Cloud security is mission critical especially in an environment where cyber threats have evolved in frequency and sophistication like never before making the need for highly efficient and robust cloud firewall solutions is undeniable. CyberRatings.org (CRO) is a cyber assessment firm focused on providing independent, objective ratings of security product efficacy based on real-world testing. They just finished a rigorous evaluation of eleven vendors in the Cloud Network Firewall space, including the Versa Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) for cloud deployments. This detailed analysis tested Cloud Firewall performance for key capabilities across:
Versa NGFW was rated in the top 3 products for security effectiveness and delivered the fastest rated throughput of any cloud firewall tested. In particular, the Versa NGFW delivered significantly better capacity to process encrypted (HTTPS) traffic than any other vendor. Versa was also one of the top 3 products in terms of price per protected Mbps, delivering strong customer value as shown in Table 1.
Versa NGFW was rated in the top 3 products for security effectiveness and delivered the fastest rated throughput of any cloud firewall tested. In particular, the Versa NGFW delivered significantly better capacity to process encrypted (HTTPS) traffic than any other vendor. Versa was also one of the top 3 products in terms of price per protected Mbps, delivering strong customer value as shown in Table 1.
A cornerstone of the Versa Cloud NGFW is its superior threat prevention capability. This is illustrated in Table 2.
The table shows the firewall’s formidable capacity to block the broad range of exploits and evasions that CRO tested, guaranteeing protection against a myriad of threats without generating false positives. Considering that Versa was able to block 983 out of 984 different exploits essentially gave Versa an overall score of 99.9% security effectiveness which is well within the margin of error for security products.
Today’s landscape is dominated with encrypted communications. In fact, “Let’s Encrypt” statistics show that as of December 2023, over 80% of web traffic was sent over HTTPS. One of the primary capabilities of a firewall is to be able to decrypt and scrutinize SSL/TLS traffic in order to see the payload of the packet and determine whether it is malicious or benign in nature. Table 3 summarizes the results for Versa’s Cloud NGFW.
This table highlights the firewall’s capabilities at handling a comprehensive array of cipher suites and its superior capabilities at preventing weak ciphers, showcasing the sophisticated SSL/TLS decryption capabilities of the Versa Cloud NGFW. In summary, the Versa Cloud NGFW passed every use case presented to it.
The tests also measured performance to determine the sustained throughput of the cloud network firewall over time for a range of packet sizes and connections per second to capture the firewall’s performance curves for UDP, HTTP, and HTTPS. The “Plain Text Rated Throughput,” “HTTPS Rated Throughput,” and the combined “Rated Throughput” are good benchmarks for what an enterprise can expect the firewall instance to achieve consistently (over time) when deployed on AWS.
Across these tests, Versa Cloud NGFW performed exceptionally well. Notably, it represents an ability to sustain throughput even under stressed environments and when compute is required for decrypting traffic.
The economics of deploying the Versa Cloud Firewall further bolsters its attractiveness in the marketplace today. CRO’s total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis showcases the cost advantages of the solution, rendering it an attractive proposition for enterprises aiming to allow customers to stretch their dollar while not sacrificing quality or performance as illustrated in Table 5.
The culmination of CRO’s thorough testing resulted in a “Recommended” rating for the Versa Cloud Firewall. This achievement is given to products that distinguish themselves in security performance and present significant value. The products with this rating represent an optimal choice for organizations in pursuit of a reliable, effective, and comprehensive cloud firewall solution.
The Versa Cloud NGFW stands out as the modern-day cloud security solution to secure your network. It combines advanced threat protection, deep application visibility, and comprehensive data security in a unified solution designed to scale with your business needs.
To learn more, please visit us at our Next Generation Firewall here and read the CyberRatings.org report at here.
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