The termNEXT-Generation, (especially when it comes to firewalls...) has been around awhile...to the point that I almost thinkNOW-Generationmay be a more accurate term.

There has been too much focus onapplication & access controland we have forgotten aboutthreat defense.

How do you know if you are still struggling with first generation security?   Your first clue should be 'struggle.'  First generation intrusion prevention does little to protect against the risks posed by motivated attackers and advanced malware. Even worse, there is a lack of teeth (or eyes) for help AFTER you have been hit.

If you can't scope, contain or remediate a network infection with something that resembles urgency...you might have a first generation solution.

Cisco recently announced "the industry's first fully integrated, threat-focused NFGW. " Logical questions for me included some decent explanation of 'fully integrated' and 'threat focused.' These certainly sound like important distinctions.

I really enjoy handing these kind of security questions over to my friend Jason Wright, one of the less well advertised bonuses of our SourceFire acquisition and his comfort level threat defense made it a no-brainer to hand the reigns off to him on this one.

Jason Wright and special guest Mark Bagley walk us through:

• What makes a Cisco Firepower NGFW different from other security solutions.
• Four New Models of the Firepower 4100 Series Appliances.
• Unified Firepower Management Center
  • Now more than managing firewalls, now you can control applications, investigate and remediate malware outbreaks...all within in the same management center.

Firepower NGFW delivers a"Fully-integrated"security solution providing unified visibility and policy management of firewall, application control, threat prevention, and advanced malware protection functions -from the network to the endpoint. The value further stems from the integration with Cisco AMP Threat Grid (sandboxing) and Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) (identity data and network segmentation). We have even integrated with our partner Radware for DDoS protection.

Firepower NGFW is"Threat-focused"in that it provides comprehensive network visibility, best-of-breed threat intelligence and threat prevention to address both known and unknown threats, as well as providing retrospective security technology to quickly respond to successful attacks.

More Info:

I am hosting our live workshop for this show on Wednesday, March 23.  Jason Wright will show-off new capabilities that you have not seen yet after Bill Mabon sets the groundwork for this new definition of firewall integration. We will be taking all your questions.   Even if you don't make it live....use this same link for the replay...it's almost like being there.

For your reading pleasure...

• Must read Scott Harrell's great post and don't miss the Q&A he has going in the comments.
• Threat-Focused NG-Firewall -Who Cares? (From Mike Storm)
  • Part 1: Rude Awakening
  • Part 2: Enter Threat-Focused NG-Firewall
  • Part 3: Challenges of the Typical NGFW
• Cisco.com/go/ngfw

Big thanks to our guest Mark Bagley.  Stay in touch with us through www.techwisetv.com as we are coming out with a whole new set of security shows over the next few months.  The stuff we are doing with Lancope now is HIGHLY interesting but can't talk about it too soon....can't wait.

Thank you for watching!

Robb