Cisco ASA vs Cisco Firepower: What are the differences?

Key Differences between Cisco ASA and Cisco Firepower

Cisco ASA (Adaptive Security Appliance) and Cisco Firepower are both network security solutions offered by Cisco. While they both provide security features, there are some key differences between the two:

1. Deployment Options: Cisco ASA is primarily a hardware appliance that is installed on-premises in the network infrastructure, whereas Cisco Firepower offers more flexibility with options for both hardware appliances and virtual appliances that can be deployed on-premises or in the cloud.

2. Security Architecture: Cisco ASA is a traditional stateful firewall that focuses on network traffic control based on packet filtering and stateful inspection. On the other hand, Cisco Firepower combines firewall capabilities with intrusion prevention system (IPS), advanced malware protection (AMP), and threat intelligence to provide a more comprehensive security architecture.

3. Management Interface: Cisco ASA uses the ASDM (Adaptive Security Device Manager) as its management interface. ASDM provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for configuring and managing firewall policies. In contrast, Cisco Firepower uses the Firepower Management Center (FMC), which is a web-based GUI that allows administrators to manage all aspects of the security system, including policies, events, and reporting.

4. Application Visibility and Control: Cisco ASA offers limited visibility into the applications running on the network, primarily based on the port and protocol information. In comparison, Cisco Firepower provides enhanced application visibility and control capabilities, allowing administrators to distinguish between different applications even if they use the same port or protocol. This enables more granular control over network traffic.

5. Threat Intelligence: Cisco Firepower integrates with Cisco Talos, a threat intelligence and research organization, to provide up-to-date information on emerging threats. This enables proactive threat detection and mitigation. In contrast, Cisco ASA does not have built-in integration with Cisco Talos.

6. Next-Generation Features: Cisco Firepower incorporates additional next-generation security features such as URL filtering, file reputation analysis, user identity awareness, and advanced threat protection capabilities. These features enhance the security posture of the network by offering protection against advanced threats and enabling better policy enforcement.

In summary, Cisco ASA and Cisco Firepower differ in their deployment options, security architecture, management interfaces, application visibility and control, threat intelligence integration, and next-generation features. Cisco Firepower offers a more advanced and integrated security solution compared to Cisco ASA.