Gil Shwed

il Shwed came up with the idea that evolved into Check Point Software Technologies while serving with the Israeli army. Recruited to a special military intelligence unit, he was assigned the task of connecting military divisional computer networks so they could share data securely by giving select people access to certain data.

When he left the army in 1991, Shwed wanted to start a company based on his idea but didn't think the market was ready. So he waited until 1993, founding Check Point with a former co-worker, Marius Nacht, and Shlomo Kramer, an army friend. The three worked nonstop writing code in Kramer's grandmother's apartment in Israel. Four months later, they launched FireWall-1. With its simple interface and openness to multiple platforms, FireWall-1 took off. Shwed invented and patented its Stateful Inspection technology, now an industry standard.

And he keeps innovating, driven "by daily intellectual challenges." Two years ago, Check Point launched its Next Generation security suite. This year, it added technology to ward off application-level attacks.

"By setting the bar early on with very high standards and not dropping that bar as so many vendors do as they gain success, Check Point was and still is the measuring stick for all the others," says Robert Cohen, president and CEO of CG Atlantic, a systems integrator in New York.