Cisco Umbrella vs Symantec CloudSOC CASB comparison

Cisco and Broadcom are both solutions in the Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) category. Cisco is ranked #2 with an average rating of 9.2, while Broadcom is ranked #18 with an average rating of 6.0. Cisco holds a 7.3% mindshare in CASB, compared to Broadcom’s 1.0% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 80% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

Cisco Umbrella and Symantec CloudSOC CASB compete in cloud security. Cisco Umbrella leads in seamless integration and user satisfaction, while Symantec CloudSOC CASB is favored for its comprehensive coverage and advanced data protection, making it ideal for organizations focused on data security. Cisco Umbrella stands out for its robust threat intelligence, DNS protection, and traffic redirect capability. Its integration capabilities with Cisco's SecureX and Talos threat intelligence enhance threat response efficiency. Symantec CloudSOC CASB is distinguished by its extensive data loss prevention, detailed security analytics, and a platform that integrates closely with on-premises DLP solutions. Both platforms serve different security needs, with Cisco emphasizing seamless integration and Symantec enhancing data protection.

Features: Cisco Umbrella provides key features such as seamless integration with SecureX, threat intelligence from Cisco Talos, and DNS protection, which facilitates identifying potential threats at the DNS level for comprehensive security. Its simplicity in setup and single-pane management dashboard enhances effectiveness and ease of use. Symantec CloudSOC CASB offers enhanced data loss prevention, deep security analytics, and seamless integration with on-premises DLP, providing high-security coverage with detailed insights.

Room for Improvement: Cisco Umbrella could improve by expanding its data loss prevention features and enhancing its security analytics for more in-depth threat detection. Greater customization options in reporting and analytics can provide more actionable insights. Enhanced support for more integration capabilities with other non-Cisco security products would be beneficial. Symantec CloudSOC CASB could better its user interface to make management more intuitive. Improving ease of initial deployment and enhancing customer support response times can raise user satisfaction. Offering more automation in policy management and response actions could reduce manual overhead.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Umbrella is renowned for its swift deployment with robust customer support focusing on rapid setup. The solution’s simple integration with existing infrastructure makes it accessible for organizations of various sizes. In contrast, Symantec CloudSOC CASB excels in offering comprehensive deployment options that allow for intricate setups, closely guided by support services. This enables a thorough and customized implementation process but may require more time.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco Umbrella generally has lower initial costs, offering efficient ROI due to its rapid deployment and operational simplicity. Its use of cloud infrastructure reduces the need for extensive hardware, further cutting down costs. Symantec CloudSOC CASB might reflect higher upfront expenses; however, its comprehensive security features and deeper data protection provide strong long-term ROI benefits for enterprises prioritizing data integrity and security resilience.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Umbrella vs. Symantec CloudSOC CASB Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Umbrella vs. Symantec CloudSOC CASB

April 2026

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Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

iboss

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) category, the mindshare of iboss is 4.0%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Umbrella is 7.3%, down from 14.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Symantec CloudSOC CASB is 1.0%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Cisco Umbrella	7.3%
iboss	4.0%
Symantec CloudSOC CASB	1.0%
Other	87.7%

Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)

Featured Reviews

Ashok Ananthula

Senior Consultant Proxy Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

Cloud gateway has strengthened remote web security and now needs better Mac and ISP support

The problem our organization had is that iboss failed for the Mac devices. It is not able to give a successful agent for the Mac agents. That is where in 2025, we had to migrate to the Palo Alto-based platform. If your use case is for just Windows laptops,you can consider this platform as an option One issue is the data center resiliency part. In India especially, they are not tied up with the Tier 1 ISPs like Tata or Airtel; they were having Tier 2 ISPs and encountered many issues reaching few major sites that my organization depends on, and they were having problems that they could not fix quickly. They also lack a mechanism to route that traffic within their data center; rather, they ask customers to make a pac file change to route it to Singapore explicitly. It would be better if they route from their backend , i mean even if I send it to India DC, they should be able to route it internally to make that work; however, they fail to do that and ask the customer to route it in the pac file. Another suggestion is that in China, they do not have the proper setup; they used to have numerous problems with slowness and lack of premium circuits in China as well. That leads to multiple sites working slowly with latency-related issues. So the main issue is the ISP-related problems that need to be solved.

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Bryan Bettencourt

Senior Network Engineer at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C.

Ensures comprehensive protection with seamless threat logging and efficient policy management

My favorite feature of Cisco Umbrella is probably just the DNS and the fact that when a security threat happens, all of that gets logged in their Umbrella portal, and it's very easy to find who's been accessing the site and how many people have accessed it, so that we can go to them and make sure they're not compromised. The features of Cisco Umbrella benefit my company by providing less time to search for things through logs, to look for what we need. It's just one place to go, and we just search for it, and we find it really fast. The fact that there's a virtual database that has all that information is great on our portal.

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cto543714

CTO at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Works very well in a hybrid environment in terms of DLP policies, but trying to do your own troubleshooting can be a little bit difficult

It does scale. They have different data centers spread out for you to do things. It scales just fine, but it is the setup and configuration that you have to do in order for it to scale the way you want it to. I know that some of the newer technologies, such as Zscaler, are doing SD-LAN type connections and things of that sort to improve performance and scalability. So, things are still evolving in terms of scalability. Depending on how you deployed it, you can run into some performance gotchas. If you take a VPN connection and try to overtax it, you can run into problems. You can't say that it didn't scale. You have to use a different method to get the traffic, or you may have to set up two VPN tunnels or things of that sort. So, if you want it to scale, you have to think it through and make sure you are deploying it in a manner to scale. It can scale, but you have to plan it and make sure you think everything through.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution has massively improved our security posture, giving us full visibility into what our staff does online."

"iboss is definitely very good in terms of service."

"The iboss system is highly reliable. The false positive rates are small compared to some other systems we've experienced through other partner agencies who use competing solutions."

"First of all, the security policies are essential. I do not have to rely solely on Active Directory for our users."

"Because of iboss, I did not have to assign web filtering tasks to my techs on a daily basis."

"iboss is among the few products providing inline filtering where no application is needed on the device. It operates on the network side and is not device-based. This feature was one of the main reasons why we stayed with them for so long."

"We chose iboss for both zero trust and proxy (SWG) because their SWG was superior."

"iboss is easy to use despite its complexity. Multiple engineers manage it, but it's significantly more straightforward to administer than traditional VPNs and web proxies."

More iboss pros

"If you buy the service now, in two hours you are protected by the service because it's very fast to put in service."

"Some clients only want DNS security, while others want more of the advanced features that it has available."

"We use Cisco Umbrella for DNS filtering and as a secure gateway."

"Cisco Umbrella is a very good product as of now as there is no competition."

"We use the entire Cisco solution and we are happy with the product integration."

"Helps block personal email accounts."

"Umbrella is probably one of the best tools out there in all the security landscape."

"There was a positive effect on productivity because we could track and confront the users that were frequently using social media or streaming video during the work day."

More Cisco Umbrella pros

"This solution has improved my organization because it allows us to have visibility and monitoring over our global workforce connectivity to Office 365 and for Service Now."

"The stability of the solution is very good; it's one of the most stable products on the market."

"The stability of the solution is great, and it's one of the most stable products on the market."

"The value in some of these solutions is just the integration of technologies with their on-prem DLP solution, so you can tie on-prem and cloud DLP policies together and apply on-prem policies to the cloud to have consistent policies in a hybrid environment, which works very well in that hybrid environment of on-prem and cloud."

"The scalability is excellent, and if a company needs to expand the product, it can do so easily."

"The ability to monitor for threats is the solution's most valuable aspect."

"One of the most valuable features of Symantec CloudSOC CASB is its detection functionality. It uses the same base as Data Loss Prevention, allowing for close integration between on-premises DLP and the Symantec CloudSOC CASB. This integration lets you manage policies and incidents across both platforms."

"The value in some of these solutions is just the integration of technologies with their on-prem DLP solution. So, you can tie on-prem and cloud DLP policies together. You can apply on-prem policies to the cloud to have consistent policies in a hybrid environment. So, it works very well in that hybrid environment of on-prem and cloud."

More Symantec CloudSOC CASB pros

Cons

"The reporting feature needs improvement. It doesn't give you the expected results. It is quite difficult to get the specific reports needed, and it is not as intuitive as the rest of the platform."

"The dashboards for local use could be better."

"Iboss is growing so fast that it is often hard for them to keep up with the challenges."

"I have heard they are doing DDoS filtering, but I am not certain if they are implementing it correctly."

"The solution could be stronger on the integration side and offer more cloud applications like G Suite or Oracle."

"The reporting feature needs improvement."

"Sometimes when you call in support, you get someone who is just following a sheet. It feels like a runaround. You feel that you are running into that support wall."

"Its pricing could be better."

More iboss cons

"Sometimes there are some lags, and I have to refresh multiple times to access parts of the dashboards. Sometimes the dashboard pages crash and I'm not sure why, so that's one area for improvement."

"You could say the price is a little bit high."

"It could be more secure. It would be better if they provided a transferring proxy as an add-on and more integration."

"Network connectivity was a bit of a challenge at the beginning, but we were able to get the right help from Cisco."

"The solution's technical support is not very good."

"Looking at the full umbrella suite in the light of SASE, Secure Access Service Edge, they are clearly lacking in the inline CASB."

"The prices need to go lower. The price of technology is just crazy."

"Missing a real data leakage prevention solution."

More Cisco Umbrella cons

"I would like to see them develop the ability to integrate it with a central management system."

"It's a niche product. Not many people use it, and therefore there isn't as much of a knowledge base surrounding it."

"The solution needs to focus on data security."

"The data security needs improvement."

"The solution should work to incorporate some machine learning policies like IDM and VML."

"They have some room for improvement in terms of being able to do troubleshooting. If you're trying to troubleshoot it, you have to work a lot with their backend people in order to get to a solution. So, trying to do your own troubleshooting can be a little bit difficult."

"The data security needs improvement. We should be able to leverage it a bit better for situations where someone may be trying to upload documents onto the cloud application."

"I would like to see them develop the ability to integrate it with a central management system."

More Symantec CloudSOC CASB cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is probably in line with other solutions, but I do not deal with the financial side."

"We had the cost of purchasing a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs. However, the following year, the cost of just licensing was similar to what was paid the previous year for a new appliance along with the implementation and licensing costs."

"The overall pricing for iboss is very competitive and transparent."

"It is not expensive, and it is also not cheap. iboss is priced right in the sweet spot for the number of features it offers."

"It is expensive compared to one of its competitors."

"We have not priced the solution recently, but they were competitive with other vendors in the past."

"I rate the tool's pricing a five out of ten."

"Cisco has a model called ELA. With ELA, if you buy the solution you will have the complete security portfolio and you can pay it yearly or after three years, it depends on the contract."

"Cisco solutions are generally perceived to be rather expensive. We have constant internal discussions as to whether we should offer lower-priced security solutions from some of the competitors."

"The pricing is fair."

"The pricing model is easier compared to some of the other solutions, and it is also competitive."

"Licensing fees are paid on a yearly basis."

"The pricing is great and very competitive with the rest of the market."

"The price should be slightly lower than the current price because if you look at the whole solution, it is simply a threat intelligence solution to block blacklisted things. The price should be lower looking at the features provided by the solution. The price isn't too high either, but it could be lower."

More Cisco Umbrella pricing and cost advice

"It compares well with the competition because they're all priced on a per-user basis. I've seen the rest of them. There is definitely a huge price difference between them."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Construction Company

Computer Software Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Non Profit

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	8

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	50
Midsize Enterprise	30
Large Enterprise	51

No data available

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with iboss?

The problem our organization had is that iboss failed for the Mac devices. It is not able to give a successful agent ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for iboss?

We used iBoss mainly for Internet Access by having an Agent on Windows laptops Primarily because when we try to use i...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for iboss?

I am not involved in pricing, but as per the information I have, during that time, the Blue Coat proxies we were usin...

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Which is the better security solution - Cisco Umbrella or Zscaler?

Cisco Umbrella and Zscaler Internet Access are two broad-spectrum Internet security solutions that I have tried. Zs...

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Which is the better security solution - Cisco Umbrella or Microsoft Cloud App Security?

Cisco Umbrella is an integral component of the Cisco SASE architecture. It integrates security in a single, cloud-nat...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Umbrella?

The pricing for Cisco Umbrella is fair compared to other platforms out there for DNS security. We acquired it as a bu...

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What needs improvement with Symantec CloudSOC CASB?

After integrating the Gatelet with a live environment, users experienced connectivity issues because they were not im...

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What is your primary use case for Symantec CloudSOC CASB?

The solution helps detect and control data in the cloud, focusing on Shadow IT and Shadow Data. The audit module help...

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What advice do you have for others considering Symantec CloudSOC CASB?

I rate the overall product a six out of ten.

See all answers

Comparisons

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs iboss

Compared 9% of the time

Netskope vs iboss

Compared 9% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs iboss

Compared 8% of the time

FortiSASE vs iboss

Compared 7% of the time

Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform vs iboss

Compared 5% of the time

More iboss Competitors

Zscaler Internet Access vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 18% of the time

Palo Alto Networks DNS Security vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 8% of the time

Cisco Secure Access vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 6% of the time

Fortinet FortiGate vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 3% of the time

Cloudflare vs Cisco Umbrella

Compared 2% of the time

More Cisco Umbrella Competitors

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps vs Symantec CloudSOC CASB

Compared 25% of the time

Netskope vs Symantec CloudSOC CASB

Compared 19% of the time

Cato SASE Cloud Platform vs Symantec CloudSOC CASB

Compared 12% of the time

Prisma Access by Palo Alto Networks vs Symantec CloudSOC CASB

Compared 11% of the time

Forcepoint CASB vs Symantec CloudSOC CASB

Compared 7% of the time

More Symantec CloudSOC CASB Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

iboss

May 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Cisco Umbrella

May 2026

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Buyer's Guide

Symantec CloudSOC CASB

April 2026

Download Symantec CloudSOC CASB product report

Also Known As

iBoss Cloud Platform

OpenDNS

CloudSOC, Symantec CloudSOC

Overview

Iboss offers a comprehensive cloud-based security platform valued for its scalability and autonomous features, ensuring robust security with easy deployment and management capabilities.

Renowned for its robust security architecture, Iboss integrates seamlessly within diverse networks, delivering efficient granular filtering and advanced content categorization. Its single pane of glass console provides ease of management, allowing rapid scalability suitable for rapidly deploying environments. Operates in BYOD setups due to inline filtering without device installation. Integration with cloud-based applications enhances user control, and features like SASE, SSL inspection, and ChatGPT risk protection stand as highlights. Despite its strengths, users have pointed out areas for enhancement like direct navigation in reports, SSL decryption, and better cloud integration while having room to improve data loss prevention.

What are the most important features of Iboss?

Scalability: Supports rapid deployment across diverse networks.
SASE: A consolidated approach to secure access.
SSL Inspection: Ensures safe data transmission.
Granular Filtering: Detailed control over accessible content.
Single Pane Management: Unifies control through a centralized console.

What benefits should users consider in reviews?

Cost-effectiveness: Offers competitive pricing with robust features.
Autonomous Operation: Reduces management overhead.
Responsive Support: Provides assistance when needed.
Flexible Deployment: Available for both cloud and on-premises environments.

The usage of Iboss spans educational institutions, specifically K-12, to enforce internet policies, protect data, and support remote work environments. It provides web filtering and security frameworks to ensure safe browsing. Its platform-as-a-service model offers flexibility for both cloud-based and on-premises requirements, integrating seamlessly to deliver enhanced security features suitable for various deployment needs including zero trust, CASB, and network security for work-from-home setups.

iboss

Cisco Umbrella provides fast-deploying DNS-layer security with powerful threat protection capabilities. Trusted by over 30,000 entities, it ranks highly in DNS security and effectively supports secure remote work environments.

Cisco Umbrella offers comprehensive DNS security, web filtering, and ease of use, enhancing network security through robust threat protection and malware prevention. It processes over 600 billion requests daily, making it a leader in its field. The seamless integration with existing infrastructures and cloud-based nature makes it suitable for remote and distributed work environments, ensuring consistent security throughout. Management is streamlined with a single-pane interface that simplifies administration, while in-depth reporting capabilities provide valuable insights for continuous monitoring.

What are the key features of Cisco Umbrella?

DNS Security: Provides leading protection by managing DNS queries and blocking malicious sites.
Web Filtering: Offers granular control over web content to safeguard internet usage.
Ease of Integration: Fits well into existing infrastructures, simplifying deployment and use.
Intuitive Management: Single-pane management streamlines administration and enhances usability.
Cloud-Based Flexibility: Supports secure remote work environments.

What benefits can users expect from using Cisco Umbrella?

Superior Threat Protection: Reduces risk by effectively detecting and preventing cyber threats.
Consistent Security: Provides uniform protection across network environments.
Efficiency and Visibility: Leverages comprehensive reporting for better security insights.
Easy Deployment: Quick and straightforward setup with minimal disruption.

Cisco Umbrella is widely adopted in industries requiring advanced DNS-level security to counteract malware, phishing, and cyber threats. Its ability to monitor and protect remote and roaming employees makes it an attractive option for sectors highly dependent on cloud services. By managing DNS queries and blocking harmful sites, Cisco Umbrella enhances cybersecurity across networks, providing an added layer of protection for businesses worldwide.

Cisco

Symantec CloudSOC CASB is a cloud security platform that delivers robust monitoring and threat detection capabilities. It integrates seamlessly with on-premises DLP for consistent policy application across hybrid environments, providing effective management of cloud-based resources and ensuring security compliance.

Designed for enterprises transitioning to cloud environments, Symantec CloudSOC CASB offers powerful tools for monitoring and controlling sensitive data. It effectively integrates with active directory for streamlined user management, enabling secure access control. Enterprises leverage its capabilities to block unauthorized activities and protect sensitive information as they adapt to cloud services, benefiting from reliable logging and hybrid policy management. While scalability and integration with existing systems are strong suits, there's potential for enhanced data security, endpoint solution integration, and improved Azure AD connectivity.

What are the key features of Symantec CloudSOC CASB?

Monitoring and Threat Detection: Provides continuous oversight and threat identification.
Seamless DLP Integration: Ensures hybrid policy application across environments.
Active Directory Integration: Simplifies user management and access control.
Logging and Access Control: Offers reliable logging and blocks unauthorized storage access.
Hybrid Environment Support: Facilitates management of cloud and on-premises policies.

What benefits can users expect from adopting Symantec CloudSOC CASB?

Enhanced Security: Improves protection of sensitive data in cloud transitions.
Efficient Access Management: Streamlined user control with directory integration.
Scalable Solution: Adaptable to growing organizational needs.
Policy Consistency: Ensures unified policy application across platforms.
Comprehensive Monitoring: Helps identify and mitigate threats effectively.

Organizations in industries such as finance, healthcare, and technology implement Symantec CloudSOC CASB to manage cloud migrations securely. They utilize its modules like Securelet and Gatelet to prevent data leakage, control shadow IT, and regulate access to cloud collaboration tools like Office 365. By establishing keyword-based policies, they monitor uploads, effectively addressing shadow data concerns and reinforcing data security during cloud adoption.

Broadcom

Sample Customers

More than 4,000 global enterprises trust the iboss Cloud Platform to support their modern workforces, including a large number of Fortune 50 companies.

Chart Industries, City of Aspen, Eastern Mountain Sports, FLEXcon, George Washington University, Jackson Municipal Airport Authority, Ohio Public Library Information Network, PTC, Richland Community College, Smart Motors, Tulane University, VeriClaim

Globe Telecom

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Umbrella vs. Symantec CloudSOC CASB

April 2026

Free Report: Cisco Umbrella vs. Symantec CloudSOC CASB

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