Palo Alto Networks adds new AI features to its Prisma SASE platform

SECURITY

Palo Alto Networks Inc. is expanding its Prisma SASE platform, with new artificial intelligence features for detecting cyberattacks.  

Palo Alto Networks is a major provider of enterprise cybersecurity software with more than $4 billion in annual revenues. Prisma SASE, the platform that the company updated today, is a collection of products designed to ease the task of maintaining and securing corporate networks. SASE stands for secure access service edge, a collection of wide-area network and network security services.

Companies typically use one set of tools to maintain their network infrastructure and another, separate set of tools to secure it against cyberattacks. Prisma SASE provides tools for both maintaining and securing network infrastructure in a single product suite. In theory, using a single product suite is simpler than the usual practice of deploying multiple disparate offerings. 

The tools in the Prisma SASE suite that focus on network maintenance provide features for performing tasks such as connecting branch offices to the corporate network. The tools focused on cybersecurity, in turn, help detect and block malicious activity.

As part of today’s update, Palo Alto Networks is expanding Prisma SASE’s capabilities for securing software-as-a-service applications. 

An incorrectly configured security setting in a SaaS application can potentially enable hackers to access business data. Prisma SASE is receiving a feature that enables administrators to lock SaaS security settings. According to Palo Alto Networks, the feature makes it impossible to change a setting in a way that could create an opportunity for hackers to launch a cyberattack.

The update also promises to simplify certain day-to-day cybersecurity tasks. Thanks to a set of interface improvements, Prisma SASE now enables administrators to centrally monitor and configure the security settings of multiple SaaS applications. Palo Alto Networks says that, in some cases, administrators can fix misconfigured settings with one click.

Detecting SaaS vulnerabilities is one of several cybersecurity tasks that Prisma SASE is designed to ease. 

Prisma SASE includes a tool for blocking network requests from malicious URLs or web addresses that, according to Palo Alto Networks, has been made more effective as part of today’s update. A set of new AI-based detection features enable the tool to detect 40% more threats, according to the company. Palo Alto Networks says that Prisma SASE is capable of spotting many malicious URLs up to a day before competing products. 

Some cyberattacks involve a so-called command and control server, a server that hackers use to move data to and from a compromised corporate network. Palo Alto Networks has equipped Prisma SASE with AI features specifically designed to detect emerging types of command and control attacks. According to the company, the AI features make the suite 48% more effective at spotting such hacking campaigns.

Alongside its cybersecurity features, Prisma SASE includes tools that administrators can use to manage their company’s network infrastructure. Palo Alto Networks is enhancing that part of the suite with an AI-powered maintenance tool designed to automate common troubleshooting tasks. 

According to the company, the tool can automatically find the root cause of certain network-related technical issues. It generates troubleshooting recommendations to help administrators resolve outages faster. Additionally, Palo Alto Networks says, the tool’s automation features ease some of the work involved in expanding a corporate network when additional capacity is needed.

The company is rolling out the software upgrades alongside two new network appliances, the ION 1200-S and ION 3200. Both are designed for connecting branch offices to an organization’s corporate network. The ION 1200-S offers 5G and LTE support as part of its feature set, while ION 3200 can be used to power high-speed optical network links.

Photo: Palo Alto Networks