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Revolutionize Your Network Security with NGFW: Palo Alto Firewall Vs Fortinet

April 09, 2023 , ,

Revolutionize Your Network Security with NGFW: Palo Alto Firewall Vs Fortinet

The world of technology is moving at breakneck speed, and organizations that fail to keep up with the pace risk falling behind. With the rise of remote working, anywhere connectivity, and increased availability, the need for robust cybersecurity measures has never been greater. To protect your networks and data from a never-ending list of threats and vulnerabilities, you need a powerful security product that can keep pace with the ever-changing landscape.

Enter the next generation firewall. Unlike traditional firewalls that rely on IP addresses and ports to filter incoming and outgoing traffic, these advanced firewalls offer a host of cutting-edge features, including application control, intrusion prevention, URL filtering, and advanced threat protection capabilities.

The Power of Palo Alto Firewall

If you're looking for a next-gen firewall that delivers unparalleled performance and security, look no further than Palo Alto. Palo Alto is a global cybersecurity company that offers both physical and VM series firewalls. Their hardware options include the PA-220, PA-800, PA-3200 series, and PA-5200 series, while their chassis-based architecture options include the PA-7050 and PA-7080.

Palo Alto firewalls are designed to provide comprehensive security for networks, data centers, and cloud environments. They offer a wide range of security functions, including firewalling, intrusion prevention system (IPS), antivirus and anti-malware, URL filtering, application control, virtual private network (VPN) connectivity, advanced threat protection, network segmentation, reporting and logging, and centralized management.

Palo Alto Networks Firewall Design
Fig 1.1- Palo Alto Networks Firewall Design

One of the most exciting developments from Palo Alto is the release of the PAN OS 9.0 and their new K2 series firewalls. These 5G ready firewalls are designed for service provider mobile networks, with advanced security features to protect against IoT threats. The VM series firewalls can be deployed in on-premises or cloud environments and use a unified licensing system that is platform agnostic, making it easy to manage and scale.

Features That Set Palo Alto Apart

  • Advanced Application-level Visibility and Control: Palo Alto Networks firewalls provide in-depth visibility and control over network traffic at the application level, allowing organizations to identify and control specific applications and their functions, rather than just relying on port-based or protocol-based filtering.
  • Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) Capabilities: Palo Alto Networks firewalls combine traditional firewall features with advanced security capabilities such as intrusion prevention system (IPS), antivirus, anti-malware, URL filtering, and threat intelligence, providing a comprehensive defense against known and unknown threats.
  • Threat Intelligence: Palo Alto Networks firewalls leverage Wildfire, a cloud-based threat intelligence service, to identify and prevent advanced threats in real-time, including malware, exploits, and zero-day threats.
  • Virtual Private Network (VPN): Palo Alto Networks firewalls provide VPN capabilities for secure remote access and site-to-site connectivity, supporting various encryption methods and authentication options.
  • User-based Policy Enforcement: Palo Alto Networks firewalls allow organizations to create security policies based on user and group identities, providing granular control over who can access what resources and under what conditions.
  • URL Filtering: Palo Alto Networks firewalls can perform URL filtering based on predefined categories or custom categories, allowing organizations to enforce acceptable use policies and block or allow specific websites or web content.
  • Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Palo Alto Networks firewalls include an IPS that inspects network traffic for known and unknown threats, including exploits, malware, and other cyber threats, and can block or alert on malicious activity.
  • Advanced Threat Protection: Palo Alto Networks firewalls offer advanced threat protection capabilities, including sandboxing, which can detect and block unknown and zero-day threats by analyzing suspicious files or traffic in a controlled environment.
  • Application Control: Palo Alto Networks firewalls provide application control features that allow organizations to manage and control the use of applications on their networks, including identifying and blocking specific applications or application categories, and controlling application usage based on user or group policies.
  • Network Segmentation: Palo Alto Networks firewalls support network segmentation, allowing organizations to create separate network zones with different security policies, helping to prevent lateral movement of threats within the network.
  • Centralized Management: Palo Alto Networks firewalls can be managed through a centralized management console, providing unified visibility and control over multiple firewalls across an organization's network, and enabling efficient policy management and monitoring.
  • Reporting and Logging: Palo Alto Networks firewalls provide robust logging and reporting capabilities, allowing organizations to monitor and analyze network traffic, generate reports, and track security events for compliance and auditing purposes.

Fortinet: The Cybersecurity Titans of 2000

The FortiGate next-generation firewalls (NGFW) from Fortinet offer businesses the best defense against web-based network risks, such as intrusion techniques and known and unknowable dangers. 

Fortinet firewalls, also known as FortiGate firewalls, are network security devices that provide advanced threat protection and security features for organizations. Fortinet firewalls are classified as next-generation firewalls (NGFW) as they go beyond traditional firewall functionalities and incorporate additional security features to defend against modern cyber threats.

Fortinet firewalls are designed to protect networks from unauthorized access, malware, viruses, exploits, and other cyber threats. They provide a range of security functions, including firewalling, intrusion prevention, antivirus and anti-malware, web filtering, application control, virtual private network (VPN) connectivity, advanced threat protection, network segmentation, reporting and logging, and centralized management.

FortiGate firewalls expand and reinforce an enterprise's entire security efforts from the network edge to the core whether they are deployed on-premise, through virtual hardware, or in the cloud.

Fortinet Firewalls with Fortinac
Fig 1.2- Fortinet Firewalls with FortiNAC

More on Fortinet Firewalls:

Features of Fortinet Firewall:

  • Stateful Inspection: Fortinet firewalls use stateful inspection to examine network traffic at the packet level and make decisions based on the state of the connection, ensuring that only legitimate traffic is allowed into the network.
  • Intrusion Prevention System (IPS): Fortinet firewalls include an IPS that inspects network traffic for known and unknown threats, and can block or alert on malicious activity, including exploits, malware, and other cyber threats.
  • Virtual Private Network (VPN): Fortinet firewalls provide VPN capabilities, allowing secure remote access for authorized users, as well as site-to-site VPN connections to securely connect different locations of an organization's network over the internet.
  • Anti-Malware: Fortinet firewalls include anti-malware capabilities to detect and block known and unknown malware, including viruses, worms, Trojans, and other malicious software.
  • URL Filtering: Fortinet firewalls can perform URL filtering, allowing organizations to block or allow specific websites or website categories based on policy rules, helping to enforce acceptable use policies and protect against web-based threats.
  • Application Control: Fortinet firewalls provide application control features that allow organizations to manage and control the use of applications on their networks, including identifying and blocking specific applications or application categories, and controlling application usage based on user or group policies.
  • Advanced Threat Protection: Fortinet firewalls offer advanced threat protection capabilities, including sandboxing, which can detect and block unknown and zero-day threats by analyzing suspicious files or traffic in a controlled environment.
  • Web Filtering: Fortinet firewalls can perform web filtering to block or allow specific web content based on policy rules, helping to prevent access to malicious websites or inappropriate content.
  • Network Segmentation: Fortinet firewalls support network segmentation, allowing organizations to create separate network zones with different security policies, helping to prevent lateral movement of threats within the network.
  • Centralized Management: Fortinet firewalls can be managed through a centralized management console, providing unified visibility and control over multiple firewalls across an organization's network.
  • Reporting and Logging: Fortinet firewalls provide logging and reporting capabilities, allowing organizations to monitor and analyze network traffic, generate reports, and track security events for compliance and auditing purposes.

Comparing PaloAlto Vs Fortinet Firewalls

Finally, the decision between Palo Alto and Fortinet firewalls would be determined by your organization's individual demands and requirements, such as the size of your network, the complexity of your applications, your security posture, and your budget. 

Factor

Palo Alto

Fortinet

Security Features

Advanced application-level visibility and control, stateful inspection, IPS, VPN, anti-malware, URL filtering

Stateful inspection, IPS, VPN, anti-malware, URL filtering, application control

Threat Intelligence

Wildfire threat intelligence service for advanced threat detection and prevention

FortiGuard services for antivirus, IPS, web filtering, and application control

Scalability and Performance

High performance and scalability

High performance and scalability

Ease of Management

Advanced features may require more technical expertise

Known for ease of use and simplicity in configuration

TCO (Total Cost of Ownership)

Premium products, higher upfront costs and licensing fees

Considered more cost-effective, may provide better value

Integration

LDAP Radius, TACACS+ , Kerberos

Microsoft AD LDAP, TACACS+ , RSA, Secure ID

Management

Panorama

Forti Manager

Cloud

Supported on AWS, Amazon, Google Cloud

Supported on AWS, Amazon, Google Cloud

HA Feature

Active-Active and Active-Passive

Active-Active and Active-Passive

To make an informed selection that corresponds with your organization's security goals and financial limits, thoroughly assess the features, performance, scalability, simplicity of maintenance, and pricing of each firewall solution.