Palo Alto Networks Inc. today announced a flurry of new features, including an artificial intelligence-powered zero-trust management solution, several advanced security capabilities and next-generation firewalls, to address the use cases of modern enterprises.

Leading the list is the launch of “Strata Cloud Manager,” designed to address the issue of inadequate predictive and actionable insights and a lack of seamless integration across security tools that result in security gaps and inconsistent policies that compromise protection and operational experience.

Strata Cloud Manager bolsters security posture and proactively prevents network disruptions at every enforcement point. Security teams using it can ensure continuous network uptime, with predictive analytics helping organizations proactively anticipate capacity bottlenecks and assess deployment health up to seven days ahead.

Enhanced network security in the service uses AI-powered analysis of policies and real-time compliance checks to fortify network security. The service can also oversee configuration and security policies across all form factors, including secure access service edge and hardware and software firewalls, to ensure consistent protection while minimizing operational overhead.

On the security side, Palo Alto Networks announced new AI-powered security capabilities, including “Advanced Wildfire,” a feature that blocks evolving and uniquely evasive initial attacks by integrating machine learning directly into its cloud-based detection engines. New detection capabilities are designed to prevent threats such as man-in-the-middle and software-as-a-service platform-hosted phishing attacks. Advanced URL filtering can anticipate and block 88% of malicious URLs 48 hours ahead of competing solutions. 

The new AI-powered advanced threat protection has been built to counter command-and-control attacks that are often propagated via the Empire Red Team tool. Palo Alto Networks says the advanced threat protection has a success rate of over 97% in blocking highly evasive command-and-control attacks.

The company also unveiled a series of new next-generation firewalls that cater to a diverse range of needs, from high-traffic networks to remote branches. Along with enhanced cybersecurity features, the new firewalls are intended to address future 5G connectivity requirements and to withstand the demanding conditions of operational technology environments.

The new firewalls include the PA-7500, a firewall with custom application-specific integrated circuits that delivers performance over 1.5 Tbps App-ID. For rapidly growing 5G networks, Palo Alto Networks is offering the PA-415-5G. It provides organizations with the flexibility needed to defend their branch offices with a security suite that caters to both wired and 5G connectivity.

The last new firewall, the PA-450R, was designed specifically for industrial organizations operating in extreme conditions, offering a ruggedized solution that ensures consistent connectivity and security in harsh OT environments.

Image: Palo Alto Networks