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Palo Alto Networks enables visibility and policy control of applications running on government networks. Based on App-ID, a patent pending traffic classification technology, the Palo Alto Networks next-generation firewalls accurately identify applications – regardless of port, protocol, SSL encryption or evasive tactic employed. This enables federal agencies to set and enforce application usage policies to meet compliance requirements, improve threat mitigation and lower operational costs. With the help of Palo Alto Networks next-generation firewalls, agencies can now safely simplify their network security infrastructure while improving security. Examples include:

Securely allowing webmail for users at work. IT security policies often restrict access to users’ external webmail such as Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, and Hotmail during personal time or webmail provided by agency partners or education courses. Our solutions allow you to securely permit acceptable usage of webmail, but inspect and control other components such as instant messaging, attachments, or the content in attachments for data loss and viruses.
Safely allowing select content on YouTube. Often Government pursues faster, flexible, and more economical methods of disseminating information such as training materials, benefits information, or archived press conferences via Web 2.0 sources such as YouTube, but don't allow internal connections to the site. Palo Alto Networks allows safe usage of Web 2.0 sites such as YouTube by allowing the IT departments to only permit specific categories of content.
Safe, productive use of web conferencing solutions. Many Government IT departments block specific URLs or applications such as WebEx, GoToMeeting, and SharePoint due to security concerns surrounding desktop and file sharing. Palo Alto Networks allows safe implementation of such tools by uniquely identifying each application component and allowing you to enforce granular policies. For example, a policy could be set that allows users to attend WebEx meetings but prevents the user from sharing their desktop or participating in chat sessions.
Enable Social Media securely for Government and Military personnel overseas. Today many overseas government employees are unable to communicate with family and friends back home using the latest social networking applications: Twitter to stay in touch with friends, YouTube to view family videos, or Facebook to share pictures and exchange messages. Palo Alto Networks offers the unique ability to not just see the URL, but also understand the application (proprietary or web) by allowing usage that is permitted by policy. Examples include: allowing Facebook, but blocking Facebook applications or Facebook mail (with or without attachments and inspection); viewing Twitter, but not posting “tweets”; or only allowing specific YouTube categories of video..
Monitor and control applications regardless of port or protocol. Visibility is critical to achieving risk management goals. This requirement includes both normal “business” applications and malicious P2P applications that tunnel or use SSL to sneak right past the traditional firewall, IPS, and Proxy; providing an even further protection against data loss. Many technically savvy users understand how traditional network policies are enforced and find ways around them such as creating an SSL session to tunnel to an outside proxy to upload files or get to an otherwise blocked URL. Palo Alto Networks can decrypt the SSL session and implement policy based on that external connection such as a proxy, upload/download file, or HTTP re-address.