Support for improved decryption speed and performance enhancements
20x increase in SSL decryption session capacity in multi-vendor environments.

Palo Alto Networks announced the release of new hardware products and the latest version of its next-generation security platform operating system, PAN-OS 8.1. PAN-OS 8.1 helps strengthen security by simplifying the deployment and automation of optimized application-based policies. Along with the latest OS version, Palo Alto Networks also released new next-generation firewalls, the PA-3200 Series and PA-5280, the rugged PA-220R for use in harsh environments, and two new models in its M Series management appliances.

The need for visibility into network traffic to block cyber threats is growing. However, the proliferation of encryption technologies is hindering security teams' visibility into data traversing the network. Gartner predicted that “by 2019, more than 80% of enterprise web traffic will be encrypted, and in particular, more than 50% of new malware attacks will use various encryption and obfuscation technologies to hide communications, such as traversal or data exfiltration.”



Palo Alto Networks' own research found that more than half of malware attacks fail to decrypt network traffic, making them difficult to detect and block. The complexity and performance impact of decryption leave many organizations without visibility into encrypted traffic.

Palo Alto Networks' PAN-OS operating system 8.1 eliminates the complexities associated with SSL decryption in multi-vendor environments, enabling easier deployment of application-based, optimized policies. A new next-generation firewall model improves overall performance, enabling enterprises to decrypt traffic at faster speeds. Enhanced application logging provides a wealth of log data, enhancing the accuracy of Magnifier, a behavioral analytics solution, enabling enterprises to detect and block threats.

Key features of the newly announced PAN-OS operating system 8.1 include:

Support for simpler SSL decryption in multi-vendor environments : Simplified SSL decryption supports high throughput decryption in next-generation firewalls. It also supports sharing ClearText traffic with security chains such as forensics and DLP. This simplifies network architecture construction and operation by eliminating the need for dedicated SSL decryption equipment.

20x Increase in Decryption Session Capacity at the Internet Edge: The newly released PA-3200 series appliances dramatically improve decryption performance at the Internet edge, increasing SSL decryption session capacity by 20x compared to previous versions. The new PA-5280 appliance, which also significantly improves performance and session capacity, is ideal for large-scale data centers, mobile operators, MNOs, and infrastructure providers.

Effective Application-Based Optimized Policies (Best Practices): App-ID™ technology-based security provides administrators with tools for simpler workflows and policy review, enabling them to effectively and accurately implement optimized application-based policies. Enhanced rule usage tracking also helps maintain strict and efficient app-based security policies.

Providing Management Scalability: New features have been added to simplify management and operations for large-scale distributed environments. Panorama™'s proactive device monitoring alerts administrators when device health anomalies are detected. This can be implemented into automated workflows with minimal manual intervention, enabling operations teams to respond quickly. The newly released M-600 and M-200 management appliances deliver high performance, including log ingestion speeds that are twice as fast as previous versions and double the log storage capacity.

Intelligent Threat Detection and Blocking: Updates to Wildfire, our cloud-based threat analysis service, now detect zero-day malware using evasive packing techniques, spot malware targeting Linux servers and IoT devices, and find malicious files hidden in common file archive formats like 7-Zip and RAR.

Rapid detection of targeted attacks: Next-generation firewalls have evolved into intelligent network sensors that collect rich data for analysis. Easily scalable with content-based updates, Magnifier, the foundation of the application framework, leverages this data to accurately identify advanced attacks, internal threats, malware, and more.

“PAN-OS 8.1 delivers significant new features that enhance security, manageability, and ease of deployment,” said Lee Klarich, senior vice president of product management at Palo Alto Networks. “Furthermore, our new next-generation firewall and management appliance maximize throughput, particularly with encrypted traffic, and enhance scalability. The combination of our new next-generation firewall and PAN-OS 8.1 represents a significant step forward in advancing cybersecurity.”