In a previous organization at HBL, we were using Cisco Umbrella as well, so it has been a quite long time.
Umbrella DNS Security Essentials
Cisco Systems, Inc.External reviews
307 reviews
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External reviews are not included in the AWS star rating for the product.
Reliable DNS-Level Protection Anywhere, with Windows Agent and Mobile App
What do you like best about the product?
It does what it states. Protection at a DNS level, it has its own agent for Windows and app for mobile. Where you are connected to office network or not, you are still protected. A great layer of defense on top of AV systems.
What do you dislike about the product?
Cannot thick of anything. Just because you are working at a DNS layer. You need to know what you are configuring to avoid any service disruption.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
It adds defense in depth in our environment. This way we are not just relying on AV. It also adds great visibility in the AI world where everyone wants to access all the AI websites out there. Also they are pretty fast in updating their database about new websites.
Light weight content filter
What do you like best about the product?
Creating policies and testing policies is a breeze
What do you dislike about the product?
Mostly cost, and its proxying behavior did negatively impact some traffic.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
URL filtering on the corporate network and outside of it.
Proactive Security and Seamless Integration
What do you like best about the product?
I really appreciate Cisco Umbrella for its proactive nature in blocking DNS hits to malicious websites. It does a wonderful job by maintaining a list of malicious links and promptly blocking them when an unaware employee clicks on such links. This feature is very proactive and helps safeguard our organization from malicious exposure. I also find the DNS management aspect impressive, as Cisco handles all the technical parts, making it easy for us to just plug the solution into our endpoints and ensure everything is safeguarded. The onboarding process was pretty straightforward with neat documentation, and using the cloud-based solution made it perfect and easy to deploy. I must say, I rate it 10 out of 10 for recommendations.
What do you dislike about the product?
There was a lack of AI innovation in Cisco Umbrella. When I was using it, there was no AI in that solution. That's something they can improve on. FYI I used cisco unbrella from 2021 to early 2025. They may have improved in this space in last 2 year.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Cisco Umbrella secures DNS by managing blacklist and malicious website lists, saving us the complexity and cost of doing it manually. It proactively blocks threats, safeguarding our employees from malicious exposure with ease of setup and integration into our systems.
Powerful Threat Management, Needs Better Search Functionality
What do you like best about the product?
I like Cisco Umbrella because its interface is neat and makes finding options easy. It's also straightforward to block things globally. Plus, it's easy to set up.
What do you dislike about the product?
Search options need to be improved since I can't search the required URLs easily. Smarter filtering options like user + device + location together would help.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I use Cisco Umbrella to block malicious domains and URLs, check on malicious URL clicks, and access reports on high phishing links, enhancing our cyber team's security.
Secure browsing has protected users from DNS threats and improves malware defense
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
Cisco Umbrella is specifically designed for DNS protection, with features including a user-friendly console and the easiest installation. It offers very prominent threat feeding from different Talos sources, securing multiple platforms. Cisco Umbrella helps protect from malware and unsafe sites. It is especially useful in mitigating DNS attacks and ensuring secure browsing for end users.
What needs improvement?
The major issue is that sometimes when you install the client, it shows you protected and displays that it is live with the backend servers and everything. However, in reality, it was not getting any feed from the main client and is just sending your traffic to open DNS, which sometimes causes an issue because the protection you have implemented can be breached by users.
The primary thing that Cisco Umbrella lacked most of the time is their client. Previously, they had a separate Cisco client. Now they have merged everything into the Cisco Secure Endpoint client—one client for everything, for Cisco Endpoint, for Cisco AnyConnect, and for Cisco Umbrella, which they did probably in 2025.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for almost two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
As a customer, I have never been satisfied with any product for a longer period of time, so that is a tricky question to answer.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
If you require 10 clients or however many you need or whatever expansion you require, they are just a click away.
How are customer service and support?
Cisco is always known for their best technical support, so there is no doubt about it.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
At that time I was working in HBL on the Symantec DLP product.
How was the initial setup?
Cisco Umbrella is specifically designed for DNS protection, and the features they have include a user-friendly console and probably the easiest installation.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
If you go with the main competitor product, there is no doubt that Infoblox is the best product.
What other advice do I have?
There are a couple of products we are working on. We use Cisco EDR and XDR, for DLP we have Forcepoint, and for cyber threat intelligence, we have EPP.
We focus on DLP and the classification tool, which is for data visibility and DLP. It is kind of data protection that is used for classification.
For Cisco, we use FTDs. It is the Cisco Secure Endpoint, which is known as Cisco EDR, Endpoint Detection and Response.
We use Cisco Umbrella for DNS protection. In the current environment, cyber security resolves your addresses securely and protects from threats from outside. Most attacks happen over DNS, so those DNS queries can be mitigated if you have a secure way for browsing for your end users.
We are not using Cisco Umbrella for the proxy. We are using it from our DNS perspective. As a strategy, we are using it for outside communication through the DNS resolver. However, Cisco Umbrella has now combined with Secure Access, which comes with different features. Previously, Cisco had WSA for the proxy. Now they have come up with a proxy solution that gives Cisco Umbrella protection with remote proxy and cloud proxy solution, which is known as Secure Access.
As I mentioned earlier, they have very prominent threat feeding from different Talos sources, securing us on multiple platforms where, as an enterprise, you might not have those features and the feed to protect yourself. Cisco Umbrella is definitely a good product from that perspective and is going to help you protect from malware and from sites which are reputedly not marked as safe for the user. I would rate this review an eight out of ten.
Great product for DNS Security and intrinsic component for Cisco's Zero Trust - SASE infrastructure.
What do you like best about the product?
Implemented Cisco Umbrella as our de-facto DNS security solution for outbound internet traffic. Saw immediate wins, by seeing drastic reduction in number of the DNS requests towards crypto mining sites, CnC sites. Helped enforce domain based filtering, providing domain reputation scores (which fed into TPRM assessments) for partners. Ease of use (all you need to do is configure Cisco Umbrella as DNS forwarder) .Easy to implement as all you need to do is configure the Cisco Umbrella anycast IPs as DNS forwarder. Cisco's customer support is proactive, however there are typically no issues considering the platform is fairly stable. The domain whitelisting / re-categorization turn around time is typically quick between 24-36 hours, for most of the cases we had. Easy to integrate with Cisco SIG, easy to implement the Cisco VAs, on different form factors - vSphere / AWS cloud, etc.
What do you dislike about the product?
There is no integration between Cisco Umbrella with third party next generation firewalls such as Palo Alto firewalls / Prisma Access or Fortinet firewalls, which implies that the encrypted channel established between Cisco Virtual Appliances (VAs) and Umbrella cloud cannot be decrypted if SSL decryption is enabled on the perimeter firewall.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Securing DNS for both data center, cloud workloads and users in the corporate offices and remote users - roaming clients. Helped implement a uniform security posture for users and workloads irrespective of the location. Integrated with Cisco Talos which ensures real time threat intel feeds.
Reliable Cloud Security and DNS Protection with Easy Deployment
What do you like best about the product?
Cisco Umbrella is very effective at providing DNS-layer protection, blocking malicious domains before threats can reach users or devices. The cloud-based approach makes deployment and scaling extremely simple, with minimal infrastructure overhead. The reporting dashboards are intuitive and provide valuable insights into threat activity, allowing administrators to act quickly. Integration with other Cisco products also strengthens the overall security ecosystem and enhances visibility across the network.
What do you dislike about the product?
While Cisco Umbrella is powerful, the pricing can be a barrier for smaller organizations, as costs increase with scale. Some advanced policy configurations require additional expertise to fine-tune properly. In addition, reporting customization could be more flexible to allow deeper drill-downs. Despite these points, the platform remains highly effective for enterprise-level protection.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Cisco Umbrella helps our organization block malicious domains at the DNS layer, reducing the risk of phishing, malware, and ransomware attacks before they ever reach users or endpoints. It also provides secure web gateway capabilities, ensuring that all internet-bound traffic is inspected and controlled, even for remote or roaming users. This has improved our overall security posture, minimized incidents, and simplified policy enforcement across distributed teams. The centralized dashboard also provides valuable insights and reporting, which saves time during investigations and compliance audits.
Has required extensive customization for non-technical users and still needs better simplification
What is our primary use case?
The main use case for Cisco Umbrella is to protect our clients from various threats as it works on the DNS layer while firewalls and other security appliances work differently. We trust that no client should access any unverified website since it protects on the DNS layer to ensure their safety from malware and unknown sites. The Cisco Umbrella denies requests to untrusted websites, ensuring our clients are protected; we use it along with Hunters and firewalls for three layers of protection.
Cisco Umbrella is the first layer of security that protects me while surfing the net, identifying untrusted websites to prevent access. It guards against inside threats, while firewalls provide broader protection; Cisco Umbrella is especially useful for non-technical users who may not understand the risks.
What is most valuable?
Cisco Umbrella provides main benefits by not being too costly compared to other products, making it accessible for all clients, and I think it is essential for those who want complete safety.
The Intelligent Proxy feature of Cisco Umbrella is useful, though we do not elaborate much on this proxy feature.
The reporting and analytics capabilities in Cisco Umbrella are helpful, but since we have many clients, we cannot fully analyze everything. If any client objects to a website being protected, we analyze it and suggest whether they should proceed or not.
What needs improvement?
Customization for basic users can be complex, as it is targeted toward only technical users.
It would be beneficial if Cisco simplifies the customization process while still ensuring strong security to prevent unauthorized access.
Simplifying the customization part could enhance Cisco Umbrella, but overall, it is a good solution for me.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Cisco Umbrella for the last year, not more than a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability of Cisco Umbrella nine out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
For scalability, I would rate it nine out of ten, as the product is good.
The solution cannot be scaled because it serves primarily as endpoint security.
For enterprise-level companies, it is easy to expand the number of users as they provide a dashboard that allows monitoring and solution delivery for all clients in one place.
How are customer service and support?
Whenever we ask Cisco for support, they definitely provide it, and we create a ticket for any threats we encounter that bypass their system.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup for Cisco Umbrella is simple; you just download the application, input the license, and use it without needing complex servers.
What about the implementation team?
For clients who do not know how to set up Cisco Umbrella, we do the setup for them, and they trust us.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I still have not found a main competitor for Cisco Umbrella.
Once I find a better solution among prices, I may switch over, but I currently do not think its price is too much.
What other advice do I have?
Cisco Umbrella is a supportive solution I provide separately, depending on the requirements of the customer, and we ask them what they require first.
Cisco is continuously improving Cisco Umbrella, experimenting with better versions while keeping us informed about changes and upgrades at no cost.
Cisco Umbrella should be available on desktop or laptop to ensure trust and security for non-technical users.
I rate Cisco Umbrella nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
A good system for protecting against browsing malicious websites
What do you like best about the product?
When the system is implemented, there is automatic protection against malicious traffic from within the internal network.
What do you dislike about the product?
The management console is slow,There have been no improvements to the system over the years.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Protection against browsing to malicious websites from the internal network
Policies deploy easily to ensure safe internet usage for students
What is our primary use case?
The primary use of Cisco Umbrella is to monitor our off-network devices, especially as a school district, to track what students are doing. We ensure they don't access any inappropriate sites. We leverage the DNS security when they take devices off our network.
How has it helped my organization?
Being able to create policies and deploy those policies to different groups benefits us in the way that we are actually compliant with our local regulations.
What is most valuable?
The feature of Cisco Umbrella I value most is the ease of use and deployment.
What needs improvement?
A feature I would appreciate seeing enhanced in Cisco Umbrella would be the ability to add or remove agents that we have, instead of just relying on how long the devices have been connected to the platform.
Instead of creating a TAC case, it would be better if we could just call in and they could answer us immediately.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using Cisco Umbrella for about six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability and reliability of the Cisco Umbrella platform are great. Since we launched the platform, we have experienced only one or two outages with Umbrella, which is a notable achievement.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Cisco Umbrella does an excellent job of scaling with our company's growing needs. It does what we need. As we grow and continually acquire devices, we continue to deploy the agent to all of them. There's no problem with scaling.
How are customer service and support?
The customer service and technical support of Cisco Umbrella are great. I would rate the customer service and technical support a seven out of ten. To make it a ten, it would come down to improving the support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I did not use another solution before switching to Cisco Umbrella.
How was the initial setup?
Deployment was actually a good experience. We installed all the VAs and started the agents. We did it from our centralized mobile device management.
What was our ROI?
The biggest return on investment when using Cisco Umbrella is to keep us compliant with our regulations. We're not a non-profit company, it's more about being compliant with our regulations to ensure the students are safe.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing for Cisco Umbrella is fair compared to other platforms out there for DNS security. We acquired it as a bundle with other Cisco purchases.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We have considered other solutions while using Cisco Umbrella. Ultimately, Cisco Umbrella is the one that benefits us the most. The main differences between the solutions we considered and Cisco Umbrella are the ease of use and deployment.
What other advice do I have?
I have not utilized the experience insights feature of Cisco Secure Access. At the moment, we're not using Cisco Secure Access. It's something we would want to explore at some point.
I have not yet visited the Cisco Insider Lab.
Overall, I would rate Cisco Umbrella a nine out of ten.
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