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Firepower 7000 and 8000 Series Installation Guide
Chapter 1 Introduction to the Firepower System
Licensing the Firepower System
File Tracking, Control, and Network-Based Advanced Malware Protection (AMP)
To help you identify and mitigate the effects of malware, the Firepower System’s file control, network
file trajectory, and advanced malware protection components can detect, track, capture, analyze, and
optionally block the transmission of files (including malware files) in network traffic.
File control is a policy-based feature, integrated into access control, that allows managed devices to
detect and block your users from uploading (sending) or downloading (receiving) files of specific types
over specific application protocols.
Network-based advanced malware protection (AMP) allows the system to inspect network traffic for
malware in several types of files. Appliances can store detected files for further analysis, either to their
hard drive or (for some models) a malware storage pack.
Regardless of whether you store a detected file, you can submit it to the Cisco cloud for a simple
known-disposition lookup using the files SHA-256 hash value. You can also submit files for dynamic
analysis, which produces a threat score. Using this contextual information, you can configure the system
to block or allow specific files.
FireAMP is Cisco’s enterprise-class, advanced malware analysis and protection solution that discovers,
understands, and blocks advanced malware outbreaks, advanced persistent threats, and targeted attacks.
If your organization has a FireAMP subscription, individual users install FireAMP Connectors on their
computers and mobile devices (also called endpoints). These lightweight agents communicate with the
Cisco cloud, which in turn communicates with the Firepower Management Center.
After you configure the Firepower Management Center to connect to the cloud, you can use the
Firepower Management Center web interface to view endpoint-based malware events generated as a
result of scans, detections, and quarantines on the endpoints in your organization. The Firepower
Management Center also uses FireAMP data to generate and track indications of compromise on hosts,
as well as display network file trajectories.
The network file trajectory feature allows you to track a file’s transmission path across a network. The
system uses SHA-256 hash values to track files. Each file has an associated trajectory map, which
contains a visual display of the file’s transfers over time as well as additional information about the file.
Application Programming Interfaces
There are several ways to interact with the system using application programming interfaces (APIs):
•The Event Streamer (eStreamer) allows you to stream several kinds of event data from a Firepower
System appliance to a custom-developed client application.
•The database access feature allows you to query several database tables on a Firepower Management
Center, using a third-party client that supports JDBC SSL connections.
•The host input feature allows you to augment the information in the network map by importing data
from third-party sources using scripts or command-line files.
•Remediations are programs that your Firepower Management Center can automatically launch when
certain conditions on your network are met. This can not only automatically mitigate attacks when
you are not immediately available to address them, but can also ensure that your system remains
compliant with your organization’s security policy.
Licensing the Firepower System
You can license a variety of features to create an optimal Firepower System deployment for your
organization. You use the Firepower Management Center to manage licenses for itself and the devices it
manages. The license types offered by the Firepower System depend upon the type of device you want
to manage: