Rafi Kretchmer

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., a provider of cybersecurity solutions globally launches Check Point Harmony, the first unified solution to enable secure connectivity to any resource anywhere and give total endpoint protection for users on any device. Harmony secures both corporate and BYOD devices, and internet connections from known and zero-day attacks while giving Zero-Trust access to business applications in a single, easy to manage solution. Securing the new work from anywhere environment is a priority for enterprises, as 81% have adopted mass remote working, and 74% plan to do so permanently. Social engineering attacks However, they have serious concerns about securing remote users: 52% stated their top concern was securing staff endpoints, and 47% said stopping social engineering attacks, yet just 29% deploy endpoint protections on employees' devices. Check Point Harmony addresses these challenges, unifying endpoint, browser, email, and remote access security components to protect all user devices and the enterprise networks they connect to against known and unknown threats. Enhancing overall protection Harmony integrates key security capabilities in a single solution to deliver: Complete web security: As a core component of Harmony, the new Harmony Browse uniquely provides secure, fast, and private web browsing by inspecting all SSL traffic directly on the endpoint without adding latency or re-routing traffic through a secure web service. Harmony Browse blocks zero-day malware downloads, access to phishing websites, and prevents the reuse of corporate passwords. It also keeps users browsing history private, ensuring compliance with data privacy regulations. Harmony Browse is easily deployed as a nano-agent in users' browsers and can be combined with any secure web gateway or endpoint security solution to enhance overall protection. Secure remote access from any device, anywhere: Harmony Connect securely connects any user or branch to any resource, supporting clientless Zero Trust Network Access from any browser. Protects users' email and productivity apps: Harmony Email & Office secures users' email clients and, gives complete protection for Microsoft Office 365, Exchange, Google G Suite, and more. Total endpoint and device security: Harmony Endpoint protects users' PCs from ransomware, phishing, and malware, and minimizes breach impact with autonomous detection and response capability. Harmony Mobile secures employees' mobile devices against malicious apps and network or OS attacks. Mass remote working The forecasts show that by 2024, mobile workers will account for nearly 60% of the total U.S. workforce In the past year, organizations have made significant IT infrastructure changes to enable mass remote working, and they will continue to do so, says Michael Suby, Research VP at IDC. The forecasts show that by 2024, mobile workers will account for nearly 60% of the total U.S. workforce. These accelerated changes open up security gaps and dramatically expand organizations' attack surfaces, especially on employees' own devices and PCs and remote connections to corporate applications. The move to mass remote working created security gaps in organizations' security infrastructures that cannot easily be addressed with multiple different point products from several different security vendors, said Rafi Kretchmer, VP Product Marketing at Check Point Software. Single-Console management Harmony closes these gaps with unified, multi-layered security and prevention technologies, blocking against all exploit techniques across all attack vectors. This protects the enterprises' network end to end, ensuring uncompromised security for the new work from anywhere enterprise environment, with easy deployment and single-console management. Check Point Harmony is easy to deploy with a simple per-user pricing model and is managed via a cloud service, enabling user-centric security policies to be applied across organizations' environments.

New research commissioned by Check Point shows that GDPR is delivering a strong positive effect overall for European businesses – but with some significant variations between countries in terms of adopting GDPR measures. Check Point has also developed a new free online tool called GDPRate to guide businesses through the essential components of an effective GDPR compliance strategy. The study of 1,000 CTOs, CIOs, IT managers and security managers in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK sought to understand how European companies have addressed the requirements of GDPR. It revealed that 74% of organizations overall (UK respondents: 58%) believe GDPR has had a beneficial impact on consumer trust, and 73% claim it has boosted their data security (UK: 54%). Strategic approach to data security 60% of the overall sample (UK: 53%) say their business has fully adopted all GDPR measures 60% of the overall sample (UK: 53%) say their business has fully adopted all GDPR measures, with just 4% still to begin the process (UK: 10%). When asked to rate their performance in dealing with GDPR requirements on a scale from 0 to 10 (0 is ‘not at all’ and 10 is ‘totally’), the average score was an optimistic 7.91 (UK: 6.55). GDPR has encouraged a strategic approach to data security: the research showed that 65% of CTOs, CIOs, IT & security managers believe their company has an organic and strategic approach to cybersecurity (UK: 39%). This strategic approach is defined as one where measures are applied from the bottom up – and this is being used to meet the obligations of GDPR. Meeting the security requirements The study reveals that significant progress has been made across Europe towards GDPR compliance. 53% of respondents said their organization set up a GDPR working group (UK: 37%). Another 45% allocated budget to cover the costs of implementing GDPR (UK: 33%), while 41% employed GDPR consultants (UK: 37%). From an IT perspective, the most common steps taken to meet the security requirements imposed by GDPR are: Adopting standard security measures (44% overall; UK: 31%) Initiating training for employees to increase understanding of data security risks (41% overall; UK: 29%) Implementing an access and encryption control system (41% overall; UK: 29%) The research also revealed the costs of addressing GDPR requirements. 27% of respondents invested between £42,629 and £127,886. A further 25% said their company’s investment was over £127,887. The country that invested the most to meet its GDPR requirements was Italy, with 34.5% of Italian organizations invested over £127,887, followed by Germany (31.5%). The UK invested the least, with only 12.5% of UK respondents saying their company’s investment was over £127,887. Ensuring sensitive business data It’s important for organizations to adopt robust frameworks to meet the demands of GDPR"Rafi Kretchmer, Head of Product Marketing at Check Point Software said: “What’s clear from this research is that many European organizations have made significant progress in implementing the steps required to become GDPR compliant. And quite a few are already seeing powerful benefits. But for many firms there’s still a lot that can be done.” “It’s important for organizations to adopt robust frameworks to meet the demands of GDPR, rather than simply shutting down access to tools and platforms that both employees and customers want to use – like mobile devices and the cloud. There are relatively easy-to-integrate methods of keeping data safe – such as document encryption and hard drive encryption. These approaches can ensure sensitive business data is protected, preventing data leaks and unauthorized access to data.” Protecting private data GDPR’s main aim is to protect private data, so cloud solutions came under scrutiny. Overall, 83% of those polled said their organization uses cloud solutions. But many are more cautious about how the cloud is employed following GDPR’s introduction. Just 7% of companies took the drastic measure of ceasing to use cloud solutions altogether as a result of GDPR. The three most-anticipated long-term benefits of GDPR were found to be: Helping organizations demonstrate their focus on customers’ data and increasing loyalty (45%) Making operations more efficient, especially regarding cybersecurity (44%) Providing a more comprehensive view on the information processed by the company (40%) Effective GDPR compliance strategy However, nearly 13% overall believe that GDPR won’t bring any benefits to their business at all. The countries most pessimistic about GDPR’s benefits were Germany and the UK, with 21.5% and 20% of respondents stating that GDPR will not bring benefits. Respondents from Spain (3.5%) and Italy (6%) were more optimistic about GDPR benefits. Check Point has also developed a new application called GDPRate to guide businesses through the essential components of an effective GDPR compliance strategy. The tool checks the organization’s readiness for the GDPR 14 security standards and requirements as it pertains to using security products to comply with these standards.