What are Cisco FirePOWER Services?

In terms of quality and security, Cisco remains one of the most reputable brands in the IT industry. The Cisco ASA 5500-X Series firewalls offer reliability, performance and security for small to medium sized businesses. However, Cisco has recently released a second line of security with the Cisco ASA with FirePOWER Services, which offers a higher level of security against cyber-attacks, malware and more.How does it work?Cisco’s line of ASA 5506 and 5508’s offer the ability to add “FirePOWER services,” which give you the platform to add additional licenses to provide higher levels of protection.The licenses come in 1, 3 or 5 year subscriptions and include intrusion prevention system, URL filtering, advanced malware protection and more.The ability to add FirePOWER services is built in to the 5506 and 5508 models, but is not necessary to purchase a firewall.Cisco offers the ability to pick and choose the offerings you need, or purchase them in a bundle, giving you flexibility to build a firewall tailored to your business.How does this protection compare to other industry firewall offerings?FirePOWER services closely resembles that of SonicWALL’s firewall coverage “Comprehensive Gateway Security Suite” in regards to licensing terms as well as features. Comprehensive Gateway Security Suite is available either bundled with the SonicWALL appliance or as an add-on to the product, and includes:

• Antivirus
• Anti-Spyware & Intrusion Prevention
• Application Intelligence
• Content Filtering Premium Service
• 24×7 Support

What Can I Expect to Pay for FirePOWER services?Licensing costs vary depending on the firewall you are covering, length of term and features you need. For an ASA5506, an all-inclusive FirePOWER services license for 1 year will be around $450. Building this cost into your yearly IT budget is a great way to secure continual coverage as well as security.A complete list of features as well as SKUs can be found here.