SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jan. 23, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Palo Alto Networks® (NYSE: PANW), the next-generation security company, today announced the availability of Magnifier, a cloud-based behavioral analytics application delivered through Palo Alto Networks Application Framework that allows organizations to rapidly identify and prevent threats.

As part of Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Security Platform, Magnifier applies machine learning to rich network, endpoint, and cloud data, precisely detecting and preventing targeted attacks, insider abuse, and endpoint compromise.

Attackers who gain access to a network can steal, modify or destroy sensitive data while they blend in with legitimate users. Often, they can infiltrate organizations and dwell inside networks for months or even years without being detected. Simultaneously, the volume of alerts legacy threat monitoring systems generate and the emergence of multiple point products aimed at solving singular security issues both pose serious challenges for cybersecurity teams trying to manually oppose targeted attacks and insider threats.

According to the December 2017 Forrester® Research report "Five Steps to a Zero Trust Network," written by analysts Stephanie Balaouras, Chase Cunningham and Peter Cerrato, "Manual security operations slow breach detection and response, leaving data and systems vulnerable to attacks or giving attackers more time to exfiltrate data and cause lasting damage to the environment."

Palo Alto Networks Magnifier delivers the first easily consumed cloud-based behavioral analytics offering to automatically identify and prevent attackers from dwelling inside networks and successfully executing cyberattacks. Its tight integration with Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Security Platform, along with Palo Alto Networks Logging Service, enables highly accurate attack detection powered by scalable, agile, cloud-based machine learning.

QUOTES

• "The addition of Magnifier into the Next-Generation Security Platform provides an effective, scalable approach to behavioral analytics and threat identification. We're now able to find cyberthreats that would have previously gone undetected and prevent them before they are able to materially impact the business."
  -          John Woods, vice president, Information Security, PDX Inc.
• "Magnifier builds upon the Palo Alto Networks infrastructure to improve threat detection and incident response in an orderly fashion. Magnifier behavioral analytics may be a welcome help for CISOs seeking to introduce advanced analytics and process automation into their security operations, and to gain the benefits of integration without having to do all the integration themselves."
  -          Jon Oltsik, senior principal analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group
• "Magnifier automates the process of preventing successful cyberattacks by integrating best-of-breed behavioral analytics capabilities into Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Security Platform. It will enable already stretched security teams to improve their security posture while at the same time saving money and time, leveraging the benefits of machine learning and automatically identifying potential cyberattacks so that they can be prevented."
  -          Lee Klarich, chief product officer, Palo Alto Networks

Magnifier behavioral analytics offers several new, innovative capabilities, including:

• Accuracy and Efficiency: Magnifier analyzes data from next-generation firewalls and Pathfinder endpoint analysis service to profile user and device behavior. Because its detection algorithms are tailored for the logs sent by the Next-Generation Security Platform, Magnifier can apply precise machine learning and attack detection algorithms compared to inspecting generic log files for threats. As a result, Magnifier generates a small number of highly accurate and actionable alerts.
• Automated Investigation: Magnifier streamlines threat hunting efforts by automatically interrogating suspicious endpoints to determine which processes are responsible for attack behaviors. It then analyzes the processes, using Palo Alto Networks WildFire® cloud-based threat analysis service, to determine if they are malicious. Magnifier's endpoint analysis and detailed alerts with full investigative detail enable security analysts to immediately review and respond to incidents.
• Scale, Agility and Ease of Deployment: Palo Alto Networks customers can implement behavioral analytics simply by enabling the Magnifier application with the cloud-based Palo Alto Networks Logging Service, using their existing Palo Alto Networks firewalls as sensors to collect telemetry data from their networks, without a need to purchase and maintain additional networking devices or costly on-premise logging servers.

AVAILABILITY
Magnifier behavioral analytics is a subscription-based service targeted for general availability in February 2018.

RESOURCES

• Palo Alto Networks Magnifier Behavioral Analytics
• Palo Alto Networks Application Framework
• Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Security Platform
• Read the Blog: Unveiling Magnifier Behavioral Analytics: Rapidly Hunt Down and Stop the Stealthiest Network Threats
• Follow Palo Alto Networks online: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook

About Palo Alto Networks
Palo Alto Networks is the next-generation security company, leading a new era in cybersecurity by safely enabling applications and preventing cyber breaches for tens of thousands of organizations worldwide. Built with an innovative approach and highly differentiated cyberthreat prevention capabilities, our game-changing security platform delivers security far superior to legacy or point products, safely enables daily business operations, and protects an organization's most valuable assets. Find out more at www.paloaltonetworks.com.

Palo Alto Networks, the Palo Alto Networks logo and WildFire are trademarks of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. in the United States and in jurisdictions throughout the world. All other trademarks, trade names or service marks used or mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.

SOURCE Palo Alto Networks, Inc.