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Cisco IOS Security pros and cons

Vendor: Cisco
4.0 out of 5

Pros & Cons summary

Buyer's Guide

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Prominent pros & cons

PROS

Cisco IOS Security is acknowledged for its scalability, allowing it to meet varying organizational size requirements efficiently.
Users highlight the encrypted and private communication facilitated by GRE and the added privacy it delivers.
The VPN capabilities are particularly valuable, providing extensive reporting and management tools beneficial for remote working.
Cisco IOS Security is praised for its robust technical support, offering 24x7 assistance through their follow-the-sun concept.
Its matured next-generation security features, including threat detection and response, significantly enhance network security.

CONS

Pricing of Cisco IOS Security is high, making it unaffordable for small or medium-sized organizations.
The technical support services of Cisco IOS Security need improvement, with slow response times and excessive requests for logs.
Integration with other vendors is lacking in Cisco IOS Security, limiting its interoperability and effectiveness as a next-generation firewall and UTM.
Performance issues, including latency and slow deployments, are problematic in Cisco IOS Security, which affects its reliability and efficiency.
Complexity in managing and setting up Cisco IOS Security is a barrier for those without strong technical expertise or experience.
 

Cisco IOS Security Pros review quotes

Operatioa29e - PeerSpot reviewer
Operational Risk Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Mar 11, 2019
The most valuable feature is the scalability. The nice thing with the bigger vendors is that they're very good at scale.
FK
Network Engineer at Banque des Mascareignes
Apr 9, 2019
I'm able to transfer data over internet network security. With the GRE I'm able to transfer data within one bunch to another bunch in a public way, like the internet. The communication is encrypted and is private. It gives me added privacy.
reviewer1074924 - PeerSpot reviewer
Networks Lead Engineer at a mining and metals company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jun 23, 2019
Previously, anyone in the organization would see any data point in the wall. They could just go and connect their machine with that data point and could access the network. But now, even if someone came and tried that, they will not be given access.
Learn what your peers think about Cisco IOS Security. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
880,490 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user878949 - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Architect at Bilicha Technology
Jun 26, 2019
We use Cisco IOS Security mostly for routers to route off the firewall. It's a next-generation device.
FK
Network Engineer at Banque des Mascareignes
Jun 26, 2019
The VPN is the most valuable feature.
it_user783219 - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager - Wireless / IT Support Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Jun 30, 2019
You can scale it when you need to.
SA
Network Engineer at PART
Jul 2, 2019
I've found their network routing to be very good.
OM
Senior Pre Sales Engineer at IKUSI
Jul 2, 2019
Cisco IOS allows us to keep the same security features as our principal offices.
SeniorEn2e68 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Engineer Data Center at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jul 2, 2019
Technical support for this solution is very good.
JavedHashmi - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Technology Officer at Future Point Technologies
Aug 11, 2020
The hardware is pretty stable. It's also a very good product performance-wise. Initially, it wasn't mature like a firewall and there were other leaders, but now they have included almost all the features of next-generation security. Basically, it's a good product to work with.
 

Cisco IOS Security Cons review quotes

Operatioa29e - PeerSpot reviewer
Operational Risk Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Mar 11, 2019
I would like to see much more embedded security that works and that isn't a bolt-on.
FK
Network Engineer at Banque des Mascareignes
Apr 9, 2019
There's a technology called SD-WAN that we would like to see. We are unable to handle multiple connections or to automatically load balance. I would like to have a feature that enables us to automatically prepare for load balancing.
reviewer1074924 - PeerSpot reviewer
Networks Lead Engineer at a mining and metals company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jun 23, 2019
We have a very bad experience on the support. They take too much time requesting logs, and they are not coming directly online to resolve the issues.
Learn what your peers think about Cisco IOS Security. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2026.
880,490 professionals have used our research since 2012.
it_user878949 - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Architect at Bilicha Technology
Jun 26, 2019
Most of their features are meant for Cisco. You cannot integrate them with any other vendor.
FK
Network Engineer at Banque des Mascareignes
Jun 26, 2019
The routers, don't have like long-term tendency features, or higher availability features available for the IOS. It could also use a better user interface.
it_user783219 - PeerSpot reviewer
Product Manager - Wireless / IT Support Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Jun 30, 2019
If they could increase the performance a little better because the device sometimes gets slow.
SA
Network Engineer at PART
Jul 2, 2019
I wish it would be more like the next generation firewall technology. There should be more selection between the application and filtering.
OM
Senior Pre Sales Engineer at IKUSI
Jul 2, 2019
I think setup could be one area for improvement, because sometimes we don't have people inside so we have to move to the place.
SeniorEn2e68 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Engineer Data Center at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Jul 2, 2019
In the next release of this solution, we would like to see support for the 100BT and 7000 models.
JavedHashmi - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Technology Officer at Future Point Technologies
Aug 11, 2020
I would love it if it has a link-by-link feature, integration with Unified Threat Management (UTM), and load balancers. They haven't got any link-by-link feature right now, which can be a very attractive option. This link-by-link feature can also be made available for Cisco's UTM firewalls. The link-by-link feature is available in some of the other firewalls. Currently, integration with UTM is missing. Cisco IOS Security also doesn't have the load balancers and a few things that need to be done to get a good UTM firewall. Normally, other firewalls have UTM. As a next-generation firewall, it's good, but as a UTM, it has to do some work.