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In a significant development, Palo Alto Networks introduced Strata Cloud Manager, the industry’s first AI-powered Zero Trust management and operations solution. Alongside this innovation, the cybersecurity leader announced a range of advanced security capabilities and five new Next-Generation Firewalls designed to cater to the evolving needs of modern enterprises.
Anand Oswal, SVP and GM of Network Security at Palo Alto Networks, expressed his excitement about the capabilities unveiled. Strata Cloud Manager offers a simplified approach to managing and operating network security across organizations. It is designed to incorporate AI and Machine Learning (ML) in security services, offering advanced protection against various attacks, including unique ones. This approach effectively prevents what is commonly known as “patient zero,” the initial victim in a security breach.
Redefining Network Security with Strata Cloud Manager
Strata Cloud Manager aims to address issues like inadequate predictive insights and integration gaps within security tools that lead to compromised protection and operational disruptions. Some of its key features include:
- Continuous Network Uptime: Through predictive analytics, it helps organizations foresee capacity bottlenecks and assess deployment health up to seven days ahead, ensuring network disruptions are prevented proactively.
- Enhanced Network Security: Leverages AI-powered policy analysis and real-time compliance checks to strengthen network security.
- Efficient Management: It offers effortless configuration and security policy management across all form factors, including SASE, hardware, and software firewalls, ensuring consistent protection and reducing operational overhead.
According to Sebastian Schubert, Technology Lead at Tui Hotels & Resorts, this streamlined approach has been a game-changer for their organization, making firewall management more efficient.
Best-in-Class AI-Powered Security
Palo Alto Networks presented a suite of new security capabilities:
- Advanced WildFire: It effectively blocks evolving and evasive initial attacks by integrating machine learning directly into its cloud-based detection engines, ensuring early detection and mitigation against emerging threats.
- Industry-First Detection: These capabilities aim to proactively prevent threats such as “man-in-the-middle” and SaaS-hosted phishing attacks. Advanced URL Filtering can predict and block malicious URLs 48 hours ahead of competing solutions, ensuring network security.
- AI-Powered Advanced Threat Prevention: Purpose-built to counter command-and-control (C2) attacks often associated with the widely-used red team tool Empire. It boasts an impressive over 97% success rate in blocking highly evasive C2 attacks.
New Next-Generation Firewalls
Palo Alto Networks announced five new Next-Generation Firewalls, addressing a wide range of use cases:
- PA-7500 for Blazing Fast Performance: Powered by custom ASICs, it delivers industry-leading security and over 1.5 Tbps App-ID™ performance, ideal for high-traffic networks.
- PA-415-5G for 5G Networks: This solution caters to organizations connecting via 5G, offering comprehensive security for both wired and 5G connectivity.
- PA-450R for Harsh Environments: Designed for industrial organizations exposed to extreme weather and wide temperature ranges, ensuring uninterrupted operations even in challenging conditions.
- PA-5445 for Data Centers: Ideal for securing data centers and large campus locations.
- PA-455 for Branch Offices: Offers Power over Ethernet (PoE) for branch offices.
John Grady, Principal Analyst at Enterprise Security Group, noted that network security must continue to evolve to match the current attack landscape and increasingly complex environments. He highlighted Palo Alto Networks’ early adoption of AI across security services for more effective threat detection.
