United States
Q
What is a Cisco Firewall?
A
A Cisco Firewall is a network security appliance that enforces access policies, deep packet inspection, intrusion prevention and advanced malware protection to safeguard enterprise networks.
Q
What types of Cisco Firewalls are available?
A
Cisco offers Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA), Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Next-Gen Firewalls, and Meraki MX Cloud-Managed Firewalls to address varied throughput and feature requirements.
Q
What key features do Cisco Firewalls provide?
A
Cisco Firewalls deliver stateful inspection, intrusion prevention (IPS), URL filtering, SSL decryption, VPN termination, application visibility and advanced malware protection.
Q
How does Cisco Firepower Threat Defense differ from Cisco ASA?
A
FTD unifies ASA routing and VPN with Firepower services—IPS, AMP, URL filtering and centralized policy—while ASA offers traditional stateful firewalling and VPN.
Q
How do I choose the right Cisco Firewall model?
A
Select based on required firewall throughput, concurrent sessions, VPN endpoints and feature licenses; use Cisco’s online sizing tool or consult a certified partner.
Q
Can Cisco Firewalls support remote VPN access?
A
Yes. Cisco Firewalls support site-to-site IPsec VPN, SSL VPN and Cisco AnyConnect client for secure remote access and endpoint posture enforcement.
Q
What is the Cisco Firepower Threat Defense license?
A
It’s a subscription license that enables intrusion prevention, Advanced Malware Protection (AMP), URL and DNS filtering, and sandbox analysis via Talos Intelligence.
Q
How do I update threat signatures on Cisco Firewalls?
A
Use Cisco Firepower Management Center (FMC) to schedule or push automatic updates for IPS, malware, URL and reputation feeds to managed devices.
Q
What is Cisco Firepower Management Center?
A
FMC is a centralized management console for policy configuration, real-time monitoring, event correlation and reporting across Cisco Firepower and FTD devices.
Q
How do I configure high availability on Cisco Firewalls?
A
Deploy active/standby failover on ASA or clustering on FTD with identical hardware and software versions; configure stateful synchronization for seamless failover.
Q
How can I troubleshoot common Cisco Firewall issues?
A
Use built-in syslogs, packet tracer and debug commands on the CLI or FMC, verify rule order and object mapping, and engage Cisco TAC for advanced diagnostics.
Q
What support and updates are available for Cisco Firewalls?
A
Cisco Technical Support Service (TSS) provides 24/7 TAC access, software and signature updates, hardware replacement and major software upgrades under subscription.
Q
Can Cisco Firewalls integrate with third-party security tools?
A
Yes. They support REST APIs, syslog, SNMP and integration with SIEM and SOAR platforms, as well as endpoint security and threat intelligence feeds.
Q
How do I optimize performance on Cisco Firewalls?
A
Enable hardware acceleration, right-size throughput licenses, disable unused services, segment high-volume traffic and tune inspection policies for critical flows.
Q
What is the pricing structure for Cisco Firewalls?
A
Pricing depends on hardware model, performance license, feature subscriptions (IPS, AMP, URL filtering) and support tiers, typically sold as an appliance plus licenses.
Q
How effective are Cisco Firewalls against zero-day threats?
A
With Talos-powered Firepower NGFW and AMP sandboxing, Cisco Firewalls detect and block zero-day exploits using behavior analysis, global threat intelligence and virtual execution.
