Cisco IOS Security vs. Kaspersky Anti Targeted Attack Platform

When it comes to security on the edge of your network (downstream) Cisco's IOS security features provide pretty much everything you need when it comes to securing your network, network devices, and access. I would absolutely recommend Cisco switches due to many reasons, but a big reason is security.

Incentivized

I would say it is less appropriate for an organization which is looking to implement a tool within a short period of time. However, we found support on the web forum as well as from support team and were given solutions always. It was somewhat a relief for the users. We were not in a position to provide further IT security resources. And Anti Targeted Attack Platform did not require such. The tool was able to identify and eliminate a critical threat right after the implementation.

• Authentication.
• Access lists.
• Port security.

Incentivized

• Complex attacks are identified frequently.
• Advanced thread intelligence.
• Privacy of all data is very well maintained.

• Cisco could provide an initial set up script for those are not used to the CLI (Command Line Interface). With that initial script, people could easily deploy the security features instead of having to learn how to use the commands.
• The web interface that Cisco provides with the routers, although it’s useful to set up the security features, it could also have some sort of tutorials to help people understand the main concepts of iOS security.
• You have to license iOS security separately from the main OS. For that reason, sometimes it tends to be a little expensive if you have a small business.

Incentivized

• False positives were identified frequently.
• Implementing rules are a very complex process.
• UI crashes were spotted randomly.
• Deployment needs to be much smoother.

Cisco has the best Support team that gives us 24/7 support as we need. Cisco has huge detailed documentation for design, implementation, and troubleshooting all areas of the IOS security. There are many communities discussing all Cisco devices and solutions for studying groups and for customers to share their stories, technical problem and solutions.

Incentivized

I also like HP Procurve. It is my choice when the customer cannot afford Cisco. Cisco is better all round but HP is the only other [product] I will use if I have a choice.

Incentivized

• Cisco iOS security helped our business deploy a relatively safe solution for a small amount of money.
• If you don’t have enough budget to invest in a robust and expensive firewall solution, you can safely use Cisco iOS security to protect your branch or remote office without compromise your network.
• Because Cisco iOS security uses a simple command-line based interface, you can deploy standardized scripts and keep the operational costs low.

Incentivized

• Implementation did not go as planned. Therefore, time consumption was increased.
• Since we moved out of the tool, we had to consider another which costed time.