Firepower
Cisco network firewall product line; linked to FIRESTARTER implant documented in earlier Lowdown events.
Last refreshed: 8 May 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Are Cisco Firepower and Palo Alto PAN-OS being targeted by the same state actors?
Timeline for Firepower
Mentioned in: CL-STA-1132 exploited PAN-OS since 16 April, log destruction confirmed
Cybersecurity: Threats and Defences- What is the FIRESTARTER implant and does it affect Cisco Firepower?
- FIRESTARTER is a persistent implant documented in prior Lowdown cyber-threats-and-defences events, associated with Cisco Firepower appliances. It represents a class of firmware or software-level persistence on perimeter network devices.
- Is Cisco Firepower being targeted by the same hackers attacking Palo Alto?
- Both Cisco Firepower and Palo Alto PAN-OS have been documented targets of nation-state or state-sponsored actors. CL-STA-1132 targeted PAN-OS in April 2026; Firepower is linked to the FIRESTARTER implant documented in prior coverage. The broader pattern shows perimeter firewalls as primary nation-state attack surface.
- What is Cisco Firepower and how is it different from Cisco ASA?
- Cisco Firepower is Cisco's next-generation firewall (NGFW) product line, combining the Firepower Threat Defence (FTD) software platform with application-layer inspection and integrated intrusion prevention. The older Cisco ASA is a stateful firewall without native NGFW capabilities; Firepower replaced and extended it with threat intelligence and URL filtering.Source: Cisco
- How widespread is Cisco Firepower deployment in government and enterprise networks?
- Cisco Firepower is among the most widely deployed NGFW products globally, used in enterprise, service provider, and government environments as both perimeter and internal network controls. Its ubiquity makes it a high-value target for nation-state actors seeking persistent access to large network estates.
Background
Firepower is Cisco's next-generation firewall (NGFW) product line, encompassing the Firepower Threat Defence (FTD) software platform and associated hardware appliances. Firepower products are widely deployed in enterprise, service provider, and government environments as perimeter and internal network security controls. The FIRESTARTER implant, documented in prior Lowdown cyber-threats-and-defences events (see event ID 2911), is a persistent threat associated with Cisco Firepower appliances — representing the class of perimeter-device compromise threats that also underpins the May 2026 PAN-OS exploits.
Firepower was developed through Cisco's 2013 acquisition of Sourcefire, the company behind the Snort intrusion detection system and FireSIGHT network visibility platform. The integration of Sourcefire's technology gave Cisco a competitive threat-detection layer within the firewall itself. Firepower Management Centre (FMC) is the centralised management console for Firepower deployments.
The relevance of Firepower in the U#3 cyber-threats context is as a comparator and precedent: the pattern of state actors targeting firewall operating systems (PAN-OS via CL-STA-1132, Cisco Firepower via FIRESTARTER) underscores that network perimeter devices are a primary nation-state attack surface globally, regardless of vendor. Network defenders managing mixed firewall estates must treat both product lines as high-priority patching targets.