Sophos Firewall Reviews

I was a distributor for Sophos XG products and worked with customers seeking network security solutions. In my current company, we previously used Sophos XG products extensively before switching to other options.

Sophos XG offers a robust solution with quota management features that are per IP and per user, which I find to be very effective. The ability to manage everything in one box is a significant advantage, eliminating the need to purchase separate products for email security and other features. The user interface is user-friendly, offering dashboards with widgets that provide speed and status, making configuration easy. Traffic management is facilitated through various configurations and user self-portals. Additionally, Sophos XG makes administrative tasks seamless by allowing easy navigation and configuration.

The technical support could be improved, particularly in terms of response speed, as there were delays when working with their Indian support team.

Traffic management is facilitated through various configurations.

Sophos XG is primarily suitable for SMB and mid-level enterprise categories, but not typically chosen by high-end enterprises in Sri Lanka.

The technical support could be improved, particularly regarding response speed when working with the Indian team.

Previously, we used Sophos UTM before transitioning to Sophos XG.

The implementation of Sophos XG is straightforward and easy.

I worked as a distributor and the setup was handled internally or with assistance from vendors.

During my research, I explored products like Fortinet FortiGate and Netgate pfSense.

I rate Sophos XG eight out of ten. While the implementation was straightforward and easy, the technical support could use improvement. I recommend looking into improving the features and security validations to cater to the needs of bigger companies.

I am using the Sophos firewall, such as the XG series 2300. Some other branches have Sophos and Fortinet. There is an additional failover feature for site to site vpn in Sophos.

Sophos firewall has failover facilities for site to site vpn. When one active tunnel goes down, backup tunnel goes up automatically. It helps my organization to keep the service up always.

Sophos has a centralized management system where I can manage and control all the Sophos firewalls at the same time. They have introduced MDA threats in their latest version. Sophos firewall is a little bit cheaper than Fortinet. Some features are free. There is a central management system, which is a free service from Sophos.

There is no option for right-clicking on any feature after logging into the firewall. I am unable to open a feature in a new tab. In FortiGate, I can do it; in Sophos, I cannot.

I have been working with Sophos for around one and a half years.

When Sophos introduced firmware version twenty, there was a bug in DHCP server. Later, they removed it, and a bug-fix firmware was introduced. Now, the latest firmware version of the firewall is stable

I am satisfied with the support team.

Positive

Before using Sophos, I was working with Cisco ASA Firewall and Fortinet.

It's really easy to configure the firewall.

I will recommend both Sophos and Fortinet. 

Overall, I rate Sophos firewall nine out of ten. There is no option for right-clicking on any feature after logging into the firewall. It would be helpful if there is right-click option here.

Sophos XGS is primarily used for similar use cases as Fortinet. It is utilized for network security, with a focus on cost-effectiveness in comparison to Fortinet.

Sophos offers a centralized system available to everyone, even for their smaller models, which is an advantage over Fortinet, which requires separate purchases for similar services.

Some of the most critical features for enhancing network security with Sophos XGS include their centralized management system, vulnerability system, and integrated IDS. Additionally, Sophos offers a centralized system available to everyone, even for their smaller models, which is an advantage over Fortinet, which requires separate purchases for similar services.

Hardware stability needs improvement. I have experienced multiple hardware complaints, particularly during firmware updates that sometimes cause crashes. Improvements to the hardware would be a critical enhancement.

I have been working with Sophos for more than three years.

While the software and policy implementations are stable, hardware can be critical, reflecting in a rating of seven point five out of ten.

In terms of scalability, Sophos XGS can be improved due to hardware faults, reflected in a rating of seven point five out of ten.

Sophos has a good technical support team, with a rating of nine out of ten.

Positive

We are working with both Fortinet and Sophos, deploying solutions based on customers' needs.

The initial setup of Sophos XGS is user-friendly and can be done within a few hours.

We have eight network security engineers in our team, and the number involved in deploying Sophos varies depending on the complexity of the task.

As for the commercials, they are cost-effective, and the price is justified by the overall results.

The pricing is justified, and the solution is considered budget-friendly compared to other vendors.

We have evaluated solutions from Fortinet and other vendors to address different customer needs.

The overall rating for Sophos XGS is eight out of ten. It is a good option for a budget-friendly environment, despite hardware issues.

I am already a partner for service, and I recommend Sophos to our customers. I usually resell the company's products and do not directly implement them. Mainly, I recommend Sophos XGS to medium businesses.

The UI for Sophos is very simple.

There could be improvements for IPsec VPN setup. They could also improve their marketing strategy and lower their prices.

I have been familiar with Sophos XGS for around five to six years.

The technical support by Sophos is great. I rate their support nine out of ten.

Positive

One company I worked with switched from Sophos to Fortinet. Their marketing strategy for Fortinet is very high. We choose Fortinet first, then Sophos.

Sophos pricing is very high. The last instance I purchased was for three years, around $3,700 for SDG 125. Maintenance and support are included.

In the market, the best options these days are Sophos and Fortinet. Fortinet seems to have a better marketing strategy.

I still recommend Sophos, mainly for its simple UI. Improvements could be made for IPsec VPN, and their pricing should be lowered.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

Actually, we are using Tekton for creating CI/CD pipelines for building and deploying applications to different environments.

It helped a lot in terms of automation. We sometimes use Tekton for purposes like sending emails, running batch jobs, and similar tasks.

The valuable features include cloud-native integration, which makes it highly available and efficient in modern containerized environments. Another feature is the modular pipeline that allows reusing CI/CD manifests for different purposes. This modularity helps in reducing redundancy and maintaining a streamlined process.

One area of improvement is the lack of cross-cluster capability, meaning you need different sets of tasks and pipelines for each Kubernetes cluster. Tekton also has an unstable API with frequent changes, making it challenging to maintain consistency across versions. Additionally, there's a need for a better dashboard and built-in authentication mechanisms.

It's about one and a half years we have been working with Tekton.

Tekton is quite stable when used in a well-established Kubernetes cluster. The stability largely depends on the stability of the Kubernetes environment itself, which is designed for high availability.

Tekton's scalability is one of its most advanced features. Since it uses the underlying Kubernetes infrastructure, it can scale easily if the Kubernetes cluster is sufficiently large. I would rate it eight out of ten for scalability.

We primarily used community resources like Stack Overflow for addressing our issues and did not directly contact Tekton's customer service.

Positive

In my previous company, we used GitLab and Jenkins for creating CICD pipelines. Currently, Tekton is the primary tool we are using, with Jenkins as a backup solution if Tekton encounters any issues.

The initial setup was manageable but required extensive reading and understanding of documentation. If the Kubernetes cluster is already in place, the setup can be completed in less than ten minutes.

The deployment of Tekton was done in-house with a team of six to seven people handling deployment, creating CI/CD pipelines, and maintaining the solution.

Tekton is an open-source tool, meaning there are no setup costs associated with it. I would rate the cost at one, indicating it is free to use.

In my previous company, we used GitLab and Jenkins for similar purposes.

My advice is to avoid using Tekton if possible due to its complex setup and lack of user-friendly features like a comprehensive dashboard and built-in authentication mechanisms.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

The major support that my company gets from Sophos is in the areas of web and content filtering. Users are able to filter out the web traffic, so they can consume whatever they need, and they can stop at the gateway level whatever they don't need. If social networking websites are not required for my company's developers, I can stop them right away. The categorization of the websites is pretty good, and people are very happy when they can do the customization. If users need to have some kind of exceptions, they can go for the exceptions very easily without any disturbance to the other end users. The best part of the product is associated with its web and content filtering features.

As my company does not cater to the needs of customers with very large networks, I haven't faced any challenges with Sophos XGS and my company is happy with the solution till date.

When it comes to the telemetry data, which comes under what you call the tool's service part, better known as MDR, I feel Sophos should add more telemetry data to its products. The tool should support multiple vendors and multiple OEMs. Right now, I think there are only less than a dozen vendors or OEMs supported by Sophos. I feel Sophos should support tools from more vendors.

I have been using Sophos XGS for four years.

When it comes to the process of scaling up, it is okay upto 5,000 users that I manage. Sophos has the appliances to cater to the requirements of 5,000 user networks and I know it because it is the customer range in which I deal. I don't go to a customer or a client that has more than 5,000 user networks.

The solution's technical support is excellent. I rate the technical support a ten out of ten.

Positive

My company does deal with other vendors in the market, but we feel that Sophos XGS is much more customizable and a readily available solution. A good thing about my company is that we have very good hands-on expertise, especially in areas like pre-sales and post-sales, where we have tech teams that are well-versed in areas like technologies, training, and modules while also ensuring that they stay up-to-date so that the team has all the sufficient knowledge to support themselves and also our customers' networks.

The product's initial setup phase is very straightforward. The GUI and everything else associated with the product are very straightforward.

The solution can be implemented in a couple of hours.

Only very large enterprise customers will have an edge with a tool similar to Sophos XGS because they have that kind of device and hardware, which can cater to around 10,000 or 20,000 user networks. My company does not deal with any large enterprise-sized customers, and so we are happy with Sophos.

Speaking about how the tool is deployed in our company's customers' network environment, I would say that it is done at the gateway level. With the gateway-level firewall, my company protects the network of our customers by applying the firewall, as well as the endpoint security, both provided by Sophos.

Speaking about the tool's threat intelligence capabilities on security posture, I would say that after content filtering, it obviously comes to threat monitoring. Sophos has SophosLabs, and it always gets updated. Users need not worry about the new threats or new landscapes coming in, as Sophos will take care of the aforementioned areas by default. Users need not depend on any third party for threat intelligence as the tool is sufficient to manage any kind of threat.

Sophos XGS has contributed to the reduction of the overall security costs of our company's customers. The biggest good point about the tool is related to the area of sizing. Sophos offers firewall tools for each and every size of the network. Irrespective of whether I have a small network in a branch office or a large network, I can get the appliances from Sophos to fit any size. I need not worry even if I am a company with just 25 users, as I need not spend lakhs of rupees. If I have a large network, even then, my hardware will be sufficient enough, and the cost offered by Sophos is obviously very competitive compared to the solutions offered by competitors in the markets.

Considering the sales, support, and post-sales services, I rate the tool a nine out of ten.

The tool's most valuable feature is threat protection and DLP features. So far, basic DLP features like content protection and blocking. Furthermore, for remote users, features such as back filtering and application control are available, allowing for command and control from our side. It is very easy to understand policy applications. 

It has multi-console features, where you can designate administrators or super admins. There's also a read-only feature available. Visibility features are included in XDR. This provides information on user impact, potential threats on specific machines, source and destination IPs, setup firewall details, and unique identifiers for each machine. Another notable feature is network isolation, ensuring that data remains secure by isolating affected machines from others.

Sophos XG offers visibility into network information, sources, destinations, and threats. Depending on the policies applied, users may monitor specific issues without blocking them. However, policies that block threats should be applied.

One feature I would like to add is remote wipeout capability. This would be useful in cases where a user leaves the organization and fails to return their laptop. Remote wipeout would allow for the deletion of data from the device with a single command. Regarding technical support from Sophos XG, it's generally satisfactory. However, the response time could be improved. It takes around one hour to receive assistance, but reducing this to 30-45 minutes would benefit us.

The tool has only a base DLP feature. It needs to have a full DLP feature with additional licensing. 

I have been working with the product for ten years. 

I rate the tool's stability an eight point five out of ten. 

I rate the solution's scalability a seven point five out of ten. 

The tool's installment is easy. 

The tool's pricing is cheaper compared to other alternative products. 

Sophos XG has a lab center where they analyze signatures and automatically update them on the product. This eliminates the need for manual updates on individual machines or centers. Additionally, it has features like MDR and management response features. So, Sophos XG seems to have a roadmap in place.

I would recommend the product based on the situation. Cortex, a next-generation antivirus for larger enterprises, would likely provide sufficient coverage. It's also known for its scalability and visibility features, including root cause analysis and terminology features.

I rate the overall solution an eight out of ten. 

I am using this product for security purposes.

Sophos XG is user-friendly, easily configured, and has all the latest features, including URL filtering.

I have used the Synchronized Security feature of Sophos XG along with the Heartbeat functionality, specifically the Security Heartbeat.

The filtering capabilities of Sophos XG are good and I find it user-friendly.

An area that could be improved is technical support's ticket registration process. Sometimes when I contact technical support, they do not register the tickets properly. They ask about registered mail ID and registration number when I am already under pressure. For instance, when the internet is not working or when I cannot apply certain rules, I am already stressed, but the tech support did not register the calls. This happened three to four months ago.

I have been using Sophos XG for one year.

Installing Sophos XG is very easy, with no issues encountered.

The complete installation, including setting up all rules, takes approximately one and a half hours.

I am familiar with Sophos XG.

We have purchased Sophos XG directly through Sophos, though I am not aware of the financial operations regarding the purchase.

I rate the technical support as eight out of ten.

On a scale of one to ten, I rate Sophos XG as eight.