Palo Alto Networks Extends Safe Application Enablement and Breach Prevention From the Network to the Cloud with Enhancements to Its Next-Generation Security Platform

New PAN-OS 8.0, Aperture Features and Virtual Firewall Models Enable Customers to Safely Embrace New Cloud Infrastructure; Achieve Security at Speed and Agility of the Cloud

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Palo Alto Networks® (NYSE: PANW), the next-generation security company, today announced advancements to its Next-Generation Security Platform that extend the ability for customer organizations to safely enable applications, including SaaS options, content and users regardless of location; prevent successful cyberattacks; simplify security operations; and securely embrace the cloud.

Security demands have evolved as new requirements and risks have been introduced, especially as organizations expand their IT architecture from traditional networks and data centers to private and public or hybrid cloud deployments. Add SaaS application usage to the mix, and the need to secure all these architectures against ever-increasing, sophisticated threats and adversary techniques being used to gain access to assets and data regardless of where they are located – the network, in the cloud, or in SaaS applications – and organizations have a multitude of complex security and operational challenges to address in order to prevent cyber breaches and achieve the cloud speed and agility promise.

Traditional detect-and-respond approaches, cloud-only security capabilities, and siloed point products offer limited functionality and lack threat context from the network edge or at the user interface. This makes these options ineffective and administratively burdensome; causes holes in an organization's security posture; and hinders operational agility, especially in cloud deployments.

The natively engineered Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Security Platform addresses all these challenges by delivering rich context from multiple points across all IT environments to provide consistent levels of visibility, management and security controls regardless of data location – from the network to the data center and private cloud, in the public cloud, or within SaaS applications.

Building upon existing capabilities in the platform, new advancements included in the Palo Alto Networks platform operating system, PAN-OS® version 8.0, Aperture™ SaaS security service, and new VM-Series virtual firewall models address security needs by extending protections from physical networks to the cloud, further simplifying security operations and infrastructure, and ultimately helping organizations establish an effective and consistent security posture.

Among the more than 70 new features introduced to the Next-Generation Security Platform as part of PAN-OS 8.0, cloud and SaaS feature highlights include:

Expanded security for public and private clouds, including optimized workflow automation features and integration with native cloud services that ensure the same security measures for a customer's physical environment can be easily applied to Amazon® Web Services, Microsoft® Azure®, or any other cloud. The cloud capabilities enable secure, scalable and resilient cloud-centric architectures with easy orchestration and management for operational agility.
New SaaS application security capabilities, including enhanced visibility and interactive dashboards, new reporting, and automated features like instant quarantine and data sharing limitations. These features increase security, real-time monitoring and compliance enforcement capabilities on cloud-based assets. Additionally, extended application support (Slack and Secure Data Space), language support (German and Japanese) for DLP and machine learning, as well as new data centers in Europe (Germany) and Asia (Singapore), expand global usage and protection options and address regional data privacy needs.
Increased performance and three new VM-Series virtual firewall models that have been added to the existing virtual firewall family. The VM-Series, which now includes the new VM-50, VM-500 and VM-700, delivers industry-leading performance options ranging from 200 Mbps up to an industry-leading 16 Gbps of firewall throughput with App-ID enabled to deliver predictable performance in cloud deployments and address a variety of use cases from virtualized branch office to data center and service provider deployments.

Additional threat prevention, management and hardware highlights are also available with the introduction of PAN-OS 8.0. See these related press releases:

QUOTES

"Speed and scale continue to be essential components of any advanced cybersecurity strategy that must keep pace with today's cyber adversaries and take into account new cloud operating models. The latest advancements in PAN-OS 8.0 build on the already powerful capabilities in the Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Security Platform by delivering the visibility, orchestration, integration, performance and threat prevention we need to establish a consistent security posture across our architecture, balanced with the freedom of choice in our cloud deployment models."

- Bo Rising, IT security architect, TDC Hosting

"The features Palo Alto Networks added to the latest version of PAN-OS 8.0 address some of the key challenges our customers face in their digital transformation journey as they implement digital infrastructures and SaaS in multi-cloud environments. While these new technologies offer productivity and business agility, their security remains a top concern for our clients especially in terms of cyber breaches and protecting assets. The Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Security Platform and the innovations announced today are directly aligned with addressing our customers' pain points. Presidio is especially excited about the integration offered in PAN-OS 8.0 with vendors like VMware to address software defined data center security concerns."

- Joe Leonard, chief information security officer, Presidio

"Organizations must adapt to meet new security risks as more critical data and applications reside in the cloud. The latest release by Palo Alto Networks uniquely positions their platform to secure applications, data, and users no matter where they reside. The features introduced today in PAN-OS 8.0 address today's cybersecurity challenges and moves the industry further towards making cyber breach prevention a reality."

- Robert Westervelt, research manager and lead of IDC's data security practice, IDC

"As customers embrace multi-cloud deployment architectures, Palo Alto Networks is pleased to offer the only built-from-the ground up, natively engineered Next-Generation Security Platform enabling them to safely embrace any cloud – public, private, hybrid and SaaS – with consistent visibility, operations, control and cyberthreat prevention."

- Lee Klarich, executive vice president, Product Management, Palo Alto Networks

AVAILABILITY

PAN-OS 8.0 is now available globally to customers of Palo Alto Networks with a current support contract. New VM-Series firewall models are available now. For more information, visit http://www.paloaltonetworks.com.

To learn more about the Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Security Platform, visit: https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/products/platforms.html.

Find out more about the new features in PAN-OS 8.0 and new devices:

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks is the next-generation security company, leading a new era in cybersecurity by safely enabling applications and preventing cyber breaches for tens of thousands of organizations worldwide. Built with an innovative approach and highly differentiated cyberthreat prevention capabilities, our game-changing security platform delivers security far superior to legacy or point products, safely enables daily business operations, and protects an organization's most valuable assets. Find out more at www.paloaltonetworks.com.

Palo Alto Networks, the Palo Alto Networks logo and PAN-OS are trademarks of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. in the United States and in jurisdiction throughout the world. All other trademarks, trade names or service marks used or mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.

SOURCE Palo Alto Networks, Inc.