When Networks Are Under Attack: Who Has the Strongest Security Track Record?

Check PointZscalerFortinetCiscoPalo Alto

62.7% 67.1%

87.7% 90.9%

99.9%

Malware Block Rate by Vendor Zero +1 Day Attacks

Number of Exploited Firewall Operating System Vulnerabilities

Pe rc

en t

Pr ev

en te

d

Check PointZscaler FortinetCisco Palo Alto

62.7% 72.5%

42.6%

91.6% 94.6% 98.0%

Critical Exploits Blocked

Pe rc

en t

Bl oc

ke d

Who is Miercom? View the full assessment:

GET THE MIERCOM REPORT30 years of industry-leading testing, certification, and rigorous validation of security & networking performance.

Measuring What Matters Which Vendors Excel at Real-World Threat Prevention? This comprehensive study pulled in insights from the aforementioned data bases and tools, while following the process outlined to the right.

Capabilities used by firewalls under test:

• Anti-virus • URL filtering • Anti-phishing • Application filtering

• Intrusion prevention • Anti-malware • Sandboxing

The First 24 Hours are Critical This is the most important time to block Malware, Phishing, and Ransomware, before they spread quickly throughout the network — causing greater damage and downtime.

Zero+1 Day Malware (one day past Zero-Day discovery) is newly captured malware in the wild within the first 24 hours of discovery. These are far less likely to be known by any vendor’s signature detection mechanisms.

Check Point had only 1 vulnerability vs. 10X–25X more for the other vendors.

Least vulnerabilities = highest product integrity, robust security, and lowest Total Cost of Ownership

25

20

13

1

Cisco Fortinet

N um

b er

o f K

EV s

Palo Alto Check Point

Check Point only

1 KEV*

Check Point with 99.9% prevented

Check Point with 98% Block Rate

AI-Powered Cyber Security Platform Assessment AN EXPANDED EVALUATION:

See head-to-head comparisons of the top Cyber Security  Platforms and their Admin User Experience (UX)

VIEW THE REPORT

Intrusion Prevention How well each vendor prevents High & Critical-severity vulnerabilities & exposures that require immediate attention or remediation (CVSS Score 7-10)

For IPS assessments, Miercom uses BreakingPoint - a leading cybersecurity and network testing platform that emulates real-world traffic and security threats

Vendor

Check Point

Cisco Systems

Fortinet

Palo Alto Networks

Zscaler

Product

Quantum

FirePower TD

FortiGate

PAN-OS

ZIA

Version

R82

7.6.0

7.6.0

11.2.3

SaaS

Feature Bundles

Sandblast

TMC

Enterprise

AV, Wildfire, AWF

Transformation Includes testing AI-based threat prevention engines against sophisticated attacks.

Remote Network Devices

Local Network Devices

Internet

Firewall Test Tools

Dashboard MonitorSwitch

Security Test Suite

Test servers configured for payload delivery, detection monitoring and blocking of the open-source malware

and phishing URLs.

When Hackers Target Firewalls The results are telling: CISA's official exploit tracking* reveals vendors' product integrity

The Hidden Costs of Firewall Weaknesses Critical vulnerabilities in firewall operating systems cause:

Emergency patches

Business disruption

Compromised networks

Security team overtime

*As of Nov 10, 2025

CISA: Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency

KEV: Known Exploited Vulnerabilities

111025

https://www.checkpoint.com/2025-miercom-firewall-report/ https://engage.checkpoint.com/2025-miercom-ai-powered-cyber-security-platform