Palo Alto Networks introduced the latest version of its PAN-OS software, dubbed Nebula, for sophisticated, zero-day attack detection along with new additions to its hardware firewall family. 

The name Nebula is a reference to a large cloud of interstellar gas and dust that is difficult to see with the naked eye. “This is similar to the way that new, unknown threats have grown and evolved in the digital era, invisible to even the latest security technologies,” Anand Oswal, SVP and GM at Palo Alto Networks, wrote in a blog post.

For example: Palo Alto Networks saw a 73% increase in Cobalt Strike malware samples in 2021 compared to the year before.

The software upgrade intends to protect customers from those unknown risks by using cloud computing for artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning techniques to collect, analyze, and interpret potential zero-day threats, Oswal added.

“Signatures and databases … in many cases both of them are failing,” Oswal told SDxCentral. “We want to be able to prevent threats and attacks inline in real time, even for attacks that have never been seen before.” 

Plus, Nebula can detect 48% more zero-day threats six times faster than previous versions of the PAN-OS software, the vendor claims.

“Nebula is absolutely a foundation that ensures that we have consistent, better security,” which allows the same level of security and user experience for hardware, software, and cloud-based firewalls that Palo Alto Networks offers, Oswal said.

On top of the software upgrade, Palo Alto Networks enhanced its Advanced Threat Prevention, IoT, DNS, and URL-related security services, and added AI to its firewalls. This predicts disruptions before they impact the firewalls and continuously recommends best practices.

“What we're doing now with AI operations is ensure that customers use the best practices, ensure that policies can be automated, and ensure that with single clicks they can remediate or get their posture to a higher level to help them be more secure,” Oswal explained.

Palo Alto Networks introduced machine learning-powered next-generation firewalls around 18 months ago to “prevent the majority of known threat variants in real time, and for the variants that were completely new that required more dynamic analysis,” Oswal said. And Nebula “is an evolution” of those firewalls, he explained. 

To further increase the performance, the vendor also announced the addition of the PA-3400 and PA-5400 Series to its fourth-generation hardware firewall family. 

These are mid- and high-end devices used in data centers, at the internet edge, and for campus segmentation, Oswal explained. The hardware boasts five times the performance of earlier versions, he added.

The new firewalls, Nebula software, and revamped capabilities will be available in March.