AlgoSec Reviews

My primary use case to use this solution was to get visibility into my multi-vendor network environment into a single pane of glass making it easy to have compliance and audits done seamlessly. 

Also, it is letting me know if any changes are required over different network devices if I bring a certain new application in the environment (discovering its dependencies) and then push the changes from the single console. Also, it needed to verify if there are any unnecessary rules with the attribute "any" over all the firewalls that the solution was able to cover.

It helped me in managing the multi-vendor network devices with also mapping the required network level prerequisites for my application to be able to handle their network needs in an automated and seamless manner. It also removed the need for multiple approvals with Fireflow. 

It also made compliance and audits very easy for my organization. It was able to give visibility of the changes on the firewall with a who-when-what scenario. It helped me to document all the risks related to any change request that I made.

The way the solution helps in managing, reporting and seamless security policy change automation for the connectivity between the network devices and the applications is great. 

The visibility provided by the single pane of glass for managing multi-vendor firewalls is excellent and then pinpointing network connectivity issues is certainly on a very good level. 

The majority of the value comes with automating of the entire security - i.e., the policy change process from design and submission to proactive risk analysis, implementation and auditing.

They need to improve the web interface to be a little more interactive and friendly. It's still not bad, yet it could improve. 

They could improve AlgoSec academy, as there are some bugs when it comes to advancing resources. When trying to do the certification, I got stuck in one module, which prevented me from completing the certification. 

The only downside of AlgoSec is that it seems to need some updates as it relates to UX and potentially some more outlined integrations. Specifically with cloud platforms and tools.

I have been using the solution from the last six months and have been quite happy with it.

This was my first solution and I have been continuing with this solution only for future needs until it satisfies all of my use cases.

I evaluated other options as well, however, where their capability ended, i.e. firewall analyzing capability, AlgoSec provides much better capabilities.

We work on the support side, and our customers use AlgoSec, primarily via on-prem deployments. They use the solution to analyze and engage firewall policies, increase their security, and receive advice for firewall optimization. 

The solution component we use is AlgoSec Firewall Analyzer. We have a customer who uses FireFlow, and we carried out a POC of AppViz, which some of our customers may want to implement in the next year.  

AlgoSec reduced the time it takes to implement firewall rules for our organization. 

The product helps us prepare for audits and ensure firewalls are in compliance; we can check the security and firewall rating points and advise our customers on optimizing their firewall and security rules. 

AlgoSec helped simplify the job of our security engineers, primarily through the advice it provides to admins managing the firewalls, which is essential. It also made them more efficient at their jobs.   

The Firewall Analyzer component has excellent compatibility with the solution, and it's highly useful and easy to manage.

Our customers find the Intelligent Policy Tuner very helpful, and it was useful for us during the POC because it was a significant selling point for our clients; they liked it and wanted to use it.

The solution provides excellent visibility into our network security policies, especially when we set the log options to ''extensive''; this gives us a lot of visibility for reports and change notifications. 

AlgoSec provides complete visibility into the risk involved in firewall change requests, which is especially important when presenting security reports to upper management.  

The solution's automation helped to reduce human error and misconfigurations; if the tool detects a drop in security and firewall policy points, it notifies admins via email of a potential misconfiguration, allowing us to fix the issue and raise the points again.  

More scope for editing alerts would be a welcome change. 

The solution has visibility and compatibility issues with Palo Alto firewalls, which makes it challenging to provide reports. The reports rely on logging, and the product has problems with Palo Alto's logging. Better compatibility with Palo Alto firewall reports is a must.

Some of our customers want to see AlgoSec with a user-based policy that can advise on user policy rules and be compatible with identity awareness.

I've been using the solution for over eight years across two companies.

The stability is good; there's no problem with it. 

The customer service is responsive and reliable enough, and most of our cases are solved within a day or two.

Positive

The setup is very straightforward; we use VMs, so our customers don't need appliances. We can set up a VM and install AlgoSec in 15-30 minutes, then further configuration such as DNS, names, IP addresses, and adding the firewalls takes two to three hours.

The upgrade process is also straightforward; when the upgrade package is released, we download it, import it to a machine, and implement it with one SSH command. The solution doesn't require any further maintenance. 

I'm not involved in the financial aspect, but I understand the platform to be expensive, though I need to find out how it compares to competitors like Tufin, for example.

I rate the solution a nine out of ten. 

Some of our customers work with different security vendors, including FortiGate, Palo Alto, and Check Point, and integration with their firewalls is straightforward when using AlgoSec.  

We are also a supporter of Tufin in Turkey, and there are some advantages to using AlgoSec, as it's more useful in specific ways. With the latter, it's quick and easy to get reports, and AlgoSec has lower spec requirements for new installs. It requires a maximum of 16-32 GB of memory and 500 GB to one TB of storage, but Tufin requires 60 GB of memory and one to two TB of storage. AlgoSec is more straightforward and user-friendly; the options are named clearly, so it's easy to add identities or active directories.

The product is suitable for small, medium, and large businesses; they could all find a use for it. 

I recommend the solution; I've been using it for eight years, and it's more user-friendly and useful than other products.

I use AlgoSec as a firewall analyzer. It helps review the changes made on the firewalls and determine who executed those changes. The tool automates predefined reports about non-used network objects, which is technically challenging for manual review.

By implementing AlgoSec, we've reduced the time and effort it takes to review firewall changes and audit logs. Before AlgoSec, we used to review each firewall manually, but now, the tool automates this process which saves us time.

The most valuable feature of AlgoSec is its ability to generate comprehensive reports. As a firewall analyzer, it's very useful for reviewing and collecting information at a single point. The tool also helps generate reports automatically, which is beneficial for us.

The graphical user interface in AlgoSec needs improvement. Sometimes it gets stuck, requiring multiple refreshes. Additionally, system integration with more products can be enhanced, like integrating the Blue Coat web filtering products.

I have been using AlgoSec since 2020.

The product is stable and reliable for our needs.

While we haven't tested it extensively, it has the capability to scale. We currently use it to manage eleven firewalls and nine routers. It has the ability to expand by adding more CPUs and memory.

Technical support is decent, although it can take time for them to handle more complex cases. The first level of support may lack the knowledge to solve advanced issues swiftly.

Positive

Before using AlgoSec, we manually reviewed and audited changes and reports.

The initial setup was easy for adding firewalls, despite some challenges when deploying the second module of AlgoSec.

The implementation was conducted by working with the vendor through remote sessions.

The return on investment is evident in the reduced time and effort for reviewing and auditing firewall changes.

I am not involved with pricing details since I mainly handle the technical aspects. However, the value from reduced time and effort justifies its cost.

I would recommend AlgoSec for enterprise environments that make frequent changes. Smaller environments with infrequent changes may not benefit as much.

We resell AlgoSec, and I provide professional service for AlgoSec. Our customers get good value from it. Our clients are usually large businesses, between 25,000 to 40,000 employees.

The primary use cases are for:

• the optimization of firewalls,
• getting reports, 
• compliance for ISO 27001 and PCI DSS.

It helps us to see what changes users make on a firewall by the users. AlgoSec identifies in real-time any changes on the firewalls. It also optimizes the firewall policies, rules, and objects. 

There is a compliance that is required where we need to provide a report for the optimization of firewalls that is part of PCI DSS and ISO 27001. So now many organizations use AlgoSec to monitor and optimize their firewalls. 

In addition to compliance, they also use AlgoSec to ensure that their environment is well-secured. They can see what changes are being made to the firewalls and by who, which is part of the compliance. They use AlgoSec to achieve that and also to track real-time changes. 

One of the problems that I've used AlgoSec to solve is to identify what's blocking a particular rule, object, or network traffic with the AlgoSec network simulator. It has a traffic simulator and a query simulator, where you can input the destination, the source, and the service, and then you can do a simulation of that traffic and see what firewall, object, or rule is blocking that traffic from going through. 

AlgoSec is easy to use and very easy to implement. Within three hours after downloading AlgoSec, you can start to see value immediately. Within that same time, you can generate reports almost immediately. 

Another valuable feature is the way it produces reports. It checks to see if you pass a particular policy. It also shows you recommendations to fix it. That's a very good feature. 

I like the traffic simulation too and queries. I'm not sure other solutions provide that. You can also use it to get a network topology and network map of your environment and see what's happening. 

These are some of the good features that make AlgoSec stand out.

AlgoSec support is exceptionally good. They have very good support. I use several solutions because I'm a security engineer. I implement security solutions for my customers and AlgoSec stands out in support. You can always rely on their support.

The customization and fine-tuning of the policies could use improvement. There's a place where you can modify the network maps and network. It is not so straightforward unless you have experience with it. It would make it more flexible and everyone can use it effectively if they improve that.

I have been using AlgoSec since 2018.

They have updates at least twice a year, so, it is very stable. I'd rate the stability a nine out of ten.

I have a new client that is using it on the cloud, and it's as effective as the on-prem version. The scalability is very good. I would rate it eight out of ten.

The support is very responsive and knowledgeable. You can rely on support for speed and to have the ability to resolve a problem. 

Positive

The initial setup is very straightforward.

After downloading the software it takes around one hour or so. It is fast.

There are usually updates and fixes. Support is always available to assist whenever there's a need for it.

I think the pricing is fair because when I speak to our partner manager, we can always get reasonable discounts but it can be better. Many people do not want to spend a lot of money on security. If the price was a little lower it would make it more affordable for smaller businesses.

I would always recommend AlgoSec to other users. 

I would rate AlgoSec overall an eight out of ten. 

AlgoSec is an exceptionally good solution. I didn't give it a perfect ten because the UI of the platform could be improved and the pricing could be lower. That would make it more interesting. Also, the modification or fine-tuning of policies could be easier. 

AlgoSec was used as a firewall setting, but we had issues with change management, approvals, and the workflow to deploy firewall rules. The tool covers the technology and intelligence, but we had a lot of manual work to convince sponsors and correlated areas that used AlgoSec or needed to open a firewall rule.

AlgoSec has a feature that provides intelligence on which rules are correct. It was crucial in helping us understand which rules were important and which ones could be turned off or removed, simplifying the structure. It helps prioritize actions and performance needs. The performance boost we had was huge. We were considering buying new firewall structures, but with AlgoSec, we just organized the rules and avoided spending more money on the environment. 

We faced internal challenges with our services and the process. If we had a closer approach from AlgoSec with instructions on how to build or change the management process, how to improve our environment, it would have been better. The big problem was more about the approval and request roles, and bureaucratic side of things.

I left the company a couple of years ago. I bought AlgoSec in 2022, and after a few months, I left the company and joined a different one that already had AlgoSec infrastructure in place.

The technical support was really technical and had a more technological view of the problem. Here in Brazil, we have a lot of discussions, conversations, and meetings, so the technology didn't resolve the problem we had like that. 

Positive

I wouldn't recommend AlgoSec for environments with fewer than 500 rules or without multiple offices, as the solution is quite complex to deploy and engage teams. It's more suitable for larger enterprises with complex environments. If you have a complex environment, AlgoSec is a good choice, but for smaller or medium-sized companies with fewer firewalls, it's easier to manage with the console provided by the vendor. If your site has complexities and you deal with multiple firewall vendors, AlgoSec simplifies management. However, if you only have one vendor, it's better to avoid adding more consoles. For environments with multiple vendors and many rules, AlgoSec or any firewall management tool would help.

Overall, I would rate AlgoSec ten out of ten, considering the complexities of the companies I've worked with. The tool needs to be managed by expert teams who understand both the technology and the change process.

Algosec is a cybersecurity tool that benefits the organization with a smooth operation of the network infrastructure and by managing the firewall. 

It is user-friendly and easy to implement and manage. It can be installed on-premises as well as on the cloud. It visualizes the complex networks and creates a dynamic network topology map. 

Using Firewall Analyzer, security and operations teams can optimize the configuration of firewalls, routers, web proxies, and related network infrastructure to ensure security and compliance.

Algosec helps with device onboarding and offboarding, managing access, and overseeing information security.

Algosec helps customers across the globe optimize their firewall policies and bring the best performance.

AlgoSec supports a wide range of devices and is constantly working to include support for many other vendor devices.

The solution checks on vulnerability scans often and reports.

Auto policy orchestration has helped our organization.

We can get all the firewall-related data with a single click. There is effective work on synchronizing with all the firewall gateways, including the management server.

The most valuable aspects of the solution include:

• Hybrid network security topology. A centralized dashboard provides a bird's eye view of the company's network infrastructure, like firewalls, routers, switches, and cloud.
• Security Policy Management. Automates the entire security policy management process.
• Compliance. Conducts complaints checks.
• Audit capabilities. Generates comprehensive reports for auditing.
• Cloud security management. Manages security policies in both on-prem and cloud environments.
• Network segmentation. You can design and implement the network segmentation that controls security breaches.

The solution needs improvements in the following areas:

• Algosec does not support vendors like Sophos, SonicWall, Forecepoint, and so on.
• Traffic simulation and fire flow need to be improved.
• The solution has insufficient documentation.
• They need to improve tech support in India.
• Deleting objects from each firewall is tedious, and it has to be done manually.
• An effective topology diagram can be provided.
• It is a challenge to combine different security vendors. 
• To upgrade, we have to upload package files which can be downloaded from the Algosec website, however, downloading takes time.

I've used the solution for two years.

We did not previously use a different solution.

We did not evaluate other options. 

I am working with AlgoSec for supporting my end clients and partners. AlgoSec has different functionalities. The primary use case of this solution is firewall policy management which helps most of the enterprise's customers to manage their L3 devices and multiple firewalls in their environment at a single console and audit firewall configuration from time to time. AlgoSec provides full visibility into the risk involved in firewall change requests. The network topology table helps to understand where the traffic flows through and where it's interconnected.

The comprehensive visibility of network security allows users to understand the dependencies between different policies. In the firewall analyzer, we can easily visualize and analyze all the devices within the network. To check the connectivity between the two devices, you can use the source's IPs and destination.

We can build the whole network topology using Algosec easily and provide optimization with all networks.

The verification of policies on all integrated firewalls with a minimal time period. 

The solution helps visualize and manage the hybrid network. 

Auto Discover applications and services are great. 

It simplifies security policy management. 

The product enhances visibility and control. 

Compliance automation and network topology are great. 

You can connect applications to security policy rules. 

Everything can be micro-segmented successfully.

We can easily identify risky rules. 

End-to-end security management is simple in that we can automate every change. 

It has effortless cloud management and can detect firewall configuration changes to spot unusual activities.

AlgoSec provides very good support to their clients. There are no complaints. That said, these items can be improved:

• Support can be improved as there are time delays for resolutions
• In the current version of AngloSec analyzer, we can not delete the object from all firewalls and need to do the task manually
• We need more effective topology diagram
• There are challenges in connecting the different security vendors
• User creation and assigning roles are a little bit difficult
• While upgrading we have to upload package files which can be downloaded from the Algosec website yet the downloading takes time

The stability is excellent.

The product performs well in the environment.

We did not previously use a different solution.

Licensing is based on a subscription model and the costs associated are worth it.

We did not evaluate other options.

The company has a lot of sites that are involved in food production and has locations with on-premises firewalls and a data center. There is a cloud in Asia as well.

Right now, AlgoSec is being used to optimize the firewall and the firewall policies, and to clean up any unused rules or those that are too open.

We have 10 to 15 users.

I like that the firewall will analyze the tools within the risk profiles and the policy optimizations within the AFA. This can also be used to create reports for the customer with the risk profiles to optimize the firewall rules.

I think it's a powerful tool that gives good visibility. One of AlgoSec's nice features is the map of your entire environment. When you need to change something, you can see the whole path for the traffic, that is, where you need to implement the change, where the traffic is blocked, and where it's allowed.

AlgoSec provides full visibility into the risks involved in firewall change requests. This is important because when your environment grows to a certain scale, it becomes harder and harder to get the full overview of all your firewalls and rule sets.

AlgoSec can reduce the time it takes to implement firewall rules. I tried the FireFlow module in a course with AlgoSec. With active implementation, it smooths out the process so much more. If you have two or three firewalls that you need to implement, AlgoSec does everything for you. It reduces the time in terms of both looking through your environment to see where you would need the firewall rules and implementing them as well.

If you're just looking at your firewalls, you might not notice all the security risks and open rules. AlgoSec's automation helped to reduce human error and misconfigurations. It helps with cleanup and keeps your firewall as tight as possible. It helped to simplify the job of our security engineers.

Our organization works in multiple environments, and the firewalls are located across the globe. This solution enables us to manage these multiple or dispersed environments in a single pane of glass.

I'm responsible for the maintenance of the server, that is, patching and upgrading, and it's straightforward. It cleans itself up with the retention and everything you configure on it. 

All our firewalls were renamed, and AlgoSec saw these devices as new devices. As a result, all the reports from the same device but with the old hostname were no longer connected. AlgoSec did not clean up the old reports as well. After a few days, it depleted its own storage, and then, the server became inaccessible. 

There's no fail-safe for AlgoSec to not stop creating reports if its own storage is at 98% or 99% capacity because the server becomes inaccessible when it reaches 100%.

I've also been fighting an issue with the Chisel service running on the server regarding AlgoCare for some time now. I have been in contact with AlgoSec's technical support regarding this, and they've been helpful and responsive.

I've been using AlgoSec for six months, but the organization has been using it for some time.

When it doesn't fill its own storage and kills itself, the stability is fine. It has only happened one time; the ms-metro service went down, so the web GUI became inaccessible. All in all, though, the stability is good.

AlgoSec's technical support is swift, knowledgeable, and professional. We had some issues when we upgraded from A32.10 to A32.20, and they helped us to get it up and running again. All the contact I've had with them has been very positive, and I'd give them a ten out of ten.

Positive

Consider whether your infrastructure needs this solution. The organization should be a specific size before this product will come in handy for you. If you are a large enterprise with a lot of sites and a large infrastructure, then you should certainly consider using AlgoSec. I've loved working with it and would rate it a ten on a scale from one to ten.