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DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION
FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY / MAY 19, 2003: VOL. 2 NO. 20
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Breaking News -
Security:
Check Point Unveils Application
Intelligence Technology
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., a worldwide leader in securing the
Internet, redefined the Internet security landscape with the unveiling of new
Application Intelligence technology that addresses today's most critical
Internet security threats -- the new breed of sophisticated, damaging
application-driven attacks. This new technology will be integrated into the
company's latest version of its market-leading product suite, Check Point Next
Generation with Application Intelligence, to provide customers with the
industry's only comprehensive, integrated security solution for defeating and
preventing both network-level and application-level attacks.
The Evolving Threat Environment
Of the FBI and SANS list of the Top 20 Most Critical Internet
Vulnerabilities,
more than half exploit vulnerabilities in applications like web and email --
with CERT recording over 80,000 incidents overall in 2002 alone. Hackers are
developing more sophisticated attacks that are application-driven, such as
Slammer, Code Red and Nimda. This important shift in attack methodology
requires that enterprise firewalls provide not only access control and
network-level attack protection, but also sophisticated intelligence on
application behavior to protect against attacks and exploits. While other
firewalls protect against some network attacks, Check Point is the only vendor
to extend the firewall to integrate comprehensive defenses for both
application and network attacks. "Network-layer security mechanisms dominate
current deployments but are proving insufficient in the face of more frequent
application-layer attacks. This condition requires that vendors and users
alike increase their focus on application-oriented security controls," said
Mark Bouchard, Senior Program Director, Technology Research Services, META
Group. "One approach would be to integrate intelligence at the application
level directly into firewall products. This is the approach that Check Point
is taking, and it has the significant advantage of enabling organizations to
enhance their security capabilities without having to purchase multiple
products." Next Generation with Application Intelligence greatly expands and
integrates application attack protection, configuration and management
capabilities from multiple Check Point technologies to gain a deeper
understanding of application behavior and block attacks. This enables multiple
layers of security in one integrated and easy-to-manage gateway. These layers
include:
- Strict Access Control -- enabled by Check Point's patented Stateful
Inspection technology, allows administrators to determine which resources
users and systems can access.
- Comprehensive Application Protection -- enabled by Check Point's
Application Intelligence allows administrators to ensure that traffic allowed
by the access control policy doesn't pose a threat to applications and
data.
- Integrated Network and Application-Level Defenses -- delivered by Check
Point FireWall-1 NG with Application Intelligence, increases security and
reliability while lowering the total cost of ownership by providing a single,
centralized console for management, auditing and reporting.
"As one of the largest financial services firms in the United States, it is
important that we have comprehensive and robust security to protect our
business critical applications," said R. Scott Loach, Sr. Information Security
Engineer at Raymond James Financial. "By incorporating a deep understanding of
application behavior, Check Point Next Generation with Application
Intelligence will provide default protection against emerging attacks that
attempt to misuse business applications and exploit discovered
vulnerabilities, while allowing our solution to scale and become more
sophisticated as the Internet threat environment changes."
Legacy of Innovation
"As we did with the firewall and VPN, Check Point is once again changing
the
Internet security landscape with Application Intelligence. By evolving
enterprise firewalls into multi-layer security gateways, we are elevating
attack protection to a new level and reinforcing the role of the firewall as
the primary network security enforcement point," said Gil Shwed, chairman and
CEO of Check Point Software Technologies. "This represents the next major step
in Check Point's evolution as the leading Internet security provider and a key
component in our direction moving forward. None of our competitors can deliver
what we can today." Check Point was among the first to recognize the threats
posed by application attacks, including some of the elements of Application
Intelligence in FireWall- 1(R) and SmartDefense over a year ago. As the
inventors of the industry-standard Stateful Inspection technology and the
first widely- available commercial firewall product, Check Point is uniquely
positioned to continue leading the Internet security industry into the next
phase of intelligent, Active Defense to defeat the increasing number of
damaging attacks directed at critical applications and networks.
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