
AlgoSec Horizon Private Offering only
Improved incident visibility has reduced security risks but the interface still needs clearer dashboards
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for AlgoSec is cybersecurity protection. A quick specific example of how I use AlgoSec for cybersecurity protection is the review of cybersecurity incidents.
How has it helped my organization?
AlgoSec has positively impacted my organization by providing a clear view of cybersecurity-related incidents. Specific outcomes that show this positive impact include that it has helped to reduce incidents, provide better response rates to incidents, and helps track the resolution of incidents.
What is most valuable?
The best features AlgoSec offers include the ability to integrate existing tools. The integration with existing tools helps me or my team by providing a clear view of the different issues that we could see in one place.
AlgoSec has improved visibility into my application environment by providing proper visibility on things. AlgoSec Horizon has improved collaboration between application owners and security teams. Application context is very important when managing my organization's network security policies, and AlgoSec has changed the way I understand and manage application connectivity across my environment significantly. AlgoSec has changed the way application owners and security teams work together; we all work together and are able to view all information in one place at one time, and accurate information.
What needs improvement?
AlgoSec can be improved; the interface could be improved. I think overall the interface needs to be improved for better visibility of information. AlgoSec needs better visibility of the dashboard.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using AlgoSec for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
AlgoSec is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
AlgoSec is highly scalable.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support is very good. I would rate the customer support on a scale of 1 to 10 as a six.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We did not use any previous solution.
How was the initial setup?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing was all reasonable, and it all made sense.
What was our ROI?
I have seen a return on investment. We have definitely seen a return on investment, and we have been able to spend less on licensing overall.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We did not evaluate another option; AlgoSec was our first option.
What other advice do I have?
My application connectivity process was a direct connection before AlgoSec Horizon Platform. AlgoSec Horizon has improved visibility into my application environment by providing all information together and in one place. I can now answer questions about application connectivity that were difficult before, especially when you had multiple applications and legacy systems as well. My advice to others looking into using AlgoSec is that it is a very good tool, providing good visibility and a dashboard as well. I would rate this review a six overall.
Automation and policy optimization have transformed how our teams manage security and compliance
What is our primary use case?
I use AlgoSec for automation, audit and compliance, policy optimization, and rule recertification. For automation, we use AlgoSec for firewall changes to simplify, speed up, and make the process more efficient, particularly regarding standardization of the specific change types.
Policy optimization is a significant focus because of the policy bloat on firewalls, and we aim to quickly reduce the footfall of the policies to improve security and visibility.
What is most valuable?
The best features AlgoSec offers include a good web front end, user-friendly modules, and particularly the visual flow in FireFlow, which is a really powerful feature. The visual flow certainly helps me in my day-to-day tasks by making troubleshooting easier and adapting workflows simpler, as the visual representation and simplicity significantly aid in modifying workflows.
AlgoSec has positively impacted our organization by enhancing our ability to develop capabilities in this space, serving customers effectively, and improving their experience along with our security posture, visibility, and the capabilities of the product.
What needs improvement?
I believe AlgoSec can be improved through a continual dialogue between us, understanding where the roadmap is headed, and aligning our organization's challenges with it, ensuring responsiveness about certain features that require urgency.
I think we are in constant dialogue with AlgoSec and ensuring communication with the actual product managers, which is key. It is a work in progress, but it is heading in a positive direction.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using AlgoSec for approximately two years, and in my previous role, which was about twelve to thirteen years ago, I used it for about two and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
AlgoSec is currently stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
AlgoSec's scalability is fine as long as it is designed appropriately for the environment; we also receive good support from the design teams at AlgoSec during pre-sales.
How are customer service and support?
I currently have no issues with customer support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used Skybox before switching to AlgoSec, as Skybox went defunct, which was the main reason for our switch.
What was our ROI?
I anticipate seeing a return on investment in the next four months, with similar exercises previously showing an average of five hours saved per change, allowing us to calculate potential FTE savings on the metrics we expect from AlgoSec.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Regarding my experience with pricing, setup costs, and licensing, I do not get too involved, but it seemed acceptable, and they do try to ensure the best for the customer through discounts and various offers.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing AlgoSec, we evaluated Tufin and FireMon as other options.
What other advice do I have?
My advice for others looking into using AlgoSec is to ensure that their roadmap and key use cases align with AlgoSec's roadmap and products; if there is alignment, I believe it is the way to go.
AlgoSec is currently deployed as both on-premises and in a public cloud setting, and this deployment is evolving. For our public cloud deployment, we use a combination of all providers to a degree: AWS, GCP, and Azure.
Since using AlgoSec, I have noticed measurable improvements in speed to delivery, and the ability for support teams to work more efficiently and effectively. Although we are still deploying, those immediate improvements include speed of response and execution.
Regarding AlgoSec's AI capabilities, I think its governance and security aspects are still quite new for us, and we are approaching them tentatively. While the capabilities are exciting, building trust within the organization will take some time. The accuracy and reliability of AlgoSec's AI output are still a work in progress. It involves features we have not fully embraced yet, and we need to fully onboard and integrate them to provide more suitable feedback.
Before using AlgoSec Horizon Platform, the application connectivity process was quite immature; when changes came in, they were treated individually with limited focus on applications and specific requirements. AlgoSec Horizon has greatly improved visibility into our application environment; although it is early days, the training suggests it could be a powerful ally and asset for us, and we need to align everyone to embrace that mindset.
Answering questions about application connectivity that were difficult before using AlgoSec is still a work in progress, but I am confident that once the application is mapped, changes will become much simpler and more efficient, allowing us to identify owners and current connections easily. AlgoSec Horizon has not yet improved collaboration between application owners and security teams due to challenges in aligning everyone to that way of thinking and sharing subscriptions; it is a non-technical challenge we are facing.
Application context is critical for managing our organization's network security policies; once everyone aligns with this mindset, it will be essential for looking at the overall ecosystem. AlgoSec has changed the way I understand and manage application connectivity across my environment by moving away from silos, with improved visibility facilitating a more collaborative approach.
I would rate this review eight out of ten.
Automated workflows have transformed firewall change requests and clarified application rule ownership
What is our primary use case?
AlgoSec is used for firewall change requests, utilizing FireFlow and the application wizard to onboard applications. FireFlow is used extensively throughout the organization. Using AlgoSec for firewall change requests and onboarding applications has significantly improved daily workflow. Previously, if a user had a connectivity requirement within the bank, they would raise it manually via email, requiring the operation team to record the information and deploy the policy on the firewall. After implementing AlgoSec FireFlow, users now have an interface to provide basic information and submit requests, allowing the operation team to handle deployments more efficiently with the help of ActiveChange. This process flow eases both users and firewall engineers while expediting the deployment process for the bank.
How has it helped my organization?
AlgoSec has significantly increased our deployment speed and reduced the time required for our engineers to process firewall changes. It streamlines our overall workflow, ensuring that connectivity requests are completed much faster and consistently within our defined SLAs.
What is most valuable?
AppViz was recently adopted and represents another level from FireFlow because it provides more insights to both the application perspective and the firewall team perspective. Currently, many rules lack ownership clarity, but since using AppViz, awareness has increased regarding firewall requests coming from specific applications and the reasons for each rule's existence. This enables application owners to see all their firewall rules in one place, which is especially useful when replacing staff in case an application owner moves departments or organizations.
AppViz is valuable due to its ease of use for application owners, enabling them to see existing policies. If they need to test new connectivity, they can do so without contacting the firewall team; they can test connectivity themselves and raise requests only if blocked. Previously, they would contact the firewall team for permission, consuming both their time and the operation team's time. With AppViz, the process is much easier.
The best features AlgoSec offers include AppViz, which is still in its early stage but provides better visibility and insight.
Application owners can now clearly see which rules exist across the infrastructure. Before implementing AlgoSec, they had zero visibility into existing connectivity policies, but now they can answer those questions directly.
AlgoSec has greatly improved visibility by providing application owners with a single interface to view existing firewall policies. They can now check and test connectivity on their own before reaching out to the security team or raising a new change request.
AlgoSec has improved collaboration substantially. Having all rules and requests in a single, centralized view reduces friction between teams because both the application owners and security engineers are looking at the exact same network policies.
Application context is extremely important to us. Having that context allows our security team—especially during security incidents or audits—to quickly pinpoint why a specific firewall rule exists and map it directly to the responsible application owner.
AlgoSec has made managing application connectivity significantly easier. Centralizing all relevant information onto a single platform gives our application teams direct, clear visibility and removes the guesswork from understanding our network environment.
What needs improvement?
AppViz needs to add more capabilities, specifically for object flow modification because it is still in the early stage for this feature, and any improvements in object modification would be beneficial. AppViz should include more features and flexibility in terms of objects. For complex deployments within the network infrastructure, considerable custom configurations are required. If AlgoSec anticipates these needs with more use cases, it would be advantageous.
Currently, reporting features are lacking, and more insight would be desired in reports.
For how long have I used the solution?
AlgoSec has been used for more than eight years in the bank, and all products within AlgoSec are utilized.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
AlgoSec is stable with multiple instances running smoothly without frequent downtimes, making it stable and reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
AlgoSec's scalability is impressive. Since everything is VM-based, if utilization increases, the hardware can simply be enhanced as needed. It works well in terms of scalability.
How are customer service and support?
Customer support is generally better, though there are complex cases that understandably take time, especially if fixes need to be tested on their end. Bug fixes require time to complete.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
No other technologies were used before switching to AlgoSec.
What was our ROI?
The process of calculating ROI is underway with the help of ART, but it is certain that the time savings in deployment is significant.
What other advice do I have?
The reason for selecting a rating of eight is because AlgoSec is easier to use and has a lot of depth in certain aspects. The deployment is easier than with competing technologies, and the support is generally very good in resolving tickets, though there are cases that take longer due to the need for fixes. I would advise others considering using AlgoSec to note that it features multiple suites, covering various technologies, and it is easy to use. I would rate this product an 8 out of 10.
Centralized firewall workflows have accelerated rule implementation and provide clear app visibility
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for AlgoSec is managing firewall rules, specifically on-premises firewall rules, where users input their requirements in AppViz and we implement the rule using the FireFlow change.
A specific example of how I use AlgoSec for firewall rules in my workflow involves application owners having access to their application in AppViz. They can only raise a FireFlow request from there. So they edit the AppViz application and then they submit their change. This change goes to a firewall flow request, which we implement end to end. We have automated tools using the API from AlgoSec in the planning phase and on the approval phase.
How has it helped my organization?
AlgoSec has drastically improved our implementation speed and visibility across our banking environment. We can now process and implement every single firewall request in under 24 hours. Before AlgoSec, we tracked all application connectivity across separate Word documents, making it nearly impossible to understand why rules existed or how applications interacted. Now, we have a clear, graphical view of our connectivity—showing where applications are connected, why, and who is using them. The visual reports are so clear that our software architects and application owners routinely use them for architectural reviews and documentation.
What is most valuable?
The best feature that AlgoSec offers, by far, is AppViz. This is the thing that AlgoSec offers, and it is unique in the market, and in my point of view, their strongest selling point.
What makes the AppViz feature stand out for me is its capability to provide a quick overview of our application landscape, which helps in my daily tasks because it is used not only by us but also by the architects to review the architecture and connections of all our applications.
AlgoSec has positively impacted my organization by significantly increasing the speed of implementation for firewall requests. We implement them in less than 24 hours on average, and simultaneously, we have gained a clear overview of our applications in banking, including their connections, the reasons for those connections, and the users involved.
AlgoSec displays our application connections in a clear, highly visual graphic format. The visibility boost has been significant—I frequently see colleagues copying AlgoSec's connectivity reports directly into our internal documentation, which shows just how much our team relies on it for accurate mapping.
AlgoSec fundamentally made understanding and managing application connectivity possible for us. Before we implemented it, it was nearly impossible to track down where specific firewall rules were located, why they were put there in the first place, or which applications were actually using them.
What needs improvement?
AlgoSec can be improved by putting AppViz more at the center. Specifically, I suggest customizing AppViz more, including features such as input validation that is not available in AppViz but is in FireFlow, or the ability to copy the AppViz object to the policy. Thus, AppViz should be at the center of their operations, not just as an endpoint in the implementation logic.
One area that AlgoSec could do better is in the pricing. For example, mobile providers have different plans, but their plans are not based on a per-license model, and they usually offer an unlimited option. Therefore, I would expect AlgoSec to have a maximum payment cap per client while allowing unrestricted use of its resources.
Application context is extremely important to us. Going forward, I'd love to see AlgoSec leverage AI to enhance this even further—specifically by scanning our application documentation to automatically draft identified connections and perform risk evaluations per connection before an application owner even submits a request.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using AlgoSec for three and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
AlgoSec is not stable.
The stability issues I have experienced with AlgoSec include slow object deletion, where finding usage could take hours, causing the system to freeze, particularly when handling queries related to many applications. We attempted to resolve these issues with AlgoSec support, and while some problems were fixed with a new patch, we still struggle with system sizing questions.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support experience varies depending on the representative. I have raised many tickets over the last few years and have been extremely pleased with some support engineers while being less satisfied with others.
I would rate customer support a six on a scale from one to ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I did not previously use a different solution before AlgoSec.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Be cautious regarding the per-application licensing costs, which I find quite steep. AlgoSec should offer an unlimited tier or a price cap once an organization reaches 1,000 to 5,000 applications, similar to an unlimited mobile data plan. Additionally, watch out for transition costs: as on-premises customers, if we want to migrate to their SaaS platform, we are forced to pay extra for professional services—essentially paying twice for a service setup we've already paid for, even though the platform shift is driven by the vendor.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing AlgoSec, we evaluated other options, including FireMon and Tufin, and we conduct evaluations on cycles.
What other advice do I have?
One area that AlgoSec could do better is in the pricing. For example, mobile providers have different plans, but their plans are not based on a per-license model, and they usually offer an unlimited option. Therefore, I would expect AlgoSec to have a maximum payment cap per client while allowing unrestricted use of its resources.
My advice for others looking into using AlgoSec is to avoid trying to combine other methods for making changes to firewalls simultaneously. Instead, they should use AppViz, trust it, and set it up while managing everything through that platform. I would rate this solution an eight overall.
Unified firewall audits have improved efficiency and simplified compliance reporting
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for AlgoSec is for firewall management, auditing, and managing firewalls. A quick specific example of how I have used AlgoSec for firewall management and auditing is when we had multiple firewalls that we wanted to get a unified view, and there we used AlgoSec. That was the main reason for what we used.
What is most valuable?
The best feature AlgoSec offers is the ability to create a unified view for auditing. What I find most helpful about the unified view is that it saves time and simplifies audits because it reduces false positives and brings a smoother auditing process.
I would add that the reporting is also very advanced, and regarding automation, I was not very involved in that part, but I heard that it is also a very mature feature from AlgoSec.
AlgoSec has impacted my organization positively as it has brought noticeable improvements, including having multiple firewalls and vendors while getting a unified view, automated processes, and very good reporting.
What needs improvement?
AlgoSec could be improved by extending their products for security because they are very focused at the moment. They could have broader product lists, which would be a good idea.
Regarding needed improvements, we did not have any issues with integration as it was very smooth and not very complex. However, for usability, I suggest a better UI, as compared to Palo Alto, which I find is more friendly and attractive compared to AlgoSec.
For how long have I used the solution?
I work in my current field for around one year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
AlgoSec is stable, which is why it was suggested, and I have no experience with other products.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
AlgoSec's scalability is absolutely good.
How are customer service and support?
I have not needed to reach out to customer support, as we did not contact them.
What was our ROI?
I have not seen a return on investment, and I cannot share any relevant metrics such as fewer employees needed or money saved.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I was not involved in the process of pricing, setup cost, and licensing. Our manager was dealing with the licenses while we focused on the technical side.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I did not previously use a different solution. I think for this matter, AlgoSec is the best product in the market that can unify all firewalls for auditing.
What other advice do I have?
On a scale of one to ten, I would rate AlgoSec between eight and nine. I chose the number eight because I believe that the functionality is very good. While the functionality is very good, as I mentioned, the UI can be improved, and the products can be more varied. AlgoSec could explore more topics such as Zero Trust or other security standards.
AlgoSec's AI capabilities is something that I did not work with, to be honest. I have not used AlgoSec's AI capabilities regarding accuracy and reliability of output, so I cannot provide any insight there.
I do not have any improvements needed for AlgoSec that I have not already mentioned. It was just my personal experience. My advice to others looking into using AlgoSec is that if they want to have a unified view, it is a very good product. They can have a proof of concept, test it, and see the benefits. This is how I would suggest others go with AlgoSec. I would rate AlgoSec a score of eight out of ten.
Automation has transformed firewall policy management and now unifies compliance and audits
What is our primary use case?
My main use of AlgoSec in my organization is for firewall security policy management and automation.
A concrete example of how I use automation with this tool in my daily work is that the FireFlow module is a real time saver. What used to take us hours for impact analyses, rule change or implementation requests, and verification is now automated in a few minutes, all without introducing human error.
What is most valuable?
I would like to add that we have incredible end-to-end visibility, and in fact, the network mapping is surgically precise. AlgoSec allows us to visualize traffic flow across our entire on-premises, hybrid cloud, and multicloud infrastructure in a single, intuitive interface.
In my opinion, the best features that AlgoSec offers include continuous compliance, as AlgoSec checks our firewall rules in real time against regulations, such as ISO 27001, PCI DSS, or NIST, and against our internal policy. Audit reports are generated with one click, and our auditors absolutely love that.
Regarding continuous compliance and audit report generation, this has simplified our audits and the management of regulatory controls in our organization because we don't use several applications; we only use AlgoSec.
I would also like to add that there is multi-vendor compatibility that we manage. We can manage our Palo Alto, Check Point, or Fortinet devices at the same time, and as a result, AlgoSec integrates perfectly with our entire ecosystem without any friction.
What needs improvement?
In my opinion, AlgoSec could be improved in the future, as we had some small issues with it at the level of overload. There was a lot of overhead, and we increased the disk space. Afterward, I think it was more the development part on our internal side than the tool itself, but the tool was really good; it was complete, and I had nothing to add.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for a year and a half.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
In my opinion, AlgoSec is stable in my current environment.
How are customer service and support?
I find AlgoSec's customer support generally positive based on user feedback in my experience so far.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have never used another solution before for network security management before using AlgoSec.
What was our ROI?
I have seen a return on investment with AlgoSec in that our network and security teams spend sixty to seventy percent less time on manual tasks for managing flow openings and documenting rules.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing AlgoSec, I did not evaluate other solutions because when I arrived at the company, they already had it.
What other advice do I have?
AlgoSec has had a positive impact on my organization in that we no longer have to connect directly to the firewalls one by one. We can directly have AlgoSec manage the entire firewall group, so it is perfect.
I can explain in more detail that this frictionless integration has improved productivity and collaboration within my team. I would say that there is perfect alignment between security and the business. With the application-oriented view AppChange, we no longer speak only in IP addresses and ports, but in business applications, which has significantly improved collaboration between our security infrastructure teams and the developers.
My advice to other professionals who are considering using AlgoSec is to clean up your rule bases beforehand. AlgoSec is excellent for cleaning up your firewalls. You can deploy solutions step-by-step, and there is visibility provided by AlgoSec. Then, there is automation, and there are business applications rather than IP addresses. I rate this solution a ten out of ten.
Policy management has unified multi-vendor firewalls and has increased margins for managed services
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for AlgoSec is the policy management for plus 10,000 firewalls and security equipment in multi-vendor situations. Since my customers have legacy security equipment, it is necessary to apply policy to all security equipment in general, and this also extends to identity access management. I have migrated from Tufin to AlgoSec and from AlgoSec to Tufin based on my customer's requirements.
What is most valuable?
In my experience, the best features that AlgoSec offers include policy management, which is very open to multi-vendor situations, especially for firewalls and companies that have legacy firewalls. This functionality allows us to reduce the attack surface while applying policies globally and homogeneously across our IT and ITS infrastructures. As a CISO and also managing the network and security operations center, it has proven very helpful, especially in an MSSP situation where I deal with multiple clients across finance, defense, and medical sectors. I find myself very comfortable with AlgoSec to apply security and network application delivery.
AlgoSec positively impacts my organization by commanding higher margins. Given that I am an MSSP serving multiple clients, having one tool for all my customers is fantastic.
What needs improvement?
Currently, from my experience with AlgoSec, I believe it needs improvements, particularly with custom or open-source software integration. Some of my customers cannot purchase commercial software due to strict opposition for security reasons. For instance, I had a customer who required an entirely BSD-based firewall, which necessitated coding to facilitate integration with AlgoSec. Furthermore, AlgoSec could excel by helping us as MSSPs integrate with CTI teams. Being involved with cyber threat intelligence would allow us to be proactive, applying data-driven policies rather than just implementing policies for the sake of compliance. I also collaborate with OT and IT departments, and it is important to note that OT systems have long lifespans, sometimes dating back 20 years. I have encountered situations where policies had to be applied manually since certain legacy systems date back to the 1970s and 1980s and remain unchanged.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
From what I have heard, the solutions I have built around AlgoSec continue to work well.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
AlgoSec's scalability appears to be pretty good for a multinational company and fares well.
How are customer service and support?
Regarding customer support, I have not had to engage with it directly, so I cannot provide an assessment. However, I can state that the integration support I received was very kind.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before choosing AlgoSec, I did not switch from another solution. Before selecting AlgoSec, my evaluations were limited as there were no other options considered since it was mostly the de facto decision due to budgetary considerations.
What was our ROI?
I have seen a return on investment with AlgoSec, including money saved, time saved, and more efficient operations. However, specific metrics cannot be disclosed due to a non-disclosure agreement.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I have used AlgoSec on and off, and I have used Tufin, the competitor of AlgoSec, with AlgoSec intertwined both.
What other advice do I have?
I find that AlgoSec's holistic approach allows me to present at the C-suite level without needing to dive too deep into technical details, advocating for budget justification on a business process level. Furthermore, BOT automation has significantly bolstered my business-driven approach and security policy management across the whole spectrum of our security equipment overview. Overall, even as a managed MSSP, I can effectively manage multiple clients and create policies that can be applied to all or specific customers within my MSSP. I appreciate the fact that it is business-driven.
Regarding those higher margins, I have seen a growth from 45 percent to 70 percent in security policy management while providing network security policy management services. I work closely with the customer to build a policy tailored to their needs, which alleviates the necessity for one-on-one interactions. I can apply security policy templates that are already functional, thus not requiring me to rewrite security policies repeatedly. This reusability leads to gains in productivity, making processes much more agile and compliant.
In my experience, the best features that AlgoSec offers include policy management, which is very open to multi-vendor situations, especially for firewalls and companies that have legacy firewalls. This functionality allows us to reduce the attack surface while applying policies globally and homogeneously across our IT and ITS infrastructures. As a CISO and also managing the network and security operations center, it has proven very helpful, especially in an MSSP situation where I deal with multiple clients across finance, defense, and medical sectors. I find myself very comfortable with AlgoSec to apply security and network application delivery. I give this review a rating of 8.
Automated reports have simplified firewall audits and now support faster security decisions
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for AlgoSec is AFA, which stands for AlgoSec Firewall Analyst.
What is most valuable?
The best feature AlgoSec offers is the report. I say the report is very helpful because we get consulting about the firewall, and they want to know the current condition of this firewall. We have around 10 Cisco firewalls, so it is very hard to collect all this information about these firewalls. AlgoSec provides the tool to connect to 10 firewalls and gather everything from them, making it very helpful to optimize or improve the firewall rules.
AlgoSec's AI capabilities refer to any AI-related features in AlgoSec such as automation, governance controls, or security aspects. I did not remember any automation at first, but automation, yes, I recall some. I was shocked by the report created automatically by the system, providing clarity on rules usage. Our consultant requires reports now and three months later to compare everything about the firewalls. I think those AI or automation capabilities are really helpful.
The accuracy and reliability of AlgoSec's output are really good. The reports, whether weekly or monthly, are very accurate and reliable, allowing me to check everything.
AlgoSec has positively impacted my organization as we focus on cybersecurity and always put it first. The firewall is a key point because threat actors have all kinds of tools for cyber invasion, but the firewall is crucial. Our consultants want to know the report about the current firewall status weekly or monthly, and that is the only way to get this report from all these 10 firewalls. Without that, we could not manage anything about this firewall.
What needs improvement?
AlgoSec can be improved as we use AlgoSec AFA version 30 or higher. AlgoSec has a lot of product lines, but we only have AFA. If possible, we could buy other products as a bundle with AFA, providing all the tools to manage firewalls and security issues. It would be very helpful if AlgoSec provided a whole picture of their product lines, not only AFA.
When initially installed, there were confusing moments as we encountered two bugs, requiring help from the support team. The tech support from AlgoSec was very helpful, but we still spent approximately one or two months on the whole process. If possible, providing more immediate support in one or two weeks to solve these simple bugs would be beneficial since AlgoSec is a very good system.
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?
AlgoSec is stable and works fine as long as we install it properly.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
AlgoSec's scalability appears to be good. We have eight licenses for eight firewalls, but I do not know the exact number of firewalls one AFA can connect. Connecting a firewall to the system is easy with two connections: a syslog connection and an SSH connection.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support from AlgoSec is very good. During installation, I reached out to tech support, and they responded immediately.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I did not previously use a different solution.
How was the initial setup?
Connecting to multiple firewalls and optimizing rules with AlgoSec was initially time-consuming as we spent time on the connection between AlgoSec and the firewalls. We encountered two bugs and spent approximately one or two months figuring it out, but after that, everything works very smoothly. We do daily checking, produce reports, and check every feature of our firewalls, which are working just as expected.
I remember doing several upgrades, which are a little challenging, but if you are familiar with the process, it is very easy to handle.
What was our ROI?
I could not remember every detail about the outcomes from using AlgoSec, but we save a lot of money on consultants since we built this system. We were not buying another system to do this kind of work, which helped us a lot, not only in money but also in time. I worked in the infrastructure team while the consulting worked in another team, the cybersecurity team, so I always provided tools in advance, just ahead of when they asked.
Using AlgoSec has saved us a lot of time. Our consultant needs detailed reports about firewalls, which AlgoSec provides very efficiently. Doing this manually is unimaginable, so it saves a lot of time and money.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Regarding pricing, setup cost, and licensing, we started with eight licenses for eight firewalls, if I remember correctly, but I do not know the price or exact setup costs.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing AlgoSec, I personally did not evaluate other options, but our consultant mentioned something similar to AlgoSec. I cannot remember the details.
What other advice do I have?
My advice for others looking into using AlgoSec is that it is a very helpful system. If you have firewalls and need to generate reports or conduct research on them, AlgoSec is a great tool to connect to those systems and collect everything. I would rate my overall experience with AlgoSec as a 9 out of 10.
Rule Analysis and App Mapping That Make Firewall Migrations Faster
FireFlow is where the change management side clicks. Every request has a state, an owner, and a paper trail, so nobody's asking "wait, who approved this NAT rule" three months later.
AppViz is the one that changes how you talk to other teams. Instead of a spreadsheet of IPs and ports, you can show someone the actual application flow and point at exactly which policy is blocking it. Cuts the back and forth with dev teams down to nothing.
A few other things that stood out:
Clean UI - doesn't bury you in menus, you can get to compliance status or a specific rule fast.
Change automation - pushing a firewall or cloud security group change through FireFlow instead of doing it by hand cuts down on the "wrong object-group" mistakes.
Compliance reports - PCI-DSS and similar are basically ready to export, which matters during audit season.
Handles scale - ran it against a fairly large hybrid estate and it didn't choke.
Don't treat it as just a firewall dashboard. The application mapping is genuinely useful when you need to explain a security decision to someone who doesn't care about ports and protocols.
The custom reporting side could use work too. The out-of-the-box compliance templates are fine, but building something custom branded for an exec presentation takes longer than it should. A proper drag-and-drop report builder would help.
It's also cut down the back and forth with app owners a lot. Before, a "why is my app broken" ticket meant pulling logs from three devices and guessing. Now we can point at the AppViz map and say exactly which rule or path is the problem, so tickets close in minutes instead of days.
On the compliance side, it's saved a ton of manual prep before audits. Reports that used to take a day to assemble by hand now export in a few clicks.
Integration wise, it plays well with the Cisco ASA/FTD and Palo Alto stacks we deal with most, and the API access has made it straightforward to pull data into our own tracking without living inside the Horizon UI all day.
On pricing, it's not cheap, and licensing scales with the number of devices, so for a smaller shop it can be a hard sell up front. For anything running a genuinely hybrid, multi vendor estate though, the time saved on rule cleanup and audit prep tends to justify it within a few migrations.
Automation has transformed complex rule workflows and now supports fast daily policy decisions
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for AlgoSec is applying and implementing security rules, as well as recertifying them.
In our case, we use AlgoSec for applying or recertifying security rules by making a ticket for our CMDB system, and the system creates a ticket in AlgoSec. Afterwards, it creates another ticket in Jira. So an engineer like me has to approve the ticket in FireFlow, and after that, I have to apply it in Jira as well.
My main use case with AlgoSec involves this workflow. Sometimes we import network requirements via CSV file, but that represents one or two percent of use cases. In most cases, I use the flow with the CMDB system.
What is most valuable?
The best feature AlgoSec offers is its automation in making go/no-go decisions for a rule. Of course, it is powered by the policy engine, which we calculate dynamically. We deliver policy every day or every time the network changes, even a little bit. So we feed AlgoSec with a new policy every day.
Automation impacts my daily work by helping with making easy decisions. It makes up 60% or 70% of my workflow. The rest comes from the security guys like me.
AlgoSec has positively impacted my organization by ensuring that without a tool like AlgoSec, the network changes would be extremely long and costly. We have 11,000 people, so the changes are complex. Basically, it would be impossible to manage without a tool like AlgoSec. Of course, in the beginning, there was fear from the IT staff, but we can manage and take benefits from AlgoSec usage.
What needs improvement?
AlgoSec could be improved as it is not handling large traffic analysis well. If the request is huge or big, it can hang the entire appliance, even if there are a lot of resources assigned to it. For example, you could separate the UI from the worker and process requests in parallel. A huge request can hang only one node, and the second node can operate on all the others.
The interrupts caused by huge traffic changes are my biggest concern, and compatibility is also important. Some of my network gear has to be implemented virtually, so we create a virtual router with a lot of interfaces because AlgoSec cannot handle the equipment. This is important, but the most important issue is performance.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using AlgoSec for five years.
How are customer service and support?
I would rate customer service a 4 out of 10.
What other advice do I have?
I cannot speak about measurable improvements because in my six years at the company, I did not take part in the implementation of AlgoSec, so I do not know the previous numbers. But as far as I can see, AlgoSec is saving our lives. I would rate this review an overall 8 out of 10.