Threat Prevention vs. Advanced Threat Prevention

Overview

Palo Alto Networks offers two distinct security services to protect against network threats: Threat Prevention and Advanced Threat Prevention. While both aim to safeguard networks, they differ in their capabilities and approaches to threat detection and prevention.

Comparison Table

Feature	Threat Prevention	Advanced Threat Prevention
Detection Method	Signature-based	Signature-based + Inline Deep Learning & Machine Learning
Threat Coverage	Known threats (malware, spyware, vulnerabilities)	Known and unknown threats, including zero-day exploits and evasive C2 traffic
Inline Analysis	No	Yes, with real-time inline cloud and local deep learning analysis
Cloud Dependency	Low	High (requires cloud connectivity for advanced analysis)
Performance Impact	Minimal	Optimized for performance with single-pass architecture
Subscription Requirement	Threat Prevention License	Advanced Threat Prevention License

Threat Prevention

The Threat Prevention service provides protection against known threats using signature-based detection. It includes:

Antivirus protection
Anti-spyware capabilities
Vulnerability protection

This service is effective against threats that have been previously identified and cataloged.

Advanced Threat Prevention

Advanced Threat Prevention builds upon the capabilities of Threat Prevention by incorporating advanced technologies to detect and prevent unknown and evasive threats. Key features include:

Inline deep learning and machine learning models for real-time threat analysis
Detection and prevention of zero-day exploits
Protection against advanced command-and-control (C2) traffic
Local Deep Learning for on-device analysis, reducing latency

This service is designed to address sophisticated threats that traditional signature-based methods might miss.

Sequence Diagram: Advanced Threat Prevention Workflow

sequenceDiagram
    participant Client
    participant Firewall
    participant ATP Cloud

    Client->>Firewall: Sends traffic
    Firewall->>Firewall: Signature-based inspection
    alt Known threat detected
        Firewall-->>Client: Block traffic
    else Unknown threat
        Firewall->>ATP Cloud: Send for analysis
        ATP Cloud-->>Firewall: Verdict (malicious/benign)
        alt Malicious
            Firewall-->>Client: Block traffic
        else
            Firewall-->>Client: Allow traffic
        end
    end

Advanced Threat Prevention Capabilities

Palo Alto Networks' Advanced Threat Prevention (ATP) is an intrusion prevention system (IPS) solution designed to detect and block malware, vulnerability exploits, and command-and-control (C2) threats across all ports and protocols. It employs a multi-layered prevention system with components operating both on the firewall and in the cloud.

Key features of ATP include:

Inline Cloud Analysis: Utilizes machine learning-based detection engines in the cloud to analyze traffic for advanced C2 and spyware threats in real-time, protecting against zero-day threats.
Local Deep Learning: Supported platforms can perform fast, local deep learning-based analysis of zero-day and other evasive threats, complementing cloud-based analysis and reducing latency.
Comprehensive Threat Detection: ATP can detect and prevent threats such as DNS relaying attacks, command injection, SQL injection vulnerabilities, and domain fronting techniques used to evade URL filtering.
Threat Intelligence Integration: The system leverages threat data from Palo Alto Networks services to create signatures and enforce security policies when matching threats and malicious behaviors are detected.
Detailed Reporting: ATP provides reports that include tools and techniques used by attackers, the scope and impact of detections, and classifications based on the MITRE ATT&CK® framework.

For more detailed information, refer to the official documentation: About Advanced Threat Prevention.