CATO FWAAS · NGFW · LAYER 7 DPI · MICROSEGMENTATION · AI POLICY

Firewall as a Service — Cloud-Native NGFW, No Appliances

Cato FWaaS delivers enterprise-grade next-generation firewall capabilities from the cloud — unlimited processing, AI-powered policy management, and full Layer 7 deep packet inspection for all users and all locations, without buying or managing hardware.

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Unlimited
Cloud firewall throughput — no appliance sizing constraints
Layer 7
Deep packet inspection for all traffic, all locations
AI Policy
Machine-learning based policy recommendation engine
75+ PoPs
Global delivery points for low-latency enforcement

Cato FWaaS Core Capabilities

Enterprise-grade firewall protection delivered from the cloud — no hardware sizing, no per-site management, no throughput limits.

Full Layer 7 Deep Packet Inspection

Cato FWaaS inspects all traffic at Layer 7 — application identification, user identity, content, and threat indicators. Unlike appliance-based firewalls, cloud processing scales elastically — no throughput degradation as traffic grows.

AI-Powered Policy Management

Cato's AI engine analyses traffic patterns and recommends policy optimizations — identifying overly permissive rules, unused policies, and shadow IT applications. Policy configuration assistants suggest rules based on observed behaviour, reducing configuration errors.

Microsegmentation

Enforce least-privilege east-west traffic policies between workloads, segments, and cloud environments. Microsegmentation prevents lateral movement by attackers who have compromised one segment — a critical control for ransomware containment.

TLS/SSL Inspection

Full inspection of encrypted HTTPS traffic — where 90%+ of modern attacks hide. Cato decrypts, inspects, and re-encrypts traffic inline without dedicated SSL inspection appliances. Certificate pinning and selective bypass policies supported.

Consistent Policy Across All Locations

The same firewall policy applies to office users, remote workers, and cloud workloads — enforced at the nearest Cato PoP. No more different rules for HQ vs branch vs remote — unified policy from one console.

Threat Intelligence & IPS

Real-time threat intelligence feeds (IP reputation, domain reputation, malware signatures) and inline IPS signatures applied at every PoP. Threats blocked before reaching your network — no dependence on endpoint detection as a last line of defence.

Why Deploy Cato FWaaS with Ogma

Cato FWaaS migration requires specialist expertise. Ogma brings certified Cato deployment experience and a structured migration methodology.

Cato Authorized Partner

Ogma is a certified Cato Networks partner. Our engineers have deployed Cato FWaaS as part of SASE transformations for multi-branch Indian enterprises — replacing physical firewall appliances at dozens of branch locations with cloud-delivered enforcement.

Migration Without Disruption

Moving from a physical NGFW (FortiGate, Palo Alto, Check Point) to Cato FWaaS requires careful policy migration. Ogma maps existing firewall rules to Cato policies, validates coverage, and performs cutover in stages — ensuring zero security gaps during transition.

Total Cost of Ownership

Cato FWaaS eliminates hardware refresh cycles (every 3–5 years), firmware maintenance, licensing complexity, and the need for firewall expertise at each branch. For most enterprises, Cato FWaaS delivers lower 5-year TCO vs per-appliance firewall deployment.

Ogma FWaaS Migration Process

A structured four-phase approach that preserves existing security coverage throughout the transition to cloud-native enforcement.

1
Policy Audit

Review and document existing firewall policies. Identify unused rules, overlapping policies, and compliance requirements that must be preserved in the cloud firewall.

2
Cato Configuration

Build the equivalent policy set in Cato's management console. Application definitions, URL categories, threat prevention profiles, and logging configuration.

3
Traffic Steering

Configure Cato Sockets (SD-WAN appliances) at branches or IPSec tunnels from existing infrastructure to route traffic through Cato FWaaS PoPs.

4
Cutover & Validation

Gradual traffic cutover from legacy firewall to Cato FWaaS. Real-time monitoring of blocked events and application performance during cutover. Legacy firewall remains in parallel until validation is complete.

Where Cato FWaaS Delivers Most Value

Cloud-native firewall enforcement addresses use cases that hardware appliances cannot solve efficiently or economically.

Branch Office Security

Replace physical NGFW at every branch with cloud enforcement — dramatically reducing hardware, maintenance, and on-site expertise requirements.

Multi-Cloud Connectivity

Secure east-west traffic between AWS, Azure, and GCP environments using Cato's cloud-native NGFW — no separate cloud firewall products per cloud provider.

Remote Workforce

Apply the same NGFW policies to remote users via Cato Client — no split tunnel security risks, consistent enforcement from any location.

M&A Integration

Rapidly extend security policies to acquired companies without complex firewall rule merges. Onboard new sites to Cato FWaaS in hours, not weeks.

Compliance

Centralized policy documentation, change logging, and compliance reporting for PCI-DSS, ISO 27001, DPDPA, and RBI CSF frameworks.

IoT & OT Security

Microsegmentation for IoT device fleets — isolate cameras, printers, and building automation systems from corporate traffic with granular Layer 7 policies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions from enterprise teams evaluating Cato FWaaS as a replacement for hardware NGFW.

An on-premise NGFW is sized at purchase — if traffic grows beyond its capacity, you either upgrade hardware or accept degraded performance. Cato FWaaS runs on elastic cloud infrastructure — capacity scales automatically. Additionally, cloud FWaaS enforces consistent policies across all locations (branches, remote users, cloud) from a single console, while on-premise firewalls require separate management per appliance.

Yes. Cato performs full TLS/SSL inspection by decrypting traffic at the PoP, inspecting at Layer 7, and re-encrypting before forwarding. Policies for selective bypass (sensitive financial apps, healthcare systems with certificate pinning) are configurable. TLS 1.3 inspection is supported.

Cato's machine learning engine analyses actual traffic patterns observed in your environment and compares them against your configured policies. It identifies rules that are never matched (candidates for removal), overly broad rules (candidates for tightening), and newly observed applications that need explicit policies. This significantly reduces the manual effort of firewall policy hygiene.

Yes — at the branch level. Cato FWaaS replaces branch NGFW appliances entirely. For the data centre perimeter, most customers maintain their existing NGFW (Palo Alto, FortiGate, Check Point) and connect the data centre to Cato via IPSec, eventually migrating the DC perimeter in a later phase.

Microsegmentation divides your network into granular zones and enforces firewall policies between them — preventing lateral movement if an attacker compromises one host. Traditional firewalls focus on perimeter north-south traffic; microsegmentation addresses east-west traffic inside the network — the path ransomware and APTs use to spread. Cato FWaaS enforces microsegmentation policies without requiring separate network redesign.

For applications in Indian data centres, Cato deploys an IPSec or SD-WAN Socket at the data centre edge. All traffic destined for those applications (from branches, remote users, or cloud workloads) routes through the nearest Cato PoP (Mumbai or Chennai), is inspected, and then forwarded to the data centre over the Cato backbone — providing consistent policy enforcement without backhauling through a central firewall appliance.

Cato FWaaS is licensed as part of Cato's SASE platform — typically priced per seat (remote users) and per site bandwidth (branch connectivity). Security services (FWaaS, SWG, CASB, IPS) are included in the base SASE license — no separate licensing per security module. Contact Ogma for INR pricing.

Eliminate Branch Firewall Appliances with Cato FWaaS

Ogma will design your migration from hardware-based NGFW to cloud-native Cato FWaaS — zero security gaps, phased cutover.