A unified platform protects against modern threats, blocks malware, and filters web traffic. With the Encrypted Visibility Engine (EVE), you can uncover threats and risks even inside encrypted traffic — without the need to decrypt it. Security Cloud Control delivers AI-driven operations (AIOps) with Best Practice recommendations, adoption of unused features, upgrade planning, and automated policy analysis with suggested optimizations. Manage all devices centrally and enforce consistent policies across the broad Cisco Secure portfolio as well as third-party solutions.
Cisco Secure Firewall is a comprehensive portfolio of next-generation firewalls designed to protect against modern cyber threats—whether you need an on-premises solution, cloud deployment, or part of a large-scale distributed security architecture (Hybrid Mesh Firewall) using multiple types of enforcement points: physical and virtual firewalls, Kubernetes and containers, intelligent switches or network infrastructure. It combines traditional capabilities (stateful inspection, NAT, VPN) with advanced protection such as deep application inspection, IPS, advanced malware defense, and the Encrypted Visibility Engine (EVE), which identifies threats even in encrypted traffic without requiring decryption. Thanks to the simplified licensing model and deployment flexibility—physical appliance, virtual appliance, and cloud options—Secure Firewall can be tailored to organizations of any size.
Looking for a firewall as a cloud-hosted service?
Learn more about Cisco Secure Access.
New CSF 200 Series
With the new CSF1200 series and the completely new CSF200 series*, delivering excellent price-to-performance ratios, you can equip small branch offices or networks with lower throughput requirements without sacrificing software capabilities—these remain comparable even to the highest-performance systems in the newly introduced CSF6100 series*. All models support centralized management via Firewall Management Center (FMC), the cloud-based variant within Security Cloud Control with integrated cloud-delivered FMC, as well as standalone on-box management for environments where the device operates fully autonomously.
Cisco Secure Firewall managed through Security Cloud Control fits perfectly into the Hybrid Mesh Firewall concept. This means you deploy policy once and enforce it across all enforcement points—physical devices, virtual appliances, containers/Kubernetes, and intelligent switches—all with a unified approach, AI-driven recommendations, automated policy optimization, and strong visibility even in complex networks.
*The CSF6100 series and the CSF200 series starting January 2026.
Cisco Secure Firewall uses a simple modular licensing model:
Essentials (Base):
- Stateful inspection of ports and protocols
- Network Address Translation (NAT)
- Site-to-Site and Remote Access VPN
- High Availability and Clustering
- Application Visibility & Control (AVC) with 7000+ applications
- Geo-location-based filtering
- IPS (Threat)
Threat License:
- Next-Generation IPS (NGIPS) powered by Snort 3
- SnortML for behavior- and pattern-based attack detection
- Security Intelligence (IP/URL reputation filtering)
- Encrypted Visibility Engine (EVE)
- Impact Flags for alert prioritization
- Recommended Rules for automated IPS tuning
Advanced Malware Protection (AMP):
- Malware detection, blocking, and tracking
- Integration with Secure Malware Analytics (sandboxing)
- Retrospective detection and automated remediation
URL Filtering (URL):
- Web traffic filtering by category and reputation
- Checks hundreds of millions of URLs across many categories
- Advanced categories for increased protection and compliance
Hardware platforms and deployment options:
Cisco Secure Firewall offers a wide portfolio of platforms for different scenarios:
- New 200 Series: Small footprint, high performance—up to 1.5 Gbps IPS throughput
- 1200 Series: Compact branch-level firewalls from hundreds of Mbps to tens of Gbps
- 3100 Series: High-performance edge and mid-range data center platforms up to 45 Gbps with hardware VPN acceleration
- 4200 Series: High-performance platform for data centers and Internet edge up to 200 Gbps
- New 6100 Series: Extreme performance for ISPs and large data centers—up to 400 Gbps per chassis
- Virtual NGFWv: For private and public clouds (VMware, KVM, Hyper-V, AWS, Azure, etc.), scalable from small VPN gateways to near-unlimited IPS performance
Management options:
- Firewall Management Center (FMC)
- On-prem central management
- Physical and virtual form factors
- Advanced policy management, monitoring, and reporting
- Integrated AI Assistant for natural-language operations
- On-box web-based management
- Free, suitable for basic deployments
- Cloud-based centralized policy and configuration management
- Includes cloud-delivered FMC (cdFMC)
- Unified management across Secure Firewall, ASA, Meraki MX, Secure Access, and others
Advanced security features:
- Snort 3 IPS: High-performance, scalable, customizable
- Encrypted Visibility Engine (EVE): Threat and application identification in encrypted traffic
- Security Intelligence: Talos threat intelligence with real-time protection
- AI Assistant in FMC: NLP-driven troubleshooting, rule creation, and policy discovery
Customer benefits
Comprehensive visibility and monitoring
Detection of 7,000+ applications and granular monitoring at the user and device level.
Effective threat protection
Combines multiple detection engines (IPS, AMP, URL filtering) and Talos threat intelligence.
Flexible deployment
Wide range of platforms and licensing options to match the needs of your organization.
Consistent policies
Centralized management in FMC, Security Cloud Control, or FDM ensures security policy consistency across different environments.
Performance optimization
Hardware with dedicated security processors minimizes latency and throughput impacts.
Simplified administration
New AI Assistant and automated IPS rule recommendations increase the efficiency of security teams.
Cisco Secure ecosystem integration
Works seamlessly with XDR, Secure Endpoint, Duo, and other solutions.
Cisco Secure Firewall
This provides a modern, scalable, and flexible platform to protect networks from evolving cyber threats. With a modular licensing model, diverse range of hardware and virtual appliances, and extensible security features (IPS, Malware Defense, URL Filtering, etc.), we offer solutions for all kinds of organizations – from small branch offices to large service providers. In addition, the New AI Assistant in the Firewall Management Center enables natural language firewall management, making the job easier for both experienced administrators and less specialized teams.
With Cisco Talos integration and a wide range of management options (including Security Cloud Control), security can be tailored to specific needs while maintaining a consistent and centralized security policy across multiple sites and clouds.