The ever-increasing volume of cyber threats forces organizations to adopt and use more and more security applications from various vendors. The end result, however, often consists of a heterogeneous and complex architecture, difficult to manage, and does not provide the desired level of protection. To support local organizations facing such issues, Datanet Systems recently organized, in partnership with ALEF Distribution Ro, a webinar that presented two of Palo Alto Networks’ most popular security applications.

Palo Alto is one of the leading global providers of security solutions covering a wide range of needs and challenges, with more than 85,000 enterprise users in more than 150 countries.

During the webinar “Cyber threat landscape and solutions offered by Palo Alto Networks“, ALEF specialists presented the following solutions:

• Cortex eXtended Security Orchestration Automation and Response (xSOAR)
• Next Generation Firewall (NGFW).

 

Cortex, a highly accessible SOAR solution

„Cortex XSOAR automates and orchestrates threat response technologies and measures, based on the analysis of data collected and correlated from various sources. It is a security product that more and more companies need as IT departments face tens of thousands of alerts every day, many of which are false, and detection and remediation measures take several days“, explained Sorin Serb, Business Development Manager ALEF Distribution Ro.

During the presentation, the ALEF specialist talked about the architecture and operation of the Palo Alto solution, underlining how companies can achieve a proactive level of protection through incident management, interactive event investigation, and automation of remedial measures.

The Palo Alto Networks solution is a SOAR-type platform accessible not only to large organizations but also to medium-sized companies with limited internal resources, which through its implementation and use can achieve:

• Standardization and automation of threat response measures;
• The ability to dynamically adapt and respond to any type of alert;
• Increasing the efficiency of operational security teams.

Cortex XSOAR is a solution through which companies that, for various reasons, cannot afford a Security Operation Center, but still can benefit from similar capabilities, as the internal resources can be complemented by the analysis and orchestration functionalities of the platform. This also allows the development of virtual SOCs and Managed Services from specialized providers on security services, Sorin Serb also specified.

 

Palo Alto NGFW, a 10 years market leader

During the second session of the webinar, organized by Datanet Systems, Cosmin Mocanu, System Engineer Palo Alto Networks, Expert Center ALEF Distribution Ro, presented live the Next Generation Firewall solution from Palo Alto, which has been the leader in NGFW products for 10 consecutive years.

During the demo, the ALEF specialist detailed various key functionalities of the solution to be used, such as:

• Application Command Center (ACC) – for viewing detected incidents, blocked activities, etc.
• Monitoring – for filtering log data, generating, and customizing reports, etc.
• Policies – for defining and modifying policies, creating security profiles, and policy response actions;
• Network – for configuring interfaces, assigning them to defined security zones, migrating to other technologies, etc.
• Licenses – for information about their lifecycle, support, SLAs, etc.

Palo Alto’s NGFW solution is available in multiple versions – physical (appliances), virtual (virtual machines or containers), and Cloud (delivered as a service), with businesses benefiting from the same delivered functionality regardless of the selected version. However, the licensing method for physical equipment is different from that for virtual equipment and Cloud services, where companies can use the Software Credits option, which simplifies the purchase process and offers flexibility in use.

The full Palo Alto NGFW solution demo can be viewed below.

 

For additional technical information about the Palo Alto solutions – Cortex XSOAR and NGFW, as well as about the full range of services provided by Datanet, you can contact us at the email address sales@datanets.ro.

Also, for extra details about the Palo Alto XSOAR solution, you can read the material created by Datanet Systems specialists: “Palo Alto SOAR, four common work scenarios”.