Check Point Preps New Family Of Internal, Web Security Products

Starting in first-quarter 2004, the company expects to introduce a new family of internal security and Web security products combined with existing solutions, said Carol Stone, vice president of marketing at Check Point, Redwood City, Calif.

Product names, pricing and feature functionality are not available, but Stone did detail some of the capabilities of the pending products and the opportunities the new offerings will generate for partners.

The idea is to offer an end-to-end solution that protects customers from outside and inside attacks with capabilities within the internal security suite as attack protection to block the spread of worms in the network, network segmentation, auditing and adaptive capabilities.

The impetus behind the internal security foray for many security vendors is directly related to worm attacks that have recently hammered customers, as well as the need to comply with such regulations as Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA, partners said.

"Before, when we spoke with customers about the need to push down internally to secure their network some would sign up, but most didn't until the recent attacks," said Jeff Bennett, CEO of security integration and consulting provider SiegeWorks, Pleasanton, Calif. "Check Point is moving in the right direction by pushing into internal protection in addition to their perimeter solutions, which will give us more opportunities to offer a combined solution under one management structure."

The perimeter, internal and Web security solutions,which will include such features as unified authentication, authorization, single Web sign on and secure remote access,will be offered as single point solutions. But over time, Stone expects customers will see the appeal and need for an integrated solution managed by the Check Point Smart Management control panel, which is designed to centralize the management of Check Point solutions.

"Our end-to-end strategy will represent great integration and consulting opportunities for partners, in addition to making margins on the products," she said.

Check Point also will continue to broaden its perimeter solutions, Stone said.