Palo Alto Networks delivers a family of next generation firewalls that provide unprecedented visibility and policy control of all applications on the corporate network – including encrypted SSL applications – regardless of port or protocol.  These advanced firewalls include integrated real-time threat prevention, and deliver up to 10GBps of low latency performance.

The Problem – Lack of application visibility

Enterprise networks are being populated by a new generation of end-user applications, both personal and business oriented, that are designed to evade detection by existing firewalls. The end result is that IT departments cannot identify or control the applications that are flowing in and out of the network.

The Solution—A Fresh Approach

Starting with a blank slate, the Palo Alto Networks founders took an application-centric approach to traffic classification thereby enabling visibility into-and control over-Internet applications running on enterprise networks. The PA-4000 Series is a next-generation firewall that classifies traffic based on the accurate identification of the application, irrespective of the port, protocol, SSL encryption or evasive tactic used. Key differentiators include.

• The only firewall to classify traffic based on the accurate identification of the application, not just port/protocol information.
• The only firewall to identify, control and inspect SSL encrypted traffic and applications.
• The only firewall to provide graphical visualization of applications on the network with detailed user, group and network-level data categorized by sessions, bytes, ports, threats and time.
• The only firewall with real-time (line-rate, low latency) protection against viruses, spyware and application vulnerabilities based on a stream-based threat prevention engine.
• The only firewall with line-rate, low-latency performance for all services, even under load.
• The only firewall to offer a true in-line transparent deployment option for seamless integration into an existing network infrastructure.

The combination of a powerful networking foundation, rich security features and policy-based management brings flexible deployment options to enterprise customers:

• As an application visibility tool: connected to the network via a span port, the PA-4000 Series can monitor traffic in real-time, providing the IT department with exactly which applications are traversing the network.
• In conjunction with an existing firewall: deployed transparently in conjunction with an existing firewall, the PA-4000 Series can provide granular application visibility and control without requiring any changes to the network.