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Firewall as a Service (FWaaS)

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Does the platform deliver full L3-L7 firewall capabilities from the cloud?

FWaaS is a foundational SASE component. Enterprises migrating from on-prem firewalls need to know if the cloud-delivered firewall matches their existing policy granularity. We tested 5 critical FWaaS capabilities.

5checks
8vendors
Information sourced from publicly available documentation. Vendor capabilities change frequently. Always verify with the vendor before making purchasing decisions. Not affiliated with any vendor. See our terms & disclaimer. Vendors: to report inaccuracies, email [email protected].
Cato Networks
Cato

4/5

Check Point
Check Point

4/5

Cisco
Cisco

5/5

Cloudflare
Cloudflare

4/5

Fortinet
Fortinet

5/5

Netskope
Netskope

3/5

Palo Alto Networks
Palo Alto

5/5

Zscaler
Zscaler

5/5

YESSupported
PARTIALLimited
NONot supported
TBDResearch pending

Every answer is backed by public evidence. Click any result to read the finding and open its source links.

01

Full L3-L7 application-aware firewall?

02

IPS/IDS with real-time detection?

03

DNS security and tunneling prevention?

04

Firewall policies follow users across locations?

05

Custom firewall rules with full criteria?

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which SASE vendor is best for firewall as a service (fwaas)?
Based on 5 checks across 8 vendors, Cisco and Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks and Zscaler lead with 5 out of 5 capabilities fully supported (YES). Netskope scored lowest with 3 YES answers. Results are based on publicly available documentation. Always verify with the vendor before purchasing.
Can it enforce IPS/IDS with real-time signature-based and behavioral detection for known and zero-day threats?
Cato Networks, Check Point, Cisco, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler fully support this. Cloudflare, Netskope offer partial support. Intrusion prevention is table stakes for replacing on-prem firewalls. Without IPS, your FWaaS has a massive blind spot
Does the platform support DNS security filtering, DNS-over-HTTPS inspection, and DNS tunneling prevention?
Cisco, Cloudflare, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler fully support this. Cato Networks, Check Point, Netskope offer partial support. DNS is the #1 exfiltration channel. Attackers tunnel data out via DNS queries. If your FWaaS doesn't inspect DNS, it's leaking data
Does the FWaaS support full L3-L7 application-aware firewall policies with deep packet inspection?
Cato Networks, Check Point, Cisco, Cloudflare, Fortinet, Netskope, Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler fully support this. A cloud firewall that only does L3/L4 filtering is just an ACL. Real FWaaS needs application-level awareness to replace on-prem NGFW
Can firewall policies follow users across locations (office, home, roaming) without policy gaps?
Cato Networks, Check Point, Cisco, Cloudflare, Fortinet, Netskope, Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler fully support this. Remote workers need the same protection as office workers. If policies only apply when connected to a VPN, roaming users are exposed
Does it support custom firewall rules with source/destination IP, port, protocol, FQDN, geo-location, and application-level criteria?
Cato Networks, Check Point, Cisco, Cloudflare, Fortinet, Netskope, Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler fully support this. Enterprise firewall migrations require complex rules. If the cloud FW can't match your existing rule complexity, you can't migrate
How is the Firewall as a Service (FWaaS) comparison tested?
We test 5 specific scenarios across Cato Networks, Check Point, Cisco, Cloudflare, Fortinet, Netskope, Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler. All answers are sourced from publicly available vendor documentation, knowledge base articles, and verified user reports. YES means confirmed working with documentation, PARTIAL means it works with significant limitations, NO means confirmed not supported.

Methodology

All answers are sourced from publicly available vendor documentation, knowledge base articles, press releases, and verified user reports. We do not rely on vendor marketing claims.

YES means the feature is confirmed working with documentation. PARTIAL means it works with significant caveats or limitations. NO means it is confirmed not supported. TBD means research is still in progress.

Click any cell in the matrix to see the detailed evidence and source link.

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