The Cisco ASA is a security device that combines firewall, antivirus, intrusion prevention, and virtual private network (VPN) capabilities. It provides proactive threat defense that stops attacks before they spread through the network.

Features and Capabilities of Cisco ASA

The Cisco ASA Family of security devices protects corporate networks and data centers of all sizes. It provides users with highly secure access to data and network resources – anytime, anywhere, using any device. Cisco ASA devices represent more than 15 years of proven firewall and network security engineering and leadership, with more than 1 million security appliances deployed throughout the world

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software is the core operating system for the Cisco ASA Family. It delivers enterprise-class firewall capabilities for ASA devices in an array of form factors – standalone appliances, blades, and virtual appliances – for any distributed network environment. ASA Software also integrates with other critical security technologies to deliver comprehensive solutions that meet continuously evolving security needs.

Among its benefits, Cisco ASA Software:

Offers integrated IPS, VPN, and Unified Communications capabilities
Helps organizations increase capacity and improve performance through high-performance, multi-site, multi-node clustering
Delivers high availability for high resiliency applications
Provides collaboration between physical and virtual devices
Meets the unique needs of both the network and the data center
Provides context awareness with Cisco TrustSec security group tags and identity-based firewall technology
Facilitates dynamic routing and site-to-site VPN on a per-context basis
Cisco ASA software also supports next-generation encryption standards, including the Suite B set of cryptographic algorithms. It also integrates with the Cisco Cloud Web Security solution to provide world-class, web-based threat protection.

Cisco ASA FirePower

Cisco offers the industry’s first threat-focused next-generation firewall: Cisco ASA with FirePOWER Services available on the Cisco ASA 5500-X Series and ASA 5585-X Adaptive Security Appliances. With this solution you get proven Cisco ASA firewall protection, combined with industry-leading Sourcefire threat and advanced malware protection in a single device.

Cisco ASA Firewall –Recommended Options

These are some of the recommendations for popular Cisco Firewalls and options available.

• Cisco ASA5505
• Cisco ASA5506