Item: Sophos Firewall
Rating: 9
Author: Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Sophos XG Firewall

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

The Sophos XG Firewall is used as our main firewall in all of our locations (4). It is serving as the gateway, web filter, application control, IDS/IPS, etc for all locations. It is also tied into our MDR service to help their analysts remediate issues with found.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Web filtering. This allows us to monitor web usage and block certain categories from being access at the perimeter.
Application Control. With application control we can block certain applications that get categorized from working accessing the Internet.
Synchronized Security. When utilizing the Sophos Endpoint product you can use Synchronized Security to minimize Lateral Movement in a network. If a machine is shows a Red status you can auto-isolate it and it is unable to communicate with anything else on the network.

Cons

Implementation of SSL/TLS decryption. There shouldn't be a need to distribute the SSL certificate to each machine if the machine already has the endpoint installed. The certificate should be either embedded in the installer or it passed from the firewall to Sophos Central and then down to the endpoint.
The ability to not have the VPN portal open to the web even if it is containerized. Utilize Sophos Central to deploy out the policies if you are using a provisioning file.
Tighter integration with Sophos Central. The web filtering between the XGS and Sophos Central don't have feature parity.

Return on Investment

With adding a second node, we've been able to minimize downtime which in turn leads to productivity increasing.

Usability

The Sophos XG Firewall interface has come a long way since we started using it 5+ years ago. It has a modern interface, and Sophos keeps adding more features and usability into the platform.

Alternatives Considered

Fortinet FortiGate and Cisco Meraki MX

Since we already utilize the Sophos Endpoint and its tight integration into their firewall, it was a no brainer to go with it.

Key Insights

Do you think Sophos Firewall delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Sophos Firewall's feature set?

Yes

Did Sophos Firewall live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Sophos Firewall go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Sophos Firewall again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Sophos Managed Detection and Response, CrowdStrike Falcon Identity Protection, KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training, KnowBe4 PhishER/PhishER Plus

Likelihood to Recommend

Sophos XG Firewall is well suited for almost any size of environment. You normally have to size up because I found a lot of times boxes are undersized. For a smaller company (2-4 users) you could get by just using it as a firewall and then using the Sophos Endpoint software for the web filtering/application control features. This would help save on licensing costs for the firewall.

Sophos Firewall Feature Ratings

Comments

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Sophos XG Firewall is top tier when it comes to protecting your network at the perimeter.