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Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) vs Fortra's Tripwire Enterprise comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS)
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Fortra's Tripwire Enterprise
Ranking in Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
18th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) category, the mindshare of Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) is 3.3%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Fortra's Tripwire Enterprise is 2.1%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS)3.3%
Fortra's Tripwire Enterprise2.1%
Other94.6%
Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS)
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer373227 - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Marketing strengths shine but regaining user trust needs significant effort
There are numerous things that could be improved about Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) to get it back on track. Sollution for small branches: when we have to connect a lot very small branches (or sometimes only an ATM) we need something small, with LTE and with reasonable price. Cisco response is SDWAN but it is not always the case. Recently Cisco released some small firewalls but I have not tried them yet. Central management with FMC is a very good idea, but sometimes local management or monitoring is helpfull. With Cisco You have to decide: central or local. You cannot have both. Regarding usability, when you commit configuration on Cisco, it sometimes takes very long. Commits also take some time for the competition, but Cisco is definitely lagging behind the rest in this respect. Last but not least, for me as a professional is lack of CLI. With CLI, I can configure every firewall on the market except Cisco. CLI is very important in professional working, and IMHO it was an unwise decision by Cisco to remove it. Graphical interfaces are very nice, but when you've got thousands of objects in a big installation and have to configure many things, CLI is a much faster way to do it.
reviewer2093205 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Cybersecurity Analyst at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees
It has excellent scalability and allows you to execute custom COCR rules, letting you fine-tune agent monitoring
I'm using Tripwire Enterprise version 9.0. In my company, thirty to forty people use Tripwire Enterprise, mainly different types of engineers, governance, risk, compliance, and cybersecurity personnel. I advise people planning to use Tripwire Enterprise to take the training because the solution has a fairly complex interface. You can do a lot of work with it, but it isn't very easy. Tripwire Enterprise is a sophisticated tool. I rate the tool an eight on a scale of one to ten because it does an excellent job of handling the unique challenges of maintaining NERC CIP compliance and monitoring industrial controls.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"We are satisfied with the technical support."
"The main benefits Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) provides for us are security, visibility, and cost savings."
"I like the way the tool pushes the packets from the node level."
"We primarily use this solution as an application filter and for IPS."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco NGIPS is its protection."
"I've found the performance and stability to be the most valuable features of Cisco NGIPS. It is scalable as well."
"The most valuable feature is its IPS ability. You are able to balance security and connectivity."
"Good IPS and VirtualBox features."
"The most valuable feature is integrity management. I had some discussions with service providers, and they also agreed."
"File monitoring is the most valuable feature of the solution."
"Its reporting features are great. It gives you an in-depth report. Its customization is also great, and it is working fine."
"What's most valuable in Tripwire Enterprise is the ability to execute custom COCR rules that lets me fine-tune how I monitor Linux and Windows agents."
"Even if you change a single word in Notepad, it will let you know whether it was added, removed, or modified."
"We use Tripwire Enterprise as a tool to test the vulnerability of a network. That is the most valuable feature of the product for us."
"The most valuable feature is the integrity."
"The product supports different platforms."
 

Cons

"The aspect of private party integration solutions could be improved."
"I'd like to see some cloud management. Cisco maybe already has it, however, my company doesn't use it as cloud management."
"I think that some initiation scripts might be helpful because they would make the configuration easier and more user-friendly for customers."
"The solution requires better management. When it comes to central management capabilities, improvements can be made."
"Overall, it lacks user-friendliness. It could be easier to manage. I can train any customer using FortiGate or Palo Alto in a few days, but with Cisco, it takes much more time because the systems aren't easy to use."
"The price could be improved."
"The onboarding process could be made a little bit better."
"The SSL decrypt could be improved, but it's normal. All the devices in our platform need a lot of memory or CPU to do the SSL decrypt. This is an issue to improve in all platforms, not only in Cisco."
"The Windows online integration license needs to be improved."
"The main way that it can be improved is through better reporting."
"Cloud monitoring could be better. It would also be better if the company followed a pay-as-you-use model."
"An area for improvement in Tripwire Enterprise is stability, as my company had stability issues with the last few versions of the solution. Tripwire Enterprise has been a bit buggy."
"The initial setup is complex."
"It needs more local support from the OEM side. It would be great if this can be improved."
"A lot of network devices need a custom integration."
"The deployment with certain systems can be difficult and it needs to be simplified."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive. It has separate licensing for all the features, and every feature set seems to require another license. Licensing is on a yearly basis. There are no additional costs besides the standard licensing fee."
"The weakness of Cisco Firepower is the cost. Some of the customers see it as very expensive."
"The annual licensing tends to be expensive, but in terms of implementing the licenses, it's a very uncomplicated process and as easy as copy-paste in its straightforwardness."
"When it comes to pricing you pay for a permanent licensing structure. One, three, and five-year options. There are no extra costs."
"There are licensing fees depending on the features that you are using."
"We get cut in price since we use other Cisco products. We have the whole bundle of Cisco solutions."
"The tool's licensing costs are yearly."
"There is a license required to use Cisco NGIPS and it can be a one or three-year license."
"The licensing depends on the equipment, how many devices and the types of devices."
"Cloud monitoring could be better. It could also be cheaper. It would be better if the company followed a pay-as-you-use model."
"Tripwire is more expensive than Netwrix."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
Educational Organization
8%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Media Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise27
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco NGIPS?
I would rate the price for Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) as high.
What needs improvement with Cisco NGIPS?
I am aware that we are not measuring some metrics or tracking access through Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS). In my opinion, Cisco could improve the Web GUI for Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS).
What is your primary use case for Cisco NGIPS?
Our main use case for Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) is in-line traffic control, and we are using IPS in an in-line mode.
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

Sourcefire NGIPS, Firepower NGIPS
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

American Electric Power, Huntington Bank, Keycorp, Nationwide, Transunion, Marriott, Inova Health, Ford, Thomson Reuters, Dow Chemical, Equifax, Chevron, Walmart, Coca Cola
1. Aetna 2. Adobe 3. ADP 4. Airbus 5. Amazon 6. American Express 7. Aon 8. ATT 9. Bank of America 10. Barclays 11. Baxter International 12. Bechtel 13. Boeing 14. Cisco Systems 15. CocaCola 16. Comcast 17. Dell 18. ETRADE 19. ExxonMobil 20. Ford Motor Company 21. General Electric 22. General Motors 23. Google 24. JPMorgan Chase 25. Kraft Foods 26. Lockheed Martin 27. McDonald's 28. Merck 29. Microsoft 30. Morgan Stanley 31. Nike 32. Oracle
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Secure IPS (NGIPS) vs. Fortra's Tripwire Enterprise and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
884,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.