Palo Alto Networks PA-820: ML-Powered Enterprise Firewall

The PA-820 is part of Palo Alto Networks’ PA-800 Series of ML-Powered Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFWs), specifically designed to provide enterprise-grade security for branch offices and midsized businesses.

Powered by PAN-OS®, the PA-820 classifies all network traffic, including applications, threats, and content, and ties this to individual users regardless of their location or device. This comprehensive classification enables organizations to enforce granular security policies while enhancing their security posture and reducing incident response times.

Key Features

• Machine Learning-Powered: Integrates ML directly into the firewall to provide inline, signatureless prevention of threats, such as file-based attacks and never-before-seen phishing attempts.
• Comprehensive Application Visibility: Classifies and monitors all applications across all ports, regardless of encryption or evasion techniques, ensuring thorough threat protection.
• IoT Security: Leverages behavioral analysis to detect and categorize unmanaged IoT devices, offering actionable security recommendations.
• Cloud-Delivered Updates: Automatically pushes updates to security policies, ensuring defenses remain current against the latest threats.
• Policy Automation: Simplifies the creation and management of security rules, minimizing human error.
• Advanced Threat Prevention: Blocks known vulnerabilities, malware, and exploits while using WildFire™ to detect and prevent unknown threats.
• Secure Encrypted Traffic: Provides deep visibility into encrypted traffic, including TLS 1.3 and HTTP/2, to prevent threats concealed in encryption.

Specifications

• Firewall Throughput: 1.6 Gbps
• Threat Prevention Throughput: 790 Mbps
• IPsec VPN Throughput: 1.4 Gbps
• Max Concurrent Sessions: 128,000
• New Sessions Per Second: 8,100
• I/O: 10/100/1000 (4), Gigabit SFP (8)
• Power Supply: 200W AC power supply
• Storage Capacity: 240 GB SSD
• Form Factor: 1U, 19” rack mount
• Weight: 11 lbs

Security Features

• App-ID: Identifies applications regardless of port, protocol, or encryption, ensuring that security policies can be applied based on the application rather than network conditions.
• User-ID: Applies policies based on user identity, integrating with directories like Microsoft Active Directory, LDAP, and others.
• Content-ID: Inspects all traffic for malicious content, preventing malware, spyware, and data exfiltration attempts.
• Decryption: Inspects TLS/SSL-encrypted traffic for threats, while allowing selective decryption based on compliance needs.
• WildFire Malware Prevention: Protects against unknown malware through dynamic analysis in a cloud-based sandbox, ensuring the latest threats are identified and blocked.

Networking Features

• Layer 2 and Layer 3 Deployment: Supports deployment in both Layer 2 and Layer 3 modes, along with virtual wire (transparent mode) and tap configurations.
• Dynamic Routing: Supports OSPF, BGP, RIP, and static routing.
• High Availability: Features active/passive and active/active modes for failover and redundancy, ensuring consistent network uptime.
• SD-WAN Functionality: Integrates SD-WAN features to optimize performance and reduce network costs by intelligently routing traffic based on quality metrics like jitter, latency, and packet loss.

Use Cases

Industry Applications

1. Healthcare: Protects sensitive patient data by preventing breaches, stopping ransomware attacks, and ensuring compliance with HIPAA.
2. Financial Services: Offers secure transaction processing, protects against cyberattacks on banking systems, and maintains PCI compliance.
3. Retail: Protects e-commerce platforms from attacks and secures point-of-sale systems against malware and data theft.
4. Education: Secures student data, online learning platforms, and prevents unauthorized access to educational resources.
5. Manufacturing: Defends industrial control systems and prevents disruption of operations due to cyberattacks.
6. Government: Ensures that sensitive government information is protected, secures communications, and helps maintain compliance with regulations like FISMA.

Real-Life Applications

• Remote Workforce Security: Provides secure access for employees working remotely, ensuring consistent security policies across all devices, locations, and networks.
• IoT Device Security: Protects organizations against vulnerabilities introduced by IoT devices, particularly unmanaged devices.
• Compliance Management: Supports industry-specific compliance requirements by enforcing policies that protect sensitive data and meet regulatory standards.

Advanced Security Services

1. Threat Prevention: Protects against exploits, malware, spyware, and command-and-control (C2) attacks.
2. WildFire: Offers advanced malware detection, identifying unknown malware 60 times faster than traditional methods.
3. Advanced URL Filtering: Blocks malicious URLs and web-based threats, offering 40% better threat coverage than traditional solutions.
4. DNS Security: Provides robust DNS protection, stopping 85% of DNS-based malware attacks.
5. Enterprise DLP: Prevents data breaches by stopping unauthorized data transfers and ensuring compliance with data protection regulations.
6. IoT Security: Safeguards all connected devices, ensuring comprehensive protection across the entire network.

Management and Reporting

• Panorama Integration: Provides centralized management for multiple firewalls across distributed locations, simplifying configuration and policy enforcement.
• Application Command Center (ACC): Offers detailed visibility into network traffic, enabling real-time monitoring of applications and threats.
• AIOps: Delivers predictive analytics for firewall health and performance, helping to identify and resolve potential issues before they impact the network.

Performance and Reliability

• Single-Pass Architecture: Processes traffic efficiently by performing threat inspection, application identification, and policy enforcement in a single pass, reducing latency and increasing throughput.
• High Availability: Supports active/passive and active/active configurations to ensure continuous network operation during hardware failures or maintenance.

Hardware Specifications

• Rack Dimensions: 1U, 19” rack mount (1.75” H x 14” D x 17.125” W)
• Power Consumption: Max 120W
• Operating Temperature: 32°F to 104°F (0°C to 40°C)
• Airflow: Front to back

Resources for Palo Alto Networks PA-820 Firewall

• Product Data Sheet

Conclusion

The Palo Alto Networks PA-820 firewall delivers powerful security features tailored to the needs of midsize businesses and branch offices. With its ML-powered technology, advanced threat prevention, IoT security, and easy deployment through SD-WAN and Zero Touch Provisioning, it offers a highly adaptable, secure, and scalable solution for protecting networks and ensuring business continuity.