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    Cisco Secure Firewall ASA Virtual - PAYG

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    Deployed on AWS
    Free Trial
    Ideal for remote worker and multi-tenant environments, Secure Firewall ASA Virtual provides scalable VPN options including remote access, site-to-site, clientless, and more. Experience Cisco's industry-leading firewall to protect your cloud resources.
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    Overview

    Experience Cisco's industry leading Layer 3 and Layer 4 firewall in a virtualized form factor to protect your cloud environment. You can now take advantage of:

    High performance security:

    • Dynamically scale resilient remote access to meet demand with AWS Route 53
    • Leverage site-to-site VPN, clientless remote access, and remote access VPN
    • Integrate with AWS Transit Gateway for scalable inter-VPC traffic

    Protection for your dynamic environments:

    • Ingress and egress traffic protection across your cloud environments
    • Advanced inspection, including voice and video protocols
    • Micro-segmentation capabilities for east-west traffic

    Cloud-delivered management:

    • Consistently manage policies with our cloud-delivered management solution, Cisco Defense Orchestrator (CDO)
    • Increase efficiency with low-touch provisioning for faster firewall deployments
    • Supports REST API, an HTTP-based interface for appliance management, security policies, status monitoring, and enables multiple cloud management solutions

    For supported AWS instances, please see the data sheet.

    Highlights

    • Deploy remote access in as little as 20 minutes with Cisco ASAv RA-VPN on AWS Quick Start guide.
    • Ideal for remote worker and multi-tenant environments that require secure, scalable, and resilient remote access options.
    • Consistent policy management in the cloud with Cisco Defense Orchestrator.

    Details

    Delivery method

    Delivery option
    64-bit (x86) Amazon Machine Image (AMI)

    Latest version

    Operating system
    OtherLinux 9.24.1

    Deployed on AWS
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    Pricing

    Free trial

    Try this product free for 30 days according to the free trial terms set by the vendor. Usage-based pricing is in effect for usage beyond the free trial terms. Your free trial gets automatically converted to a paid subscription when the trial ends, but may be canceled any time before that.

    Cisco Secure Firewall ASA Virtual - PAYG

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    Pricing is based on actual usage, with charges varying according to how much you consume. Subscriptions have no end date and may be canceled any time. Alternatively, you can pay upfront for a contract, which typically covers your anticipated usage for the contract duration. Any usage beyond contract will incur additional usage-based costs.
    Additional AWS infrastructure costs may apply. Use the AWS Pricing Calculator  to estimate your infrastructure costs.

    Usage costs (52)

     Info
    Dimension
    Cost/hour
    c5.xlarge
    Recommended
    $0.92
    c5a.2xlarge
    $1.93
    c3.2xlarge
    $1.93
    c6a.4xlarge
    $3.12
    m4.large
    $0.35
    c6a.2xlarge
    $1.93
    m5zn.xlarge
    $0.92
    m5.large
    $0.35
    c5n.xlarge
    $0.92
    m5n.large
    $0.35

    Vendor refund policy

    The Cisco ASAv instance can be terminated at any time to stop incurring charges.

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    Usage information

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    Delivery details

    64-bit (x86) Amazon Machine Image (AMI)

    Amazon Machine Image (AMI)

    An AMI is a virtual image that provides the information required to launch an instance. Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) instances are virtual servers on which you can run your applications and workloads, offering varying combinations of CPU, memory, storage, and networking resources. You can launch as many instances from as many different AMIs as you need.

    Support

    Vendor support

    For all support queries, only Community Support is available for this product listing. Please visit the Cisco Security - Firewalling community using the link above and include "ASA-AWS" in the title of your community discussion for the fastest response. https://supportforums.cisco.com/community/firewalling  For all support queries, only Community Support is available for this product listing. Please visit the Cisco Security - Firewalling community using the link above and include "ASA-AWS" in the

    AWS infrastructure support

    AWS Support is a one-on-one, fast-response support channel that is staffed 24x7x365 with experienced and technical support engineers. The service helps customers of all sizes and technical abilities to successfully utilize the products and features provided by Amazon Web Services.

    Product comparison

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    Accolades

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    Top
    25
    In Network Infrastructure
    Top
    10
    In Migration
    Top
    10
    In Device Connectivity

    Customer reviews

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    Sentiment is AI generated from actual customer reviews on AWS and G2
    Reviews
    Functionality
    Ease of use
    Customer service
    Cost effectiveness
    Positive reviews
    Mixed reviews
    Negative reviews

    Overview

     Info
    AI generated from product descriptions
    VPN Connectivity Options
    Supports site-to-site VPN, remote access VPN, and clientless remote access capabilities for secure connectivity
    Traffic Inspection and Segmentation
    Provides Layer 3 and Layer 4 firewall inspection with advanced protocol analysis including voice and video, plus micro-segmentation for east-west traffic protection
    Cloud Infrastructure Integration
    Integrates with AWS Transit Gateway for scalable inter-VPC traffic management and AWS Route 53 for dynamic scaling of remote access
    API-Based Management
    Exposes REST API HTTP-based interface for appliance management, security policy configuration, and status monitoring across multiple cloud management solutions
    Cloud-Delivered Policy Management
    Centralized policy management through Cisco Defense Orchestrator with low-touch provisioning for rapid firewall deployment
    Intrusion Detection and Prevention
    Intrusion detection and prevention (IPS) capabilities for threat detection and mitigation
    Application Security and Visibility
    Application visibility and control through AppSecure with L4-L7 security services
    VPN and Secure Connectivity
    IPsec and full mesh VPN termination services for secure connectivity across on-premises data centers, campuses, branches, and geographically dispersed VPCs
    Cloud-Native Integration
    Integration with AWS services including Elastic Load Balancer, Auto-Scaling Groups, CloudWatch, Security Hub, Key Management Service, and Gateway Load Balancer (GWLB) with L3 gateway and L4 load balancer capabilities
    Advanced Routing and Network Services
    Cloud-grade routing capabilities with NAT, firewall, and network address translation services
    Software-Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Engine
    Built-in SD-WAN engine combining multiple remote access and WAN optimization technologies for secure access to cloud resources across office and mobile users.
    Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)
    Integrated IPS engine providing real-time network protection against a broad range of network threats.
    Application-Based Traffic Control
    Enterprise-grade firewalling with application-aware segmentation and traffic control based on application identity, ports, and user identity.
    Network Access Control
    Network access control enforcement capabilities for enforcing security policies across dispersed network environments.
    VPN and Secure Connectivity
    VPN technologies enabling secure remote access, secure office-to-cloud connectivity, and cloud network segmentation with support for branch office direct internet schemes.

    Contract

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    Standard contract
    No
    No
    No

    Customer reviews

    Ratings and reviews

     Info
    4
    104 ratings
    5 star
    4 star
    3 star
    2 star
    1 star
    40%
    46%
    5%
    1%
    8%
    27 AWS reviews
    |
    77 external reviews
    External reviews are from G2  and PeerSpot .
    RajeshKumar

    Unified policies have strengthened zero-trust demos and automate rapid threat containment

    Reviewed on Mar 03, 2026
    Review from a verified AWS customer

    What is our primary use case?

    Assessment  of Cisco Secure Firewall  – Policy Unification & Zero-Trust Enablement

    I assess the policy unification and operational flexibility of Cisco Secure Firewall  very positively, based on our hands-on deployment in the COE (Center of Excellence) lab environment where we conduct regular customer demonstrations.

    1. Dynamic Policy Management in a Live Demo Environment

    In our COE setup, firewall policies are frequently modified based on customer use cases.

    • We regularly update existing rules or create new ones.
    • Sometimes changes are required weekly.
    • In certain scenarios, rule updates are needed multiple times in a single day.
    • The environment is continuously adjusted to reflect customer-specific requirements.

    Cisco Secure Firewall enables us to make these changes quickly and efficiently, demonstrating its operational flexibility and centralized policy control.

    2. OT Network Segmentation & IDS/IPS Flexibility

    Within our lab, we have a dedicated OT segment with multiple security zones configured.

    To simulate real-world scenarios:

    • We include attacker zones that generate controlled attack traffic.
    • For some use cases, we enable IDS (detection-only) to showcase logging and monitoring.
    • For other scenarios, we enable IPS signatures to demonstrate active prevention.

    The ability to seamlessly switch policies from IDS-only mode to full intrusion prevention allows us to demonstrate multiple use cases using the same infrastructure without complexity.

    This flexibility is particularly valuable in OT security environments where detection and prevention requirements may vary depending on operational needs.

    3. Zero-Trust Architecture Demonstration

    Cisco Secure Firewall plays a critical role in demonstrating Zero-Trust architecture in our lab.

    Our integrated setup includes:

    • Cisco Secure Firewall
    • SDA fabric / trusted network switches
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine (Cisco ISE )

    Using Cisco ISE :

    • Users are securely onboarded onto the network.
    • Authentication and authorization policies are enforced.
    • Role-based segmentation is applied.

    If a connected user attempts unauthorized actions—such as accessing malicious destinations or generating abnormal traffic—the system responds automatically.

    4. Automated Threat Containment – Practical Demonstration

    For example:

    • We restrict excessive ICMP traffic between segments.
    • If a user continuously generates abnormal ICMP traffic,
    • The firewall detects the behavior using IPS signatures.
    • The firewall notifies Cisco ISE about the abnormal activity.
    • Cisco ISE automatically quarantines the client into a restricted VLAN.

    This process occurs without any manual intervention.

    Even though our lab does not generate fully malicious real-world attacks, customers can clearly see how:

    1. The firewall detects suspicious activity.
    2. The integrated ecosystem communicates automatically.
    3. The endpoint is isolated in real time.
    4. The threat area is segmented from the rest of the network.

    This provides a complete, practical Zero-Trust story:

    • Secure onboarding
    • Least-privilege access
    • Continuous monitoring
    • Automated threat response
    • Dynamic segmentation

    5. Unified Security Story for Customers

    What makes this powerful is not just the firewall capability alone, but the integrated ecosystem:

    • Identity-driven access control
    • Behavioral detection
    • Automated containment
    • Dynamic VLAN reassignment
    • Segmentation of threat zones

    Cisco Secure Firewall allows us to demonstrate how a fully integrated security architecture can automatically identify, isolate, and contain threats—helping organizations minimize risk and maintain operational continuity.

    What is most valuable?

    One of the most valuable aspects of Cisco Secure Firewall is its deep and seamless integration within the Cisco security ecosystem.

    While most next-generation firewall capabilities are broadly comparable across OEMs, the true differentiator lies in Cisco’s ecosystem-driven architecture and automation capabilities.

    1. Ecosystem-Driven Security Automation (Unique Differentiator)

    We have deployed Cisco Identity Services Engine (Cisco ISE) as our NAC solution and integrated it directly with Cisco Secure Firewall.

    This integration enables Rapid Threat Containment (RTC):

    • If the firewall detects malware activity (e.g., malicious download attempts or suspicious behavior),
    • It automatically notifies Cisco ISE,
    • Cisco ISE dynamically quarantines the endpoint or moves the user into a restricted security segment,
    • All without manual intervention.

    This closed-loop automation between detection and enforcement is a powerful advantage. It significantly reduces response time, limits lateral movement, and strengthens overall security posture.

    This level of orchestration across network and security components is a major reason we prefer Cisco over other OEMs.

    2. Advanced Visibility & Log Analytics

    Another strong capability is the rich dashboard visibility within Cisco Secure Firewall.

    • Detailed traffic analysis
    • Granular log inspection
    • Application-level visibility
    • Improved troubleshooting capabilities

    The dashboard enables faster root cause analysis and better operational decision-making.

    3. AI-Driven Optimization with Cisco Secure Cloud Control

    Recently, Cisco introduced Cisco Secure Cloud Control (SCC), a cloud-based unified security management platform.

    With SCC, we gain access to AI-driven operations (AIOps ), which provides:

    • Rule optimization recommendations
    • Identification of overlapping firewall rules
    • Policy cleanup insights
    • Performance optimization guidance

    This AI-assisted intelligence improves firewall efficiency and reduces configuration complexity over time.

    4. Flexible Hybrid Security Management

    One of the strongest advantages of Cisco is deployment flexibility.

    For customers who:

    • Prefer a fully cloud-managed model → SCC provides centralized management.
    • Require on-premise control due to compliance or data sovereignty → we can deploy Cisco Firepower Management Center (FMC).
    • Want both on-prem control and cloud-based AI benefits → we can integrate on-prem FMC with SCC.

    This hybrid capability allows organizations to:

    • Maintain data control,
    • Leverage AI-driven analytics,
    • Manage multiple security products under a single umbrella.

    This flexibility is a strong differentiator in environments with regulatory or operational constraints.

    5. Improved User Experience & Modernized UI

    From a configuration standpoint:

    • The latest software releases have significantly enhanced the UI.
    • Navigation is more intuitive.
    • Policy configuration is more streamlined.
    • Overall usability has improved compared to earlier versions.

    This reflects Cisco’s continuous investment in platform modernization.

    What needs improvement?

    Feedback and Improvement Areas – Cisco Secure Firewall (Customer Perspective)

    From a customer point of view, there are a few improvement areas observed while positioning Cisco Secure Firewall in competitive scenarios.

    1. Dashboard & Visibility Enhancements

    Customers often compare firewall dashboards across different OEMs during evaluation.

    • Competing vendors typically provide more feature-rich and visually detailed dashboards.
    • There is a perception that Cisco dashboards still require enhancement in terms of visualization, consolidated reporting, and built-in analytics.
    • Some OEMs advertise additional security capabilities clearly within their publicly available data sheets, making competitive positioning easier.

    In comparison, Cisco sometimes references separate documentation or explains how certain capabilities (such as anti-spam or antivirus functionality) can be achieved through integration or ecosystem components rather than native, built-in features. This creates a perception gap during customer discussions.

    Improvement Opportunity:

    • Enhance dashboard capabilities.
    • Clearly articulate feature availability in public documentation and data sheets.
    • Reduce dependency on cross-referenced documentation for commonly compared features.

    2. Virtual Firewall / Multi-Instance Capabilities in Lower Models

    Another competitive challenge relates to virtual firewall capabilities.

    • Several OEMs provide virtual firewall (VDOM-like) functionality in lower-end models.
    • In Cisco’s portfolio, multi-instance capability typically starts from higher-end platforms such as the 3K series or higher.
    • Customers looking for smaller deployments with logical segmentation are often forced to consider higher models, resulting in a price jump.

    Competitors also offer:

    • Compact hardware models
    • Dongle-based firewall appliances
    • Smaller entry-level products with virtual segmentation

    In Cisco’s case:

    • To achieve similar multi-instance functionality, customers must opt for higher-tier models.
    • This creates a significant pricing gap in entry-level or SMB deployments.

    This pricing difference becomes a key factor when customers compare solutions. If competitors offer a lower-cost model with virtual segmentation, and Cisco requires a higher platform investment, customers may lean toward alternative OEMs.

    3. Documentation Gaps – OT Protocol Visibility

    In our lab environment, we have deployed Cisco Secure Firewall and are using Application Visibility and Control (AVC) for OT network monitoring.

    Observations:

    • OT protocols are clearly visible within application visibility.
    • The firewall successfully identifies and classifies OT traffic.

    However:

    • This capability is not clearly mentioned in publicly available documentation.
    • When a feature is available and functional, it should be explicitly documented in data sheets and feature guides.

    The need for third-party integration depends on what we are looking for. Here  I am saying that the integration with Cisco NAC can be done because RTC functionality is only available with Cisco ISE and the firewall integration. For other ecosystems, if we use a NAC solution that is not Cisco, we can still integrate it for user authentication, such as with VPN user authentication. But in that case, we don't achieve the same functionality, such as RTC with other NAC solutions. This is one aspect.

    Another part is that if we are using it, it always happens with some NAC solutions because we have Cisco NAC and Cisco firewall; we want consistent policy across the network, whether the user is on-prem or using VPN services. If this is a unified OEM solution, in that case, we require an agent, such as the Cisco Secure Client. That allows us to easily check the posture status of the remote user and connect to the network effortlessly. But if we are using a third-party solution, we can't achieve that.

    From a SIEM  perspective, certain prerequisites must be fulfilled before integration with Cisco Secure Firewall can be completed. The feasibility of integration depends on the capabilities of the SIEM  platform. If the SIEM solution supports the required APIs and event handling mechanisms, similar functionality can be achieved. Therefore, integration itself is generally not the challenge; the key consideration is the desired security outcome within the overall ecosystem.

    If the customer does not have a SIEM solution and intends to automate quarantine actions or enforce restricted access for users, a Network Access Control (NAC)  solution becomes mandatory. In this scenario, the recommended NAC solution is Cisco Identity Services Engine (Cisco ISE). Automated quarantine and dynamic access control workflows are dependent on NAC capabilities.

    From a feature enhancement perspective for Cisco Secure Firewall, deeper NAC-driven integration adds significant value.

    1. TrustSec / Tag-Based Policy Enforcement

    Cisco ISE supports Cisco TrustSec, which enables Security Group Tag (SGT)-based segmentation.

    • In traditional (legacy) networks, firewall policies are created based on IP addresses.
    • With TrustSec, policies are defined based on user identity, group membership, and security tags instead of IP subnets.
    • When users authenticate to the network, Cisco ISE assigns Security Group Tags (SGTs).
    • These tags are shared with Cisco Secure Firewall.
    • The firewall then enforces policies based on SGT-to-SGT rules rather than IP-to-IP rules.

    Benefits:

    • Significant reduction in the number of firewall rules
    • Simplified policy management
    • Improved scalability
    • Easier implementation of role-based access control

    This integration enhances operational efficiency and security posture.

    2. Rapid Threat Containment (RTC)

    Another key capability is Rapid Threat Containment (RTC).

    If Cisco Secure Firewall detects malicious activity—such as malware download attempts identified via signature-based or advanced threat detection—it can notify Cisco ISE about the compromised endpoint.

    Based on this input:

    • Cisco ISE can automatically quarantine the user
    • The endpoint can be moved to a restricted VLAN
    • Access can be dynamically limited without manual intervention

    This automated workflow ensures faster response time and reduces the risk of lateral movement within the network.

    3. VPN and Posture Assessment 

    This functionality is not limited to wired or LAN users.

    For VPN users:

    • Authentication can be integrated with third-party NAC solutions.
    • However, if posture assessment (device compliance checking) is required in addition to authentication, Cisco ISE integration with Cisco Secure Firewall becomes essential.

    Cisco ISE enables:

    • Endpoint posture validation
    • Dynamic policy assignment
    • Automated remediation workflows

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been working with Cisco Secure Firewall for around four to five years.

    How are customer service and support?

    For Cisco's technical support, I always rate it a ten. It's excellent.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

    How was the initial setup?

    Implementation Approach – Cisco Secure Firewall

    The implementation of Cisco Secure Firewall primarily depends on customer requirements and the selected management approach. Broadly, there are two deployment models:

    1. Cloud-based management
    2. On-premises management

    Functionally, both approaches provide similar capabilities. The difference lies mainly in deployment workflow and management architecture.

    1. Cloud-Based Deployment – Simplified Onboarding

    When using cloud-based management through Cisco Secure Cloud Control, onboarding a new firewall is straightforward and efficient.

    Key advantages:

    • Plug-and-play provisioning
    • No initial CLI configuration required
    • Automatic onboarding to the management platform
    • Centralized visibility from the cloud console

    The typical process includes:

    • Activating the tenant in the cloud management portal
    • Completing basic prerequisites
    • Connecting the firewall to the network
    • Ensuring the device receives an IP address via DHCP
    • Confirming internet connectivity for cloud registration

    Once connected, the device automatically appears in the management portal and can be claimed without complex manual steps. This significantly simplifies large-scale or remote deployments.

    2. On-Premises Deployment – Structured  Preparation

    For on-premises management using Cisco Firepower Management Center (FMC), the process is similarly straightforward but requires some initial preparation.

    Before onboarding the firewall:

    • FMC must be installed and fully configured.
    • Network reachability between FMC and the firewall must be ensured.
    • Registration keys and management connectivity must be prepared.

    Once these prerequisites are completed, the firewall can be onboarded and managed centrally.

    3. Deployment Timeline & Practical Experience

    From our practical experience:

    • Basic reachability and initial configuration can typically be completed within 30 minutes to a couple of hours.
    • Plug-and-play onboarding significantly reduces deployment effort.
    • Advanced configurations—such as production IPS signature tuning, policy optimization, and security rule validation—may require additional time depending on the environment.

    Overall, the initial onboarding process is simple and efficient. The time investment primarily depends on the complexity of the security policies and production-level tuning requirements.

    Overall Assessment

    Cisco Secure Firewall offers:

    • Flexible deployment models (cloud or on-prem)
    • Simplified plug-and-play onboarding
    • Minimal CLI dependency for initial setup
    • Scalable management architecture
    • Efficient initial configuration timeline

    What other advice do I have?

    Regarding the impact of the cloud-delivered firewall on my customer's security posture, considering the firewall's deployment in production is crucial. When someone deploys the firewall, they will apply some intelligence and follow best practices to deploy the solutions. But after, the person managing the firewall is sometimes adding rules based on urgency, allowing certain rules that might permit any-any traffic. To mitigate some issues, they forget to disable this rule later. This rule shouldn't remain active in the firewall. This is one aspect they can encounter.

    Another issue we face with customers is that they continue with the same configuration without updating new patches. They only update the setup when something happens. This is what sometimes occurs; users don't renew their license subscriptions. If they lack an updated subscription, they won't receive updates for the latest signatures. This will create problems in the live environment. Overall, I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

    Rajender Bhandari

    Comprehensive security has unified policy control and supports zero trust across clouds

    Reviewed on Feb 24, 2026
    Review provided by PeerSpot

    What is our primary use case?

    Cisco Secure Firewall  can be used for perimeter security, IDS, IPS, and VPN purposes. When discussing secure access via Cisco Secure Firewall , it helps any roaming user, whether working from home, an airport, or in the office, to securely access any workload that could be located on a private cloud, public cloud, data center, or at the edge. It bypasses the on-premise firewall, but they offer firewall as a service, which is on the cloud and enables Secure Service Edge. Perimeter security is necessary and is part of their Secure Access offering, which is Firewall as a Service coming out of the cloud.

    What is most valuable?

    From Cisco Secure Firewall's security offering perspective, Cisco has a very comprehensive offering. Whether it is perimeter security in the form of firewall, user security for remote users for SASE , AI security, endpoint security, network security, or workload security, this fits very well into an overall security architecture proposed by Cisco, which is called a Security Reference Architecture. They have a very comprehensive range of products that integrate very well with their firewall. I do not view Cisco security offerings only from a firewall perspective, but from an overall offering perspective.

    Cisco Secure Firewall includes something called Secure Cloud Control, which provides single management for consolidating policy across multiple pieces of equipment, whether it is a SASE  policy, firewall policy, or otherwise. Centralized policy management is possible within that firewall, and if you want to orchestrate the same policy across multiple security products, you can use Cisco Secure Cloud Control.

    What needs improvement?

    Different models exist for Cisco Secure Firewall. Every on-premise model has a limit to the throughput it can support, and up to that limit, it scales fine. After reaching that limit, you are supposed to replace the model. For on-premise solutions, this is the case. However, Firewall as a Service can scale to a very large extent because it is a cloud-based offering that can scale up to a very large number, which is not a problem.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    Cisco Secure Firewall has been used and sold for at least three to four years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Cisco Secure Firewall is quite stable. If I had to rate stability from zero to ten points for Cisco Secure Firewall, I would give it an eight.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Cloud-delivered firewall provides much better flexibility for an organization via Cisco Secure Firewall. First, you can ensure that any users coming from outside securely access any workload that the organization may be running either in a private cloud or public cloud on a hyperscaler. Second, it provides what is called local internet breakout, where any services not supposed to go through the firewall can do a local internet breakout. With Firewall as a Service, you can consume capacity as you grow, rather than trying to put one firewall for your peak load. This gives tremendous flexibility similar to the flexibility that exists in cloud consumption.

    How are customer service and support?

    If I had to give points for technical support from Cisco, I would give it an eight. It is pretty good, and we do not face a challenge. The reason is that our own team is pretty capable technically, so we do not go back to Cisco for much support. Whenever we have requested support, they have been pretty responsive.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

    What other advice do I have?

    I do not view Cisco security offerings only from a firewall perspective, but from an overall offering perspective. Cisco Secure Firewall helps with the Zero Trust Security Model. ZTNA  is a concept that has to be implemented at every tier, including the firewall. You cannot implement zero trust without a firewall also supporting it. It is an important piece in building a zero trust architecture. The review rating for this product is an eight out of ten.

    Nassif Kaleny

    Unified security has protected mixed IT-OT environments and simplifies remote industrial access

    Reviewed on Feb 23, 2026
    Review provided by PeerSpot

    What is our primary use case?

    Cisco Secure Firewall  provides intelligent devices that can manage security issues between IT and OT environments. IT is an information technology environment consisting of servers and data centers, while OT environment is operational technology related to PLC cabinets and machines. When integrating both to work in business processes, security issues between IT and OT must be managed, and Cisco provides excellent devices for managing this challenge.

    I primarily use Cisco Secure Firewall  in manufacturing fields rather than applications. In a small area, I integrated Cisco with RADIUS for authentication purposes and TACACS, applying security rules to external access for suppliers from Europe and the USA to our environments.

    I use cloud-delivered firewall in parts of our business because we have multiple locations distributed across Egypt and Germany. I needed to use a firewall in the cloud to publish security policies remotely and manage separate locations with the same vendor like Cisco.

    What is most valuable?

    The biggest benefit of Cisco Secure Firewall and the features that stand out to me are its excellent integration with PLC and manufacturing devices. This option cannot be found on other devices such as Sophos or FortiGate.

    The unification of policies is very important to me because without unified communication between devices with the same rule and security policy, managing everything with separate technology and separate vendors would be very difficult. Cisco excels at this.

    The deployment of Cisco Secure Firewall was completed in-house.

    What needs improvement?

    Regarding implementing a zero-trust security model, I did not pursue this option because zero-trust is new technology with significant human impact on business operations. I use multi-factor authentication instead, with devices such as YubiKey , which is a USB device for trusting device authentication with hardware, but I have not implemented zero-trust at this time.

    I do see some drawbacks with the authentication portions of Cisco, which are very legacy and have not been improved for a long time, such as using 802.1X switches. These aspects must be improved.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using Cisco Secure Firewall for ten years.

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

    For some period of time, we were a partner with Cisco, and after that, we began working as a customer.

    What was our ROI?

    I see some ROI through savings, including time and money savings. When evaluating Cisco over a longer period, I save money because the service renewal costs are substantial compared to alternatives. If I consider FortiGate, each module costs money and each renewal costs money. When comparing Cisco with other vendors, I believe Cisco's licensing is better.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    Some differences from a technical standpoint are that Cisco is more professional in creating and applying rules on devices and integrating with other infrastructure, particularly routers. If I wanted to integrate access points and switches with Sophos or FortiGate, I would have to purchase the same brand name from those vendors and not integrate with others. This is a significant limitation. With Cisco, I do not have to purchase everything from a single partner and can mix between providers to take advantage of each product's benefits.

    What other advice do I have?

    We are currently using Cisco Secure Firewall ASA  and are planning to use Cisco Vision. Cisco provides many tools to have visibility of packets moving on the network and enables capturing certain packets for analysis, which others cannot do.

    Cisco Secure Firewall is very fair according to the benefits it provides. When comparing Sophos, FortiGate, and Cisco in terms of benefits and stability, Cisco is excellent.

    Cisco Secure Firewall has a degree of complexity, but I believe it is more professional in deployment because it operates at the data link layer and network layer rather than only at the application and web levels. I rate this review as a nine out of ten.

    MarcosCaballero

    Unified industrial security has improved integration and supports fast rule migration and tuning

    Reviewed on Feb 18, 2026
    Review provided by PeerSpot

    What is our primary use case?

    The challenges during the implementation of Cisco Secure Firewall  mainly involve the complexity of the rules to be migrated or the complexity of the scenarios to be implemented, which are related to OT scenarios and disconnected environments.

    I benefit from using Cisco Secure Firewall  mainly because at least 99% of my customers have a Cisco environment, including switching and routing, making it easier to integrate with other Cisco components than with other vendors.

    The impact of a cloud-delivered firewall on my organization's security posture depends on the environments I manage, which are primarily disconnected and focused more on industrial security rather than the cloud. While traditional IT recognizes that the delivery of cloud services is beneficial, comparing it to Azure Firewall , Google Firewall, or AWS  Firewall shows that they are not true firewalls but rather sets of rules that do not work perfectly. From my perspective, it is better to add Cisco Secure Firewall for proper coverage.

    What is most valuable?

    The best features of Cisco Secure Firewall that make it distinct from the rest of the vendors are mainly its Layer 4 capabilities, as it is the best in routing and switching mode, along with the way Cisco Secure Firewall works in disconnected environments.

    The deployment for Cisco Secure Firewall takes no more than six to eight hours, but the fine-tuning of the solution typically takes four or five days.

    Using Cisco Secure Firewall is financially beneficial as it provides clear settings for all members managing the solution, making it easy to teach the engineering team how it works and how to configure it, ultimately reducing the time needed to apply policies or make changes in the infrastructure.

    What needs improvement?

    I have not noticed any significant drawbacks or weak points in Cisco Secure Firewall. The deployment is not complex, but the complexity arises during fine-tuning due to customers migrating from other solutions, as copying and pasting rules is not the same across all vendors, which necessitates fine-tuning. This can be a pain point when lacking tools to assist in the migration process.

    I would assess Cisco Secure Firewall's ability to unify policies across environments as complex, since different customers have varying situations. Some wish to consolidate rules in the same place, while others prefer different rule sets in different locations.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been working with Cisco Secure Firewall for around 20 years.

    How are customer service and support?

    My thoughts about the technical support of Cisco are positive. The times I have opened a ticket, the support has been responsive, and for incidents rated P up to P3, the responses have been satisfactory. I have not needed to open a P2 or P1 incident.

    I would rate Cisco's technical support a nine out of ten.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

    What about the implementation team?

    The number of people involved in the process depends on the customer. Sometimes I am alone doing the task, but there are times when I define the task and the customer team handles it, which can involve three, four, or six people, depending on the customer.

    What other advice do I have?

    I am focused mainly on the security part, utilizing all of the tools such as Palo Alto, Fortinet, Check Point, Sophos, CyberArk, Delinea, Netskope , Splunk, and all the security suite from Microsoft.

    I am working with both on-premises and cloud deployment models.

    I have not used any new features or functionalities recently in Cisco Secure Firewall, as it usually functions as a Layer 4 firewall without applying any filtering or inspection.

    My experience with the licensing model indicates that for a long time, I believed the price was reasonable, but currently, I am uncertain as all services I purchase are directly from the customer while I act as a consultant, not purchasing any components myself.

    I would rate this product a nine out of ten overall.

    reviewer2802570

    Centralized protection across data center and edge has provided peace of mind and reliable security

    Reviewed on Feb 12, 2026
    Review provided by PeerSpot

    What is our primary use case?

    Our company's use case for Cisco Secure Firewall  is to separate and protect the different server network ranges in our data center and to provide access to and from those services that sit in our data center to users and customers alike. We also use Cisco Secure Firewall  on the edge to provide internet access to and from the internet for our business.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable aspect of Cisco Secure Firewall for me is not a specific feature but the fact that it is quite stable as a firewall overall. It is not too buggy or disruptive when performing our day-to-day operations, and that is the main thing about it.

    Centralized management of Cisco Secure Firewall benefits our organization because we have multiple firewalls, but we go to one single page or use the Firewall Management  Center to administer policies and make changes. This allows us to see what is going on from a visibility perspective, so all troubleshooting, configuration, and administration of the firewall happens at one single place, which is beneficial.

    A single pane of glass for management is available.

    What needs improvement?

    One thing I would improve in Cisco Secure Firewall is somehow embedding the capability to use an asterisk-type of firewall rules in the access control policy. An example could be star.google.com; being able to use an asterisk for anything in the subdomain would be beneficial, as I know some of Cisco's competitors allow that on their firewalls, which eliminates the need for an additional appliance to facilitate that component.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using Cisco Secure Firewall for about five years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Currently, Cisco Secure Firewall has been up and running for about three years since its last reboot, so it is quite stable.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    I find the solution to be scalable, especially with the other products that Cisco is developing. For instance, Cisco Secure Cloud now allows us to potentially take the management functions of Cisco Secure Firewall, move it into the cloud, and integrate it with other Cisco security products, managing everything from one single pane.

    How are customer service and support?

    I have worked with Cisco's customer support.

    When it comes to customer support, referring to TAC, I find that Cisco's support stands out. It is very important for us as a business to have that support when needed, and Cisco has often never failed in providing that support.

    If I were to rate the support overall from one to ten, I would give it a nine.

    While I rate it a nine, to make it a ten, it could be improved based on individual cases. Some support people truly embody Cisco's values in responding and assisting, but there are times when some individuals may not be as helpful as others, leading to a disconnect in the support experience.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

    How was the initial setup?

    Deploying Cisco Secure Firewalls  is quite straightforward, as Cisco provides a lot of available documentation online, extensive support, and training, which makes it easy for engineers and customers to use Cisco products effectively.

    The deployment time for Cisco Secure Firewalls  varies. Currently, I am going through a refresh where we are replacing older Firepower systems with newer ones, but in the past, it has been relatively simple, typically taking within an hour or two to get everything up and running.

    What about the implementation team?

    I have been part of the deployment of Cisco Secure Firewalls.

    What was our ROI?

    From a return on investment perspective, I think Cisco Secure Firewalls keep our organization safe and protect the organization's image from a governance standpoint. With cybersecurity being a big issue in the world, Cisco Secure Firewalls protect data, the environment, organization, and keep things safe. It is always reassuring for customers to know that the organization I work for invests in products like Cisco Secure Firewall to protect ourselves.

    What other advice do I have?

    Cisco Secure Firewall is similar to insurance in that it provides peace of mind.

    I rate Cisco Secure Firewalls a nine overall. While there are features I think could be added to achieve a perfect ten, I still regard it higher than its competitors. From both a technical and peace of mind perspective, Cisco Secure Firewall is the frontrunner.

    I would tell someone considering purchasing Cisco Secure Firewalls that they will not be disappointed. My overall review rating for Cisco Secure Firewall is nine.

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