Checkpoint to guard all security layers
CYBERSECURITY firm Check Point Software Technologies urges businesses to look beyond security products and technologies to protect against the loss of sensitive information due to the explosion of personal mobile devices connecting to the corporate network.
According to its South Asia regional director John Ong, security solutions must work in tandem with well-defined policy network access policies, educating employees on security awareness and effective enforcement to minimise the frequency, risk and costs associated with the consumerisation of IT.
All these are part of the company’s “3D Security” vision unveiled last February that provides a three-dimensional blueprint for network security that goes beyond technology to ensure the integrity of all information, he said.
Ong believes that while security policies should be as seamless and transparent as possible, businesses must also look at the human component seriously.
“It is often employees who make mistakes that result in malware infections and information leakage, mainly due to a lack of security awareness,” he said.
Of course, security systems are only reporting on violations and not pro-actively enforcing policy in many cases, he said.
“To achieve a higher level of visibility and control, businesses need to consolidate their security infrastructure, as well as use systems that prevent security incidents rather than just detecting them.”
Check Point’s latest network security suite release, R75, is the first to implement its 3D Security vision.
Based on the company’s Software Blade Architecture, the suite introduces five new components that bring organisations multi-dimensional security in a single, integrated solution for stronger protection across all layers of security, including network, data and endpoints.
The Application Control, Identity Awareness, Data Loss Prevention (DLP), Mobile Access and Anti-bot components enable customers to gain greater visibility and control over data, Web 2.0 applications and mobile access, Ong said.
According to him, Application Control combines robust security technology, user awareness and broad application control that leverages on the Check Point App wiki, which the company’s claimed is the world’s largest application library, with more than 100,000 Web 2.0 applications and social networking widgets.
Identity Awareness, on the other hand, provides businesses with a 360-degree view of user activity and security events for better protection and faster remediation.
DLP, meanwhile, helps businesses move data loss from detection to prevention by preemptively protecting sensitive data and preventing data breaches with real-time user involvement.
The Mobile Access component integrates advanced SSL VPN capabilities and encryption technology to protect against security threats as users remotely connect to the corporate network from any mobile devices.
Finally, the Anti-bot Software Blade protects against bots and APTS (Advance Persistent Threats).
A bot is malicious software that enables cybercriminals to take over computers and execute illegal activities, such as steal data, gain access to nauthorised network resources, initiate denial-of-service attacks or distribute spam. ++++ www.checkpoint.com