and was the first company to introduce stateful inspection firewall technology. Today, the company continues to innovate the space with AI-powered cyber protection based on contextual information to prevent zero-day exploits while minimizing false positives.

Check Point offers an extensive portfolio of security solutions covering every aspect of enterprise IT, including networks, cloud, email, endpoints, and mobile devices. The Infinity architecture brings these capabilities together in a unified security management platform to simplify protecting your IT systems.

Pros

• Industry Expertise: Having released its first firewall in 1994, Check Point has over 30 years of experience in network security.
• Integration and usability: Check Point solutions integrate into a single security platform for streamlined operations, comprehensive visibility, and improved response.
• Real-Time Prevention: While many security tools deliver detection and remediation post-threat, Check Point focuses on prevention-first security through real-time protection that stops attacks before any consequences.
• Stress-Free Upgrades: One-click upgrades without loss of connectivity to ensure you have the most up-to-date protections in place.
• Hyper-Scale Capabilities: Guaranteed security as your business grows with the best ROI in the industry.

Cons

• Initial Setup: With many features and customizations, the initial setup of Check Point solutions can be lengthy.
• Third-Party Integrations: There are fewer third-party vendor integrations compared to some competitors.

Palo Alto Networks has been offering cybersecurity products since 2005, growing into one of the biggest players in the industry. This includes the development of App-ID technology, which significantly improved the visibility of application traffic. Initially focusing on firewalls, Palo Alto offers a range of security products, including cloud and endpoint security as well as unified platforms that combine multiple solutions.

While Palo Alto is a popular alternative to Cisco for network security, their solutions do have issues with real-time prevention, operational efficiency at scale, visibility, cost of some features, and the number of vulnerabilities found in their products.

Pros

• Extensive Security Features: Across its portfolio, Palo Alto offers a vast array of security features and protection capabilities.
• ML-based Protections: Palo Alto offers inline deep learning technology to help identify zero-day attacks.

Cons

• Real-Time Protection Limitations: For advanced threats, Palo Alto solutions typically only provide prevention after the fact, not in real-time.
• Operational Efficiency: High-scale operations lead to complications and limited efficiency.
• Visibility: There are issues with visibility for the highest-risk applications where you want a deeper understanding of the activity.
• Advanced Features Downsides: While Palo Alto products offer advanced features to help maintain protection, these typically come at a high cost and are difficult to configure to get the most out of them.
• Vulnerabilities: Many high-risk exploits have been discovered in Palo Alto products. This includes the recent authentication bypass in PAN-OS, the operating system that runs Palo Alto firewalls.

One of the biggest cybersecurity companies in the market, Fortinet is known for offering security solutions at more affordable prices. Additionally, by offering custom-built security processors, Fortinet aims to deliver protection without slowing down network speeds. Fortinet’s flagship product is its next-generation firewall, FortiGate, which has a range of functionality. Additionally, the company has developed Security Fabric, an architecture that combines its suite of security solutions to ensure they work together and improve coverage.

The benefits Fortinet offers are often down to its focus on both hardware and software and targeting SMBs. However, this also introduces some downsides, such as unintended performance degradation and difficulties managing more complex environments compared to the alternatives.

Pros

• Network Speeds: Fortinet provides custom-built security processors to run its security solutions while minimizing the impact on network performance.
• Affordability: Fortinet differentiates itself by offering more affordable solutions that often target smaller organizations.

Cons

• Hardware Introduces Limitations: Fortinet’s custom processors are limited to firewall traffic. This means next-gen security engines lack the same performance, leading to significant degradation.
• SMB Focus: Solutions can struggle to manage and protect more complex environments due to the focus on small to medium businesses.
• Admin Challenges: The setup and maintenance of Fortinet systems are often difficult for administrators, leading to less efficient operations and potential security gaps.
• Application Visibility: Fortinet’s “Intelligent Mode” feature does not scan all traffic, reducing visibility and enabling some threats to go undetected.
• Vulnerabilities: Fortinet products have discovered many vulnerabilities over the years, some of which were high severity. This even led to the FBI and CISA releasing a warning about Fortinet vulnerabilities in 2021.

A dedicated cybersecurity company, Barracuda offers a range of products covering network, email, data, and application security. Products include the CloudGen firewall that utilizes multi-layer detection, including signature-based, behavioral analysis, and sandboxing to protect against traditional and new attacks.

Additionally, Barracuda’s firewall is known for outstanding stability. However, there are feature-set limitations, particularly related to VPN capabilities and maintaining reliable tunnels. Finally, Barracuda is not the most administrator-friendly product, potentially increasing the staff’s workload.

Pros

• Multi-layer Protection: CloudGen utilizes multiple protection layers to detect known and unknown attacks. This includes signature, behavioral analysis, and sandboxing.
• Stability: Known for being a very stable and reliable firewall that prevents errors or security lapses.

Cons

• Lacks Certain Features: Barracuda’s firewalls lack some features that are seen in other competitors. For example, while the firewall is reliable, the solution struggles with unreliable VPNs.
• Demanding Management: Less user-friendly for administrators, managing Barracuda products is more difficult and time-consuming.

With almost 35 years of experience in network hardware and security, SonicWall products include next-generation firewalls, SD-WAN, and management tools. SonicWall products are known for being more affordable, easy to deploy, and scaling depending on the client’s needs.

However, there are potential problems with network visibility and reporting. Plus, after dealing with zero day attacks targeting their internal systems in 2021, there were reports that the data breach led to source code being stolen from the SonicWall GitLab repository.

Pros

• Small Businesses Features: WatchGuard’s solutions are particularly effective for small businesses.
• Effective Customer Support: Strong customer support with hassle-free communication and reliable response.

Cons

• Poor Visibility: SonicWall’s TZ firewalls provide limited visibility, particularly for high-risk applications. This leads to insufficient risk detection and increases the chances of advanced attacks going unnoticed.
• Source Code Theft: There are questions about the security and configuration of SonicWall tools after reports that hackers stole source code for a number of products.
• Complicated Configuration: Even the entry-level SonicWall firewalls require complex configuration and more steps than other alternatives.
• Basic Reporting: There are no predefined reports and a lack of raw data generated for analysis. This can make proving compliance more difficult and limit insights from post-incident analysis.

WatchGuard is a cybersecurity company focusing on enterprise network security solutions for businesses of any size. This includes Firebox, a family of firewalls with a range of possible features, including gateway antivirus, URL filtering, intrusion prevention, antispam, and application control.

While WatchGuard is generally a strong option for smaller operations, its network security technology can struggle for larger operations. With visibility, troubleshooting, and VPN weaknesses, as your network grows in size and complexity, it can be difficult to maintain adequate protection using WatchGuard.

Pros

• Pricing: Firebox targets businesses looking for an affordable network security solution.
• Small Businesses Features: WatchGuard’s solutions are particularly effective for small businesses.

Cons

• Visibility Gaps: There is limited insight into the potential risks posed by applications due to visibility gaps.
• Weaker VPN: Compared to similar solutions, WatchGuard’s VPN offers weaker capabilities, making its products less appealing to companies utilizing hybrid or remote workforces.
• Security Policies: With a lack of out-of-the-box security policies, you have to develop them from scratch, making the initial setup longer and more complex.
• Troubleshooting: With only basic logging capabilities, it is harder to identify and troubleshoot problems using WatchGuard.

Check Point – The leading Cisco Alternative

Check Point offers the best alternative to Cisco, outperforming the alternatives across a range of criteria, including functionality, flexibility, usability, and scalability. Plus, with over 30 years of experience, Check Point has the track record of success to put it ahead of its competitors.

Learn more about the Quantum Next-Generation Firewall on our website, and discover the next leap in network security that will keep your organization protected.