CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Cisco vs Zscaler

Cisco sells security products that protect users, devices, apps, and data. Zscaler sells a unified cybersecurity platform built on the Zero Trust Exchange. CISO Tribune files both under Firewalls and NGFW and SASE and SSE. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

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  • Cisco
  • Zscaler
Cisco vs Zscaler: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
CiscoCisco sells security products that protect users, devices, apps, and data.cisco.comZscalerZscaler sells a unified cybersecurity platform built on the Zero Trust Exchange.zscaler.com
What it sells
  • Cisco HypershieldA security architecture for data centers that segments workloads and closes exploit gaps at scale.
  • Cisco Secure AccessA secure access service edge (SASE) product that unifies networking and security policy for a distributed workforce.
  • Cisco Duo[1]An identity security product that gives visibility into an organization's identity ecosystem and enforces access policy.
  • Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)A network access control product that uses data from across Cisco's stack to enforce policy, manage endpoints and grant trusted access.
  • Splunk Enterprise Security[1]A security information and event management product that detects and responds to threats using collected logs and events.
  • Cisco Talos[1]A threat intelligence and research organization that supplies threat data used across Cisco's security products.
  • Zscaler Zero Trust Browser[5]Extends Zero Trust to the browser.
  • Zscaler Deception[6]Zscaler Deception is used to detect machine-speed attacker behavior.
  • Zscaler AppProtection[4]Protects private apps from web- and identity-based attacks.
  • AI Guard[8]Provides an overview of the users and AI applications that AI Guard manages.
  • Zscaler Cloud Sandbox[7]Provides protection from threats not detectable using traditional security techniques.
  • Zscaler China Premium Access[4]Delivers secure connectivity for China-based employees.
Categories
Headquarters
San Jose, United States[3][13]Not stated on its pages
Founded
1984[4]2007[1]
Ownership and funding
Public (NASDAQ: CSCO)[1][2][10][12][13]Public (NASDAQ: ZS)[2][4][13][14]
Named customers
  • Marriott[5]
  • United States Golf Association[6]
  • Rosen Hotels & Resorts[7]
  • Elon University[8]
Not stated on its pages
Recent news
  • August 12, 2026Cisco reported fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 revenue of $17.3 billion for the period ended July 25, 2026.[2]
  • May 13, 2026Cisco reported fiscal third-quarter 2026 revenue of $15.8 billion for the period ended April 25, 2026.[9]
  • May 4, 2026Cisco announced its intent to acquire Astrix Security, a non-human identity security company, and completed the acquisition on June 29, 2026.[10]
  • April 9, 2026Cisco announced its intent to acquire Galileo Technologies, Inc.[11]
  • November 25, 2025Cisco completed its acquisition of EzDubs, a privately held AI software company based in San Francisco.[13]
  • May 21, 2026Zscaler announced its intent to acquire Symmetry Systems, a company that maps identities and data access for AI security.[12]
  • February 5, 2026Zscaler announced it has acquired SquareX to extend its Zero Trust capabilities into the browser.[13]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: listed, seen November 5, 2026[12]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: listed, seen November 10, 2026[14]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
From its own pages, Cisco sells mainly to enterprises that need to secure hybrid environments spanning data center, cloud, campus, and IoT. Cisco addresses organizations with a global workforce that need secure access for humans, things, and agents under one consistent policy model. Cisco addresses enterprises that want to govern an agentic AI workforce. Security teams are addressed with unified intelligence and operations for visibility across users, systems, and AI agents.From its own pages, Zscaler sells to organisations that need secure remote access to business applications for a hybrid workforce. Zscaler extends zero trust access to private applications for users in headquarters and branch offices. Zscaler addresses government and federal cybersecurity. Zscaler addresses state and local government operations. Zscaler offers solutions for UK healthcare organisations such as the NHS. Zscaler offers a SaaS-delivered solution for China-based employees.
Last verified
October 10, 2026November 5, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Cisco and Zscaler are both filed under Firewalls and NGFW and SASE and SSE.
  • Both are public companies.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Cisco's primary category is Firewalls and NGFW; Zscaler's is SASE and SSE.
  • Cisco is also filed under Network access control and SIEM. Zscaler is also filed under Zero trust network access and Remote browser isolation.
  • Cisco lists Cisco Hypershield, Cisco Secure Access, Cisco Duo, Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE), Splunk Enterprise Security and 1 more. Zscaler lists Zscaler Zero Trust Browser, Zscaler Deception, Zscaler AppProtection, AI Guard, Zscaler Cloud Sandbox and 1 more.
  • Cisco is headquartered in San Jose, United States.
  • Cisco was founded in 1984. Zscaler was founded in 2007.
  • Cisco is a public company listed on NASDAQ as CSCO. Zscaler is a public company listed on NASDAQ as ZS.
  • Cisco publicly names Marriott, United States Golf Association, Rosen Hotels & Resorts and Elon University.

What it sells: Zscaler

What Zscaler Zero Trust Browser does[5]
Zscaler combines AI-based isolation of web threats with Browser Detection and Response (BDR) capabilities. Zscaler provides cloud-delivered and in-browser data loss prevention, including screenshot and keystroke logger protection. Zscaler enforces browser security through an extension, an enterprise browser, or cloud browser isolation.
What Zscaler AppProtection does[4]
Zscaler AppProtection streamlines private access management. Zscaler AppProtection is a key part of ZPA.
What Zscaler Cloud Sandbox does[7]
GHD uses Zscaler Cloud Sandbox to provide further protection from threats not detectable using traditional security techniques. A Zscaler dashboard widget shows the flow and dispensation of files sent to the sandbox.
What Zscaler China Premium Access does[4]
Zscaler China Premium Access is a SaaS-delivered solution. Zscaler China Premium Access delivers secure connectivity for China-based employees as a SaaS-delivered solution.

Questions about Cisco and Zscaler

What do Cisco and Zscaler sell?
Cisco sells Cisco Hypershield, Cisco Secure Access, Cisco Duo, Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE), Splunk Enterprise Security and 1 more. Zscaler sells Zscaler Zero Trust Browser, Zscaler Deception, Zscaler AppProtection, AI Guard, Zscaler Cloud Sandbox and 1 more.
Are Cisco and Zscaler in the same category?
They share Firewalls and NGFW and SASE and SSE. Cisco's primary category is Firewalls and NGFW and Zscaler's is SASE and SSE.
Where are Cisco and Zscaler headquartered?
Cisco is headquartered in San Jose, United States.
When were Cisco and Zscaler founded?
Cisco was founded in 1984. Zscaler was founded in 2007.
Who owns Cisco and Zscaler?
Cisco is a public company listed on NASDAQ as CSCO. Zscaler is a public company listed on NASDAQ as ZS.
Which customers do Cisco and Zscaler name?
Cisco publicly names Marriott, United States Golf Association, Rosen Hotels & Resorts and Elon University.
Who are Cisco and Zscaler sold to?
From its own pages, Cisco sells mainly to enterprises that need to secure hybrid environments spanning data center, cloud, campus, and IoT. From its own pages, Zscaler sells to organisations that need secure remote access to business applications for a hybrid workforce.
What have Cisco and Zscaler announced recently?
August 12, 2026: Cisco reported fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 revenue of $17.3 billion for the period ended July 25, 2026. May 21, 2026: Zscaler announced its intent to acquire Symmetry Systems, a company that maps identities and data access for AI security.

About Cisco

Cisco sells security products that protect users, devices, apps, and data. Cisco describes the offering as an open, network-native platform built to handle today's threats and enable the agentic enterprise at scale.

Cisco says its security applies policy, inspection, and enforcement at every connection. Cisco also describes unified data for earlier detection and faster response, powered by AI-driven context.

For cloud protection, Cisco describes securing modern cloud and AI apps at runtime with segmentation that keeps up with change, vulnerability shielding to close the patching gap, and protection for AI workloads. Cisco Encrypted Visibility Engine (EVE) is used to find malicious flows in encrypted traffic and to decrypt without sacrificing performance. Cisco says it stops zero days using Snort ML and Talos Threat Intelligence. Cisco offers distributed, optimized enforcement with unified management across a hybrid enterprise, and the same enforcement is described for data center, cloud, campus, and IoT environments.

Cisco describes a security architecture designed to defend modern, AI-scale data centers. Cisco says the architecture closes exploit gaps, segments everywhere, and self-qualifies updates and changes.

For workforce protection, Cisco describes secure access for humans, things, and agents with one consistent policy model. Cisco offers a cloud-native security service edge (SSE) that includes digital experience monitoring. Cisco offers a single-vendor SASE that unifies networking and security for a global workforce. Cisco offers identity security for the workforce that helps see across the entire identity ecosystem. Cisco offers multicloud NAC with zero trust, which uses intel from across the stack to enforce policy, manage endpoints, and deliver trusted access.

For threat intelligence and response, Cisco describes detecting, investigating, and responding faster with unified intelligence and operations. Cisco says this gives a team continuous visibility across users, systems, and AI agents in a single platform. Cisco describes unifying the data fabric, analytics, tooling and AI to automate the mundane, clarify the complex, and proactively mitigate risk.

Cisco also addresses agentic AI. Cisco describes safeguarding the agentic workforce against malicious attacks and data leakage. Cisco says it integrates identity, access, and behavioral controls to govern an agentic AI workforce and reduce risk. At RSAC 2026, Jeetu Patel, Cisco's President and Chief Product Officer, challenged the industry to fundamentally reimagine security.

Cisco Services provide expert guidance to plan, design, implement, operate, and optimize an IT environment. Cisco says support for Cisco Security products is available through the Cisco support hub, which provides product-specific resources, documentation, downloads, and expert assistance.

Cisco on the record

Sources

Cisco full record

  1. [1]Security Products and Solutions for Cloud and Workforce Protection - CiscoCisco · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Cisco reports fourth quarter earningsCisco · newsroom.cisco.com · published August 12, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]IndexCisco · cisco.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Cisco systems reaches agreement with state city on major land purchaseCisco · newsroom.cisco.com · published April 17, 1996 · Tier A
  5. [5]MarriottCisco · cisco.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]cisco.comCisco · cisco.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]Rosen hotels and resortsCisco · cisco.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Elon universityCisco · cisco.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Cisco reports third quarter earningsCisco · newsroom.cisco.com · published May 13, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Cisco announces intent to acquire astrix securityCisco · blogs.cisco.com · published May 4, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Making AI Trustworthy and Observable in Real-Time: Cisco Announces Intent to Acquire GalileoCisco Blogs · published April 9, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Cisco Security Services Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier C
  13. [13]Cisco completes EzDubs acquisition - CiscoCisco · published November 25, 2025 · Tier A

Zscaler full record

  1. [1]About zscalerZscaler · zscaler.com · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]zscaler.comZscaler · zscaler.com · undated page, accessed November 5, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Leading Cloud Enterprise Security Provider for Zero TrustZscaler · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Products & Solutions | ZscalerZscaler · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Zscaler Zero Trust BrowserZscaler · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Stop Frontier AI with Deception | Zscaler CybersecurityZscaler · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]GHD Case Study | Customer Stories | ZscalerZscaler · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]About AI Guard Dashboard | ZscalerZscaler · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Viewing the Cybersecurity Dashboard | ZscalerZscaler · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]About Custom Dashboards | ZscalerZscaler · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]About Alerts | ZscalerZscaler · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Zscaler to Acquire Symmetry Systems, Combining Zero Trust and Access Graph Technology to Map and Secure AI Agent Communication | Zscaler, Inc.Zscaler, Inc. · published May 21, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Zscaler Acquires SquareX to Advance Zero Trust Browser Security for the AI Era | ZscalerZscaler · published February 5, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Zscaler Internet Access Reviews & Product DetailsG2 · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier C

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