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.
It’s a dedicated Network Advanced Threat Detection and Prevention solution. Easy maintenance and low operating costs fit perfectly for SMEs. Variety of appliance selection makes NX the perfect choice for large enterprises. As it’s a dedicated solution with its own appliance, price is higher compared to NGTP add on solutions. FireEye is an ecosystem therefore when you’ve the EX or HX vice versa, you should be looking to NX. Otherwise, you’re missing the threat intel exchange on the network side reverse is the true. Sizing is important before the purchase, if you select a low end model for a busy network you lose your initial investment. For multiple NX deployments I highly recommend CMS. Without CMS you’ll lose the threat intel exchange and this will negatively reduce the risk scores.
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.
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.
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.
FireEye NX is a solid product. It gives you sustainable security throughout the organization. NX detection engines are more capable compared to others. Its catch rate is higher, FP rate is lower, [and] speed is awesome. NX can work for highly regulated environments with 1 way solution. Operation costs are much lower. Software quality is very good. It may have bugs, but these bugs do not compromise the security in general. SOC team loves the FireEye NX for its pinpoint detection capabilities. Local and partner support is exceptional.
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.
As [a] financial company on the digital markets, we need to be safeguard for 0days and targeted attacks. FireEye NX provides the best updated protection with its enhanced capabilities.
Security score based on detection/prevention metrics [is] very high ensuring the highest level of security.
APTs in our region successfully detected and mitigated by the NX.
For the ROI, in a six month period FireEye is paying off its [investment].
One negative thing, especially with increasing network bandwidths, [is that] you need to make [the] investment every two or three years.
