ASA 5540 security/anti-virus capabilities

[clifford.r]

Hello All,

Early next year I will be installing an ASA5540 appliance. I have been asked to investigate new anti-virus software also. My question is this,

can I leverage the new ASA to also address enterprise security and anti-virus needs as well as our basic firewall allow/deny functions?

             Thank You,

                        Ron Clifford

                        Our Lady of the Elms College

                        Chicopee, Ma.

[Mohamed Sobair]

Hi,

Yes, You can laverage the ASA to address Security as well as Anti-virus needs by combining the (AIP SSM Module), by adding this Module, you are also adding Intrusion prevention system to the firewall. The firewall at this stage provides Application Layer Security not Only filtering at layer-3 and 4 by performing deep packet inspection.

However, this doesnt address Email Spam as for that you need to also look at Spam Guard (Anti Spam) such as Iron Port.

Please refer to the deployment and installation guide for the AIP SSM Module,

HTH

Mohamed

[plumbis]

You might also want to look into the CSC module that can provide AV support from Trend Micro on the ASA.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6823/index.html

[letsgomets]

Palo Alto networks makes a much better solution for this.

May want to check out their product before jumping into a ASA. Next Generation firewalls is the way to go these days.

ASA is a great product but if you are in the market for a firewall, PA is a much better choice in my opinion.