The importance of Cloud services for the future of Internet technology cannot be ignored. After all, it is no stretch to affirm that the demand for cloud-based services continues to rise. With this in mind, associated risks and challenges are also increasing. It is easy to find many businesses relying on third-party vendors to host their applications and data. This raises the need to ensure the protection of sensitive information.
Meeting these demands ensures that specific IT departments are changing from on-premise solutions to other providers of cloud security, including Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Apps. Through these service providers, businesses can easily access their files and applications at any time without purchasing hardware.
Many organizations are adjusting and embracing new services, which can help them tackle new challenges. Yet, because security threats are evolving quickly, it is imperative to remain agile while keeping your organization’s security reliable. To do so, there is a great need for a modern endpoint security solution capable of covering all bases.
Many options are available today, making it quite tough to figure out the right one for your organization. For this reason, GlobalProtect is one of the best products you can consider. This is a VPN solution that can protect remote mobile devices and workers.
It also represents a reliable and flexible platform that can help deter cyberattackers’ efforts to protect resources from exploitation. Besides, GlobalProtect can also effectively create precise and consistent security policies, which can help reduce remote access blind spots. This comprehensive guide will look at GlobalProtect in detail while discussing its features, benefits, and drawbacks. Keep on reading!
GlobalProtect Overview
GlobalProtect is a secure, reliable, user-friendly web-based application that users can adapt to remotely manage and secure a Windows “Domain” network. This product also offers in-depth visibility and protection to enable secure network connections. As a result, this will help you maintain a safe mobile workforce.
While GlobalProtect was originally built to offer Remote Access (RA) and Virtual Private Network (VPN) capabilities, it now offers benefits far beyond just being a VPN. GlobalProtect (now with Prisma Access) has undergone complete evolution to provide users with more sophisticated remote access capabilities than what they can enjoy from the traditional VPN and the Zero Trust Network Access.
As organizations attempt to embrace digital platforms, businesses need to arm themselves with secure network connections. In recent times, it has been common practice for companies to store most of their data in the cloud. As a result, getting acquainted with platforms and tools that can provide reliable protection is imperative.
Since many VPN technologies and endpoint antivirus are now insufficient to prevent threats, there is a great need to find a solution for network connections, besides the thorough visibility into any entity that tries to access an organization’s network. With the use of GlobalProtect, it is easier to establish a secure SSL or IPsec VPN connection between users and the network and the solution’s next-generation firewall.
Data Encryption is Relevant
To protect data, it is no strange news that data encryption is essential. With the use of GlobalProtect, various encryption techniques can be supported, ensuring that data is scrambled to prevent it from being read by any other party besides the intended recipient. Through this, sensitive information – including personal emails and credit card numbers – can be kept safe from other users.
This product also comes with some advanced features that are only under the licensed version. These include HIP checks, IPv6 support, and content updates. Many top companies across the globe keep adopting the use of GlobalProtect. Some of these include Freedom Financial, Delta Air Lines, Vizio, Macquarie Group, and CRB.
Important Product Details to Pay Attention To
Certain important questions must be answered concerning the product details. Some of these are introduced as follows:
Who can adopt the use of GlobalProtect? Ans: Small, medium, or large organizations can use GlobalProtect to achieve a more secure remote working experience.
- Are there any support platforms? This effective solution supports multiple platforms, including Android, web, and iOS, and 24/7 live support.
- Are there any test drives? Users can schedule a live demo to acquaint themselves with the working principle of the product.
- Are there any awards? Yes, the product has won many awards over the years. Palo Alto Networks was ranked as a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Network Firewalls for the 10th consecutive time as of 2021. Forrester named Palo Alto Networks as a Leader in their “Zero Trust eXtended (ZTX)” ecosystem and in “Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) Solutions”. Most recently, the company was recognized as a Leader in the 2023 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection Platforms, maintaining its strong reputation in the industry. This recognition complements their consistent performance in other categories, such as network firewalls and secure access service edge (SASE) solutions.
Why Organizations Should Choose GlobalProtect
It is no stretch to affirm that GlobalProtect remains one of the reliable platforms capable of providing in-depth visibility, as well as updates, on who has access to an organization’s network while preventing all forms of threats, including phishing. This product can also secure all kinds of traffic through its multi-factor authentication.
Key Features:
- Offers multi-layer protection
- Identity-based access control
- Zero Trust Network Access
- Device Identification
- Easy-to-use interface
- Intranet traffic security
- IPv6 support
- Client-less VPN
- Granular access control
- HIP checks and content updates
- Mobile Application Traffic Inspection
- Extra-firewall intelligence
- HIP-based policy enforcement
- Comprehensive security
- Policy Management
- Single internal gateways
- Multiple external gateways
- Split DNS
- Prevents data from phishing and credential thefts
- Mobile endpoint protection
- Secures Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD)
- Better visibility
- Stops advanced threats
- Supports multi-factor authentication
- URL Filtering
- A flexible, user-friendly, and secure VPN solution
Many benefits are associated with choosing GlobalProtect over other forms of endpoint security solutions. It also comes with a multi-layer protection feature, in-depth visibility into the devices, applications, and users, and granular access control, all of which make it a top choice among various organizations.
Organizations can also measure device health and security posture with this reliable product. Besides this, users can identify and control access to various unmanaged devices, making it a unique product for enterprises to embrace.
Pros and Cons of Using GlobalProtect
The use of GlobalProtect has gained much popularity, thanks to its various benefits. However, users can only fully acquaint themselves with the product by learning more about its drawbacks. To explain more, this section will introduce the numerous pros and cons of using GlobalProtect.
Pros:
- GlobalProtect provides full visibility across all ports, devices, users, and applications.
- It can allow and restrict access only based on enterprise needs.
- It facilitates the reduction of remote access blind spots.
- The product can also offer consistent security policies to users irrespective of their locations.
- It also offers reliable protection for resources and sensitive corporate data from all kinds of threats, including phishing and credential theft.
- Provides granular access controls.
- It is easy to install and use.
- It facilitates secure intranet traffic.
- It allows authoritative user and device identification functions.
- It can identify and control access for all unmanaged devices.
- It is capable of enforcing security policies using next-generation technologies for enterprises.
- Users can access the tool from any global location with a strong internet connection.
- GlobalProtect helps measure device health and security posture.
- It can also offer enterprises a secure SSL or IPsec VPN connection.
Cons:
- GlobalProtect adopts the use of Palo Alto’s hardware-based firewall solution. As a result, it can become so challenging for some users to build a remote access solution. After all, they must deploy a firewall appliance with the GlobalProtect subscription. With this approach, scaling can become a bit problematic.
- It can also be challenging to set up GlobalProtect for the first time. The product uses a multi-step configuration process that can confuse many users, particularly first-timers. The learning curve can be steep.
- The product also comes with no auto-connect. Once there is a disconnection in the remote access connection, the user will need to log in manually again. Since the product has no auto-connect, you must reconnect manually each time your system reboots.
- The disconnection can be frustrating. GlobalProtect VPN is also notoriously renowned for its incessant logouts. This product does not uphold a session when the connection disrupts, nor does it restart on its own. In this case, manual logging is required, which can consume much time and effort.
- There are no flexible policy controls over remote devices. For this reason, it is safe to affirm that GlobalProtect is not flexible enough to execute policy controls over remote devices. If your enterprise requires total visibility in the hybrid workforce, you might need to consider other alternatives.
GlobalProtect Customer Service
The product also offers its users reliable customer service. Numerous methods are available to reach them. Some of these include chat, customer support portal, and phone number.
Starting With GlobalProtect
How do you start using GlobalProtect? If you wish to adopt GlobalProtect in setting up secure VPN or remote access, you can do so without the need for any GlobalProtect license. However, if you need an advanced feature, you must purchase a GlobalProtect subscription. With these gateways enabled with the license, users can perform Host Intrusion Prevention (HIP) checks, provide IPv6 connections, and split tunnel traffic, among other functions.
GlobalProtect licenses are associated with one-year, three-year, or five-year subscriptions. These often come with custom pricing, which can vary depending on the subscription period, device, and features. For those who wish to enjoy free trials, it must be stressed that there is no GlobalProtect free trial. Yet, you can try out Prisma Cloud for a specific period while protecting cloud-native environments and applications. You can also request the demo version of Prisma Access.
Alternatives to GlobalProtect
Other alternatives to GlobalProtect are discussed in this section.
- Perimeter 81 Another Secure Web Gateway that can prevent networks and endpoints from all forms of malicious infections and threats. The tool is easy to deploy and supports all sorts of functions, including URL filtering, web filtering, and DNS filtering. Furthermore, it ensures that businesses can track their employee and web activities while identifying and preventing all forms of harmful sites in real-time. With Perimeter 81, businesses can enjoy an unprecedented way of security infrastructure.
- Barracuda CloudGen Access This is a solution that is designed for access management, as well as user provisioning. The software uses cloud infrastructure to ensure an organization’s users’ identities. Besides this, the product makes it easy to create, cancel, and reset passwords. Depending on the job locations, assigning access levels and permissions to multiple users is possible.
- Fortinet This represents one of the top network security solutions vendors, capable of providing reliable protection to devices against all forms of cyberattacks. This product consists of multi-layered protection services and excellent features, which make it great for many purposes. Organizations must stay ahead of attackers as the business landscape is constantly changing. They can do so by making use of the SSL inspection, as well as the DNS security that Fortinet provides.
- Lookout Secure Web Gateway A unified security platform that users can embrace to control and manage traffic and apps over a given network. This product is adopted by businesses to monitor and inspect all web traffic while protecting data from all malicious content and websites. This is considered by many to be a reliable alternative to GlobalProtect.
- SecureW2 It is a WPA2-based Wi-Fi system that can be used to make a Wi-Fi network more secure. There is no need for configuration when using this system; this solution can connect multiple devices to a single Wi-Fi network simultaneously. This product can also guarantee top protection against all cyberattacks and is easy to install and use.