Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software

Score9 out of 10

221 Reviews and Ratings

What is Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software?

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) software is the core OS for the ASA suite. It provides firewall functionality, as well as integration with context-specific Cisco security modules. It is scaled for enterprise-level traffic and connections.

Categories & Use Cases

Firewall

Policy-based Controls
Firewall policy controls enable administrators to create firewall policies controlling what data is allowed to traverse the firewall
Category average: 8.9
VPN
VPN's implement encryption and anonymize IP addresses
Category average: 9.1
High Availability
Built-in capacity to prevent exposure if primary firewall stops working
Category average: 9.2

Identification Technologies
Policy-based visibility and control over applications, users and content
Category average: 8.4
Visualization Tools
Visualization tools present administrators with data on applications traversing the network, who is using them, and the potential security impact.
Category average: 8.1
Reporting and Logging
Custom and summary reports, and log files enabling analysis of security incidents, application usage and traffic patterns
Category average: 8.3

Verified User

Director in Corporate (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We are using Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software for connecting to our office network when not in office premises. Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software has great CLI and GUI software options for managing, configuring the device. We normally use CLI to change or create configuration. We are very satisfied with the ease of software in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software Firewall.

Pros

Both GUI and CLI options for accessing firewall
easy to use.

Cons

There should be an option to convert configuration from older Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software models to newer ones.

Return on Investment

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software software is easy to use.
Once the setup is done, no changes are required and OS has not got corrupted till now.

Verified User

C-Level Executive in Corporate (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Our employee count was growing and we wanted to have a scalable, easy to administer and cost effective solution for a VPN concentrator. We wanted to support concurrent connections that was 2x our employee count. We chose Cisco's ASA as our VPN concentrator and that allowed us to scale with low administrative cost and a reasonable license/tooling cost. We also wanted to support 4 different entities, which ASA was able to help us achieve.

Pros

ASA is our VPN concentrator. The client and server are very stable and very easy to use
ASA also offers Intrusion Prevention, to an extent. This is also very useful for an improved security posture for a small company
ASA allowed us to scale very quickly. We could onboard clients, partners, and consultants and give them a great onboarding experience as well
Administrative costs with ASA are low. It's very easy to administer.

Cons

For small companies that require DLP, ASA could add a basic DLP system
ASA has an easy web administration screen. It's look-and-feel could be improved
ASA could develop and/or promote agentless VPN access

Return on Investment

Positive: ASA and ASAv allowed us to transition from on-prem to the cloud very easily
Negative: ASAv's logging is not great. I can't tell which user logged on with which device. To get better logging, we'll need to add identity services to the ASA
Positive: Our cost of operation went down with the ASAv
Positive: We added a lot more staff and they were all able to enjoy the benefits of VPN, especially now that telecommuting is common

Alternatives Considered

Fortinet FortiGate and SonicWall VPN Clients

Mst Rahima Khatun View profile

Marketing Product Management in Information Technology at Clopsmith (11-50 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) is a powerful software that provides routing, network, and virtual private network (VPN) services. Our organization has implemented it, and our clients have IPSec site-to-site VPN. We use VPN tunnels between locations and use Cisco AnyConnect for VPN connections. For preventing unauthorized access to our managed networks, Cisco ASA devices excel. There are many options in Nat to customize it to our needs. Because it helps us categorize traffic and find problems, we're using it in all departments. ASA is a security device that combines firewall, NAT, intrusion prevention, and virtual private network functionality. It is the best for a firewall, router, and VPN device.

Pros

Easy to configure and edit Access rules, allowing users to connect to our office network from anywhere.
NAT rules and network access protection keep our network safe from unauthorized connections from the outside. We can set them up quickly and easily.
Customer service and technical assistance are top-notch with Cisco for this product. User web and application traffic can be easily accessed and monitored.

Cons

Infrequent rule/setting changes and an outdated Java plug-in for the Web interface.
When some appliances and apps don't work, the rules and settings are complex, so GUI-based configuration is not always a better option.
There is a lack of a learning curve for the full potential of the ASA and Central management features.

Return on Investment

For our company, Cisco's ASA and VPN capabilities were critical to its survival during the pandemic, and without them, we would not have been able to keep up.
An excellent Web Console GUI and easy-to-follow documentation make it simple to set up and use. In the DMZ, we can quickly set up port forwarding or use a public IP.
For troubleshooting an issue, I find Packet Tracer or Packet Capture very helpful. With Cisco's excellent support, problems are resolved more quickly, which has a positive effect.

Alternatives Considered

Checkpoint Halo, Sophos UTM, Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series and Juniper SRX

Other Software Used

Cisco Meraki MX, Fortinet FortiGate, Juniper SRX, Cisco Firepower 1000 Series

Chirag Deol View profile

Chief Marketing Officer in Information Technology at Boxinall (1-10 employees employees)

Pros

High availability
Stateful inspection
Remote VPN
Customizable Nating

Cons

Layer 7 security is missing
Lots of issues with policies based routing

Return on Investment

Best in class Technical Support
Easy to configure & Web Console GUI is good
Easy documentation
Cost effective

Alternatives Considered

pfSense

Other Software Used

Cisco Firepower 1000 Series

Kevin Medeiros View profile

Senior Network Administrator in Information Technology at Kootenai Health (1001-5000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use several Cisco ASAs for our egress firewalls and VPN firewalls. We are slowly migrating away from these to Palo Altos, but for the time being, they are still rock-solid and function well, even though they are dated. One Cisco ASA serves about 200 users for VPN services and another is used for our internet egress.

Pros

Configuring of basic firewall rules is easy
Easy to use
Reliability is good for these 5505 and 5545 Cisco ASAs

Cons

Cisco ASA is aging and Cisco wants you to migrate to FirePower, which I think is still awful
Java clients are still needed to access [Cisco] ASA functionality
Hardware is all EOL

Return on Investment

Having a pair of HA firewalls does let you count on the Cisco ASAs for uptime; this can affect ROI.

Alternatives Considered

Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls - PA Series

Fortinet FortiGate

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software

What is Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software?

Categories & Use Cases

Key Features

Top Performing Features

Policy-based Controls

VPN

High Availability

Areas for Improvement

Identification Technologies

Visualization Tools

Reporting and Logging

Reviews

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

Cons

Return on Investment

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

Cons

Return on Investment

Alternatives Considered

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

Cons

Return on Investment

Alternatives Considered

Other Software Used

Pros

Cons

Return on Investment

Alternatives Considered

Other Software Used

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

Cons

Return on Investment

Alternatives Considered

Related Products