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Intercept X Endpoint vs VMware Carbon Black App Control comparison

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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:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Net...
Sponsored
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
113
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (4th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (6th), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (4th), Ransomware Protection (2nd), AI-Powered Cybersecurity Platforms (1st)
Intercept X Endpoint
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
110
Ranking in other categories
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (15th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (20th), ZTNA (12th), Managed Detection and Response (MDR) (12th), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (16th), Ransomware Protection (4th)
VMware Carbon Black App Con...
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
Application Control (7th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Intercept X Endpoint1.7%
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint6.8%
CrowdStrike Falcon6.0%
Other85.5%
Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
Application Control Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
VMware Carbon Black App Control10.3%
ThreatLocker Zero Trust Platform17.2%
Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange Platform11.9%
Other60.6%
Application Control
 

Q&A Highlights

TT
IT Manager at a wellness & fitness company with 51-200 employees
Dec 03, 2020
 

Featured Reviews

ABHISHEK_SINGH - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Process Expert at A.P. Moller - Maersk
Gained full visibility and streamlined threat detection through behavior-based insights and AI integration
Initially, we got to have a lot of false positives when we onboarded, but nowadays it's quite smooth. We have fine-tuned our security policies and allowed different levels of policies to get rid of those false positives. Currently, we are getting a fairly good amount of incidents that are not false positives or benign, but actionable items. The process is streamlined. In the initial days, the operations used to get involved in a lot of benign and other activities, but now the process is streamlined. We are leveraging the auto-detection and remediation plans. The operations teams are now more involved in other business roles as well, not just looking into the logs and fetching out what's happening there. They have fixed a lot of things. Initially, they didn't have IAC code drift detection, cloud posture management, or security posture management, but they have those now. They purchased different vendors and did a merger with that. They have now Prisma Cloud that gets integrated and now they are working with Cortex Cloud. Everything that was negative has now been addressed, and the product altogether looks to be in a very better and mature shape now. Currently, it's more or less detecting the workloads with AI-based best practices. Since most organizations are consuming AI agents and other things, we are looking forward to seeing what other feature enhancements Palo Alto can support in that.
AM
IT Head at Dee Development
Has struggled to detect major threats but has offered basic protection over time
Intercept X Endpoint could learn from CrowdStrike in terms of overall performance and filtering because performance is most important, especially these days as Windows is getting buggier and buggier, which puts a huge load on the PC, and even with the most advanced CPUs and everything in place, it still lags in performance in so many places, thanks to Windows' clumsy design of these collaboration suites that make it extremely heavy on PC's resources. The interface of Intercept X Endpoint is quite old-fashioned. The Sophos interfaces, including for Intercept X Endpoint, are quite bad actually; to be very honest, even in UTM boxes, they are not great at all. You can hardly see a very small portion of windows while it's creating the firewall rules, and we have been complaining about this for quite some time, but there hasn't been any improvement on those grounds. Intercept X Endpoint's anti-ransomware capabilities failed us during a bad attack, and just because of our own backup policies, we could restore our normal operations; otherwise, if we had to depend on this solution, we would have been long dead because the infection was so bad, it couldn't even detect the infection. Intercept X Endpoint cannot handle zero-day attacks; in my experience, last year, we had this major issue with a malware attack, and it happened just because of our backup policies that we were able to recover without any support from Sophos, which just told us they would charge us some 1 Crore in rupees. Intercept X Endpoint should improve their implementation; things will never be perfect for the new world. This new world is always facing new kinds of attacks and new ways to compromise the system. They need to learn fast, implement fast, and sometimes redesigning the solution is the solution—not just patchwork. There was a time we used to love Sophos because of its fresh design and innovative thought. In my experience, when technical companies are led by MBA professionals, they lose their shine on the technical part and become more dependent on target sales; it turns into a marketing-centric operation that loses the technical focus completely.
AS
Security Administrator at EJADA
We can isolate problem machines and limit their access
We use App Control to scan the network for virtual machines that have unauthorized applications. We can isolate the problem VMs and control application access.  More than two years. I rate Carbon Black App Control 10 out of 10 for stability. I rate App Control six out of 10 for scalability.…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I don't have to do much monitoring with it; I don't have to have anybody manually looking at this, it gives us reports, and it lets us know if something needs to be addressed, and we can easily address it."
"The scalability of Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks is very good."
"Cortex XDR is a very capable solution for protecting large networks and a lot of endpoints. It's very useful because the automation is very high, and if you combine it with the features on Palo Alto firewalls, it provides very strong protection."
"The most valuable for us is the correlation feature."
"Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks should be a stable solution."
"The tool is easy to use."
"The tool's use cases are relevant to security."
"WildFire AI is the best option for this product."
"The most valuable features are the range and restriction."
"Malware protection and application blocking are absolutely great."
"Intercept X Endpoint has been stable, and I appreciate the centralized management and the reporting feature."
"This solution can be used with any device, mobiles, desktops, or any appliances."
"Technical support from Sophos is rated as nine out of ten, which represents high quality."
"Its AI algorithms provide excellent protection against attackers."
"I have found the most valuable feature to be the EDR."
"Once we installed Intercept X, it was able to detect and remove malware that could not be found by the simple endpoint security solution."
"The effectiveness of application whitelisting is very good."
"If any malicious activity, like VAT viruses, anything RNE, ZOD malware, or something similar, comes in we know that unless we approve it, it's going to be blocked."
"All the functions within VMware Carbon Black App Control are valuable."
"We use App Control to scan the network for virtual machines that have unauthorized applications. We can isolate the problem VMs and control application access."
"It offers a sense of security where anything that comes in, regardless of what it is, unless you approve it manually, it's not going to run."
"The API integration is good."
"The visibility, reporting, and the ability to stop or prevent malicious or undesired applications from being installed are the most valuable features."
"Carbon Black offers a total lockdown solution; it shows us the attacks that are being attempted against our infrastructure and how we are being protected."
 

Cons

"Fine-tuning the detection policy requires experience because the policy is very complex in Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks, and we get high false positive alerts."
"The solution can never really be an on-premises solution based simply on the way it is set up. It needs metadata to run and improve. Having an on-premises solution would cut it off from making improvements."
"The GUI could be improved. It's a little bit cumbersome. It could be more user-friendly."
"Cortex XDR by Palo Alto Networks could improve by offering remote management. It would be useful to look at the client's issue to fix it."
"Every 30 or 40 days, there's a new version and we need to go and make sure our customer's laptops are upgraded."
"I would like to see them include NDR (Network Detection Response). Then it would work well with SIEM Response."
"Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR does not detect malicious activity like in other anti-virus solutions like Trend Micro and Windows with Cisco."
"While using Cortex, I noticed some aspects that could be improved, such as increasing the synchronization speed between XDR and Xnor."
"We've had difficulty with uninstalling the solution. When we try to uninstall an old version of the basic Sophos Antivirus, it doesn't seem to uninstall completely."
"The solution is heavy in the usage of resources, you can notice the performance decrease. This should prove in the future."
"While Sophos is helpful technically, their tech support is not so good."
"The integration has room for improvement, especially with Mac OS."
"It should offer better security updates."
"In my opinion, there have been significant developments in the product. In my opinion, I don’t have any suggestions as of now, however I can suggest a cost deduction which will be beneficial for all the parties. It will also relieve our budget and benefit our team."
"Technical support can be improved. There could be shared support, i.e. where someone in Egypt can respond."
"The graphical interface could improve. Additionally, adding less expensive mobile device support would be helpful. Other solutions have this feature."
"I rate App Control six out of 10 for scalability."
"Carbon Black does not use the database for identifying the file, the fields, or malware."
"Its initial setup is very complex. We got help from their implementation team because if it is not set up properly, you can really hinder the operation of your environment and things won't execute or run."
"Its setup is very complex, and it requires guidance from the support team, but it is well worth the effort."
"Another issue is that even sometimes if you approve, for example, Adobe as a publisher, you say any product or anything that's from Adobe has to run. It generally runs, but especially in a large environment and with a lot of users, sometimes, due to some certification validation issues or some other issue, it might stop the process from running. Genuine processes like Adobe and Chrome can get blocked. so that needs to be improved."
"The reporting is not good and needs to be improved."
"The initial setup is somewhat complex."
"I would like to see the addition of some more features that are in other, similar solutions."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Our license will require renewal in August, after which the maintenance will continue as usual."
"I don't have any issues with the pricing. We are satisfied with the price."
"It is present, but when compared to other competitive products, I would say it is not less expensive; however, when all of the other added values are considered, the price is reasonable."
"The price of the solution could be reduced. I have customers that have voiced that the solution is good for the value but if I want to sell more of the solution the price reduction would help."
"The tool's price is moderate."
"The solution is expensive. It's pricing is on a yearly-basis."
"It has a higher cost than other solutions, like CrowdStrike or Microsoft’s EDR tools, but it reduces the cost of our operations because it’s a new generation antivirus tool."
"I don't recall what the cost was, but it wasn't really that expensive."
"Licensing costs are not expensive."
"We have bought a three-year license."
"Its price is reasonable."
"The price of Sophos Intercept X is competitive."
"You can pay monthly, but most of our customers choose annual subscriptions because they are less expensive."
"The price of this product should be reduced because it is a little high."
"The price of the solution is average compared to the market."
"I find the pricing to be a little bit expensive, although it is acceptable, for now."
"Its price is reasonable and what is expected for these types of products."
"We pay a fee for support, which is renewed annually."
"The pricing for this product is competitive and our customers who told us that often, Carbon Back is the cheaper solution."
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Answers from the Community

TT
IT Manager at a wellness & fitness company with 51-200 employees
Dec 3, 2020
Dec 3, 2020
Officially the answer is Intercept X and anti-virus from other mfgs. can co-exist on an endpoint. Carbon Black is a bit more than just AV, so I would get a free 30-day trial of Int X and try it on one endpoint.
2 out of 3 answers
BA
Sales and Mktg Manager at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees
Dec 12, 2019
Officially the answer is Intercept X and anti-virus from other mfgs. can co-exist on an endpoint. Carbon Black is a bit more than just AV, so I would get a free 30-day trial of Int X and try it on one endpoint.
AL
President/Owner at LibreTech
Dec 13, 2019
I’m not sure but if you are using Sophos Intercept X I would suggest just adding the Sophos EDR component.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Construction Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business46
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise52
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business76
Midsize Enterprise21
Large Enterprise22
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Large Enterprise4
 

Questions from the Community

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Comparing CrowdStrike Falcon to Cortex XDR (Palo Alto)
Cortex XDR by Palo Alto vs. CrowdStrike Falcon Both Cortex XDR and Crowd Strike Falcon offer cloud-based solutions th...
How is Cortex XDR compared with Microsoft Defender?
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint is a cloud-delivered endpoint security solution. The tool reduces the attack surface,...
How does Crodwstrike Falcon compare with Sophos Intercept X?
I like that Crowdstrike Falcon allows me to easily correlate data between my firewalls. Its detection and machine lea...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Sophos Intercept X?
Intercept X Endpoint has some impact on the budget. It is quite costly when measuring Intercept X Endpoint's protecti...
What needs improvement with Sophos Intercept X?
Intercept X Endpoint can be improved in several ways. Currently, it is only available on the cloud, and having it ava...
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Also Known As

Cyvera, Cortex XDR, Palo Alto Networks Traps
Sophos Intercept X
CB Protection, Carbon Black CB Protection
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

CBI Health Group, University Honda, VakifBank
Flexible Systems
Kaas Tailored, Core-Mark, Indeed, Hologic, Landmark Credit Union, Project Worldwide
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