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Cisco Secure Network Analytics vs Cisco Sourcefire SNORT vs Trellix Intrusion Prevention System comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Mindshare comparison

Network Monitoring Software
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

Muhammad Harun-Owr-Roshid - PeerSpot reviewer
Have streamlined network visibility and troubleshooting while seeing benefits from AI integration
In terms of improvements for Cisco Secure Network Analytics, from the implementation point of view, now that AI is in use, some other features need to be upgraded considering AI solutions. Proper management of the database is also important; it should be centralized for easier data collection from a single database. When precise manual analysis is needed, it's sometimes difficult, so having a centralized database will allow network admins to find actual scenarios more effectively, especially since some information may not be visible on the GUI. Cisco should upgrade their hardware part to run the database, because sometimes it cannot handle the load while all features are running in the network. The database management should indeed be centralized because while AI runs behind the systems, central management is essential. For example, in a network with 100 Cisco switches, a few routers, firewalls, and access points, all data generated should be preserved in a central database. This approach simplifies management and analysis for troubleshooting, as GUI interfaces may not always provide visible information. Centralizing the database will allow for better understanding of which information is preserved for each specific device.
Jack Poon - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers ease of setup and good documentation
When it comes to the product's deployment phase, we have a lot of vendor support. We have a lot of skills here in Hong Kong. Our company doesn't find any problem deploying Cisco solutions. The solution is deployed on an on-premises version. Speaking about the time required to deploy the solution, I would say that we have quite a lot of previous experience with deploying Cisco products. We have our company's standard design document, which we need to follow. We have a standard testing procedure for all those features. We just take out some appropriate parts and then compile them into one document for an individual project. It is actually quite easy for us to do the documentation, so it just takes one or two hours, and we can do the implementation because all the materials and testing procedures are already in our company standard documents, so it is not that difficult for us.
Daniel_Martins - PeerSpot reviewer
Decade of experience empowers seamless problem resolution and support
I haven't seen threat intelligence and machine learning for predictive threat analysis in the Trellix Intrusion Prevention System yet. For Trellix IPS, AI improvements are an area where it can improve. It's a significant feature. Regarding the Trellix Intrusion Prevention System's flexibility for catering to our organization's specific infrastructure requirements, we have only on-premises and virtual appliances, but it's acceptable. The access and platform could potentially integrate with SaaS. Similar to when you put the EPO in mode integration with SaaS, you can connect with a local credential and with an X Console credential. Another possibility would be to connect with an integration login with the X Console. We have this with EPO on-premise, but with IPS, we don't have it.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The solution reduces the amount of time it takes to detect and remediate threats."
"Provides easily identifiable anomalies that you can't see with signature detections."
"Cisco Secure Network Analytics has increased the visibility of what is happening in our network, and I think that's the most important reason to use it. We can see what is really happening instead of just looking at numbers from routers or switches."
"It's a dependable product that is able to pinpoint where we have vulnerabilities if they occur."
"It is a good application, providing for real-time monitoring of the organization of data. It can basically identify points of peak traffic where possible issues are being caused."
"Cisco products are incredibly stable, boasting a 200% stability."
"The solution's analytics and thrust detection capabilities are good. We're still adjusting it. It's a little hypersensitive, but it is working right now."
"Stealthwatch has greatly improved our network visibility, in terms of bandwidth, malware, and PCI violations."
"Cisco Sourcefire SNORT is easy to configure and the reporting is great. It's also very user-friendly."
"Cisco technical support is unbeatable. It offers a premium service every time."
"The tool's most valuable feature is threat detection, which is important because we have multiple layers not only in Cisco."
"The solution is rather easy to use."
"The product is inexpensive compared to leading brands such as Palo Alto or Fortinet."
"The solution can be integrated with some network electors like Cisco Stealthwatch, Cisco ISE, and Active Directory to provide the client with authentication certificates."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the filtering."
"In general, the features are all great. However, if I need to take hardware for ASA, because they need to upgrade to Firepower, we want to create rules. For that, most of the time we go to the command line. Right now Firepower is working really hard on the grid. You can apply all those rules to the grid. Even if you want to monitor the logs, for example, the activity will tell you which particular user has been blocked because of that rule. Firepower's monitoring interface is very good, because you can see each and every piece. ASA also had it, but there you needed to type the command and be under the server to see all that stuff. In Firepower you have the possibility to go directly to the firewall. The way the monitoring is displayed is also very nice. The feature I appreciate most in Firepower is actually the grid. The grid has worked very well."
"It has a lot of functions, such as firewall. We are administrators, and we create some rules to protect our network. We also monitor the traffic in and out and have disk encryption on-premises. When we detect malware, we scan for the virus on the PC. We can then delete or block the malware."
"The solution can scale."
"The product is worth the investment."
"McAfee NSP is much more stable than Cisco."
"The threat intelligence updates are very accurate."
"Overall the solution is very good. It offers great protection and gives us a good overview of what is on the network."
"The most valuable features in Trellix for me are the automated signature updates. It is a great and convenient feature."
"The ability to centrally manage all the IPS sensors, track the different security events generated by it, and customize the different policies, depending on their location."
 

Cons

"It's too complicated to install, when starting out."
"One thing I would like to see improved is if it could automatically be tied through ISE, instead of you having to manually get notifications and disable it yourself."
"Complexity on integration is not so straightforward and you really need an expert to help build it out."
"The reporting of day-to-day metrics still has room for improvement."
"There's a lot of traffic on our network that we don't see sometimes."
"Many of these tools require extensive on-premises hardware to run."
"I would like to see some improvement when it comes to reporting."
"If there was one improvement I’d suggest it would be that it detect traffic through an intranet. The product requires that traffic flow through a managed network device. The product is designed mostly for enterprise environments and not smaller environments or businesses."
"The pricing needs to be improved. We have lots of low-budget clients around us. Budget constraints are always a deterrent in our market."
"The solution's approach to managing traffic blocking is confusing and impractical."
"To be frank, the product is not really stable, although they're working on that. Whenever I go to the technical community with an issue, they will usually say that it is not there yet, but the technical team are working on it. The issues are not insolvable. I think they should just keep working on the product to make sure that the product can become very stable. The technical support is great. I appreciate that. We have a lot of communities supporting Firepower now, so you can find help for whatever issue you have."
"I want to see a better dashboard for the product. The dashboard can be a bit modified or enhanced."
"The cloud can be improved."
"While the alerts they offer are good, it could improve it in the sense that they should be more detailed to make the alerts more useful to us in general. Sometimes the solution will offer up false positives. Due to the fact that the alerts aren't detailed, we have to go dig around to see why is it being blocked. The solution would be infinitely better if there was just a bit more detail in the alert information and logging we receive."
"The implementation could be a bit easier."
"Performance needs improvement."
"There are limited resources for configuration guidance."
"The technical support has room for improvement."
"The solution could improve some aspects of detection."
"The management component could be simplified."
"Integration with Global Thereat Intelligence could be better. Also, I think management solutions are end of life now at McAfee. Network threat analyzer may be used for endpoint quarantines. Integration between these sides, as well as endpoint APO, will help you quarantine the risky endpoints."
"The management console needs to be less complex and easier to navigate."
"We would like to have a simpler version. Some settings and functions on the McAfee console are complex and complicated. I want the management console to be simpler."
"The platform’s GUI could be the latest."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"On a yearly basis, licensing is somewhere around $30,000."
"The yearly licensing cost is about $50,000."
"The solution is expensive. It costs several hundred thousand dollars per year (depending on how many flows you are collecting)."
"One of the things which bugs me about Lancope is the licensing. We understand how licensing works. Our problem is when we bought and purchased most of these Lancope devices, we did so with our sister company. Somewhere within the purchase and distribution, licensing got mixed up. That is all on Cisco, and it is their responsibility. They allotted some of our sister company's equipment to us, and some of our equipment to them. To date, they have never been able to fix it."
"The licensing costs are outrageous."
"Our fees are approximately $3,000 USD."
"​Licensing is done by flows per second, not including outside (in traffic)."
"Pricing is much higher compared to other solutions."
"We have a three-year license for this solution."
"If one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is cheap, I rate the tool's price as a five."
"The cost is per port and can be expensive but it does include training and support for three years."
"Licensing for this solution is paid on a yearly basis."
"I don't know the exact amount, but most of the time when I go to a company with a proposition, they will say, "This thing that you are selling is good, but it's expensive. Why don't you propose something like FortiGate, Check Point, or Palo Alto?" Cisco device are expensive compared to other devices."
"The tool is competitively priced."
"I rate the product’s pricing an eight out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
25%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
University
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Stealthwatch?
The most valuable feature of Cisco Secure Network Analytics is the Threat Intelligence integration.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Stealthwatch?
Regarding cost, for the Bangladesh context, Cisco Secure Network Analytics is a little bit high-priced because we are...
What needs improvement with Cisco Stealthwatch?
In terms of improvements for Cisco Secure Network Analytics, from the implementation point of view, now that AI is in...
What do you like most about Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
The product is inexpensive compared to leading brands such as Palo Alto or Fortinet.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
If one is an extremely expensive product, and ten is cheap, I rate the tool's price as a five. There are some other t...
What needs improvement with Cisco Sourcefire SNORT?
Cisco offers the Cisco DNA Center, which is a source that provides crucial information for us to monitor performance,...
What do you like most about McAfee Network Security Platform?
The threat intelligence updates are very accurate.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for McAfee Network Security Platform?
The tool is competitively priced. I rate the pricing a six out of ten.
What needs improvement with McAfee Network Security Platform?
Network Threat Behavior Analysis must be improved. The technical support must be improved. The support team must prov...
 

Also Known As

Cisco Stealthwatch, Cisco Stealthwatch Enterprise, Lancope StealthWatch
Sourcefire SNORT
McAfee Network Security Platform, McAfee NSP, IntruShield Network Intrusion Prevention System, IntruShield Network IPS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Edge Web Hosting, Telenor Norway, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Webster Financial Corporation, Westinghouse Electric, VMware, TIAA-CREF
CareCore, City of Biel, Dimension Data, LightEdge, Lone Star College System, National Rugby League, Port Aventura, Smart City Networks, Telecom Italia, The Department of Education in Western Australia
Desjardins Group, HollyFrontier, Nubia, Agbar, WNS Global Services, INAIL, Universidad de Las Américas Puebla (UDLAP), Cook County, China Pacific Insurance, Bank Central Asia, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, City of Chicago, Macquarie Telecom, Sutherland Global Services, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, United Automotive Electronic Systems
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