Cisco PIX family security appliances and ASA 5500 Series firewalls integrate next-generation firewall, intrusion defense, and VPN features in an affordable, one-box format. Both product series offer powerful user and program policy enforcement, mutlivector assault protection, and safe access features. The increased knowledge sharing of integrated protection features in a stand-alone platform offers customers deploying these aggregated solutions the advanced of advanced security, lower cost of ownership, and smaller operational costs.

PIX security appliances and the ASA 5500 product line join Cisco IOS Firewall, the Firewall Services Module for Catalyst 6500 Series switches, and Cisco 7600 routers as components of Cisco's versatile, self-contained firewall solutions. Based on a scalable, modular approach, every device is designed with a specific feature set to deliver more efficient security to different network environments. These products can be independently deployed to protect specific facets of a network infrastructure, or can be combined for a layered, defense-in-depth strategy following the architecture best practices outlined in the Cisco SAFE framework. Completing the modular firewall solutions, Cisco provides a comprehensive security management catalog, spanning Cisco security device and Cisco IOS security components and embedded device controllers, to self-contained management utilities, helping to make sure that customers can productively manage their Cisco security solution investments.

PIX Firewalls
The market-leading PIX firewall appliances offer robust user and application policy support, multivector invasion defense, and secure connectivity services in economical, out-of-the-box modules. These purpose-built appliances offer a broad range of built-in security and networking capabilities including advanced application-aware firewall services, industry-leading VoIP and multimedia security, robust site-to-site and remote-access IP Security (IPSec) VPN networking, fault tolerance, smart networking services, and versatile administration options. The Cisco PIX Security Appliance Series product line spans small plug-and-play devices for small and home offices to modular gigabit appliances with superior investment protection for large business and ISP customers, Cisco PIX firewalls provide high levels of protection, performance, and reliability for environments of any size.

Cisco PIX firewall appliances offer a wealth of setup, tracking, and analysis features, giving IT managers the versatility to use the methods that most closely meet their requirements. Administrative solutions range from common, policy-based management tools to integrated Web-based management to support for remote-tracking protocols such as Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and syslog. The integrated ASDM system provides a powerful Web-based management platform that significantly simplifies the deployment, ongoing configuration, and tracking of a single PIX security appliance without requiring any extra software beyond a standard Web browser and Java plug-in to be installed on a manager's PC. Administrators can also remotely set up, monitor, and analyze Cisco PIX security appliances using a command-line interface (CLI). Secure command-line interface (CLI) communication is available using several methods, including SSHv2 Protocol, Telnet over IPSec, and out-of-band via a console port. Cisco PIX firewall appliances also include robust auto-update capabilities, a set of revolutionary protected remote-administration options that make sure that security configurations and software images are always current. In addition, PIX firewalls are compatible with several configuration and tracking utilities available from Cisco AVVID partners.

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances 5500 Series Firewalls
Cisco ASA 5500 Series Firewalls are specially engineered devices that bring together advanced, industry-leading protection and Virtual Private Network services plus an innovative, flexible architecture. The result is a robust, multifunction network security solution better able to defend small and medium company and larger networks and, simultaneously, reduce the total installation and operations costs associated with this new degree of security.

Cisco ASA firewalls deliver robust application security through intelligent, application-sensitive inspection engines that examine traffic at Layers 4-7. The result is a better protected environment covering Web, voice, and mobile wireless access. To protect networks against application-layer assaults and to give organizations more control over the programs and protocols utilized in their networks, Cisco's inspection engines incorporate broad application and protocol knowledge and rely on security enforcement solutions such as anomaly sensing and application and protocol state monitoring. Also included are assault sensing and remediation techniques such as application/protocol command filters and content verification. Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) 5500 Series firewall inspection engines also provide control over instant messaging and peer-to-peer file sharing, allowing organizations to police usage policies and preserve bandwidth for crucial business applications.

At the same time as increasing network security, Cisco ASA 5500 Series firewalls also lower deployment and support expenses. By offering broad VPN and security functions, the Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) firewall can be a the only platform for many environments, allowing product standardization. The Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances 5500 Series firewall can be deployed as a converged threat-protection appliance at the datacenter by leveraging its connectivity control, process inspection, and malware remediation technologies. The Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances firewall can also be deployed as a specialized remote access device using its Virtual Private Network features. As an Alternative, the Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances firewall serves capably in the network interior for interdepartmental access control and to guard against malware inside users may inadvertently release into the environment. In small business and satellite office networks, the Cisco ASA firewall acts as a total solution device offering complete intrusion prevention and Virtual Private Network services while suiting the budgets and operational demands of such deployments. This versatile single-platform, many-use approach lowers the amount of platforms that must be deployed and maintained while providing a common functional and management environment throughout all those deployments. This architecture simplifies the training of setup, tracking, support, and protection personnel. To further reduce maintenance expenses, Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) 5500 Series firewalls are also highly network conscious, allowing them to insert seamlessly into the environment without disrupting authorized data flow and applications.

How Progent Can Help Your Business with Cisco PIX and ASA Firewalls
Cisco's PIX firewalls and ASA 5500 Series adaptive security appliances provide a wealth of configuration, monitoring, and analysis options that offer you the ability to set up these security appliances to meet your business needs. Progent's CISM authorized security consultants can show you how to create a security policy appropriate for your situation and can set up your security appliance to enforce your protection policy. Progent's CISA-qualified IS security auditing experts and GIAC-qualified IT security experts can evaluate the strength of your current firewall solution and audit the security of your whole IS environment. Progent can also analyze your PIX or ASA firewall either remotely and onsite, and can train your existing network maintenance group to set up and maintain your PIX or ASA firewalls.

To find out more details concerning Progent's engineering help for Cisco technology, pick a topic: