Check Point Cloud Firewall (formerly CloudGuard Network Security) Reviews

The solution helps to protect our customers at the perimeter. We have integrated the solution into our NSX environment. 

The tool's most valuable features for us are threat prevention, HTTPS inspection, and the Anti-Bot blade. Threat prevention helps to protect our assets from threats. HTTPS inspection ensures secure communication, and the Anti-Bot blade is particularly helpful in detecting C2 servers, enhancing our ability to identify malicious activities and protect our network.

We can confidently assert that we are among the top cloud providers, protecting our customers from external threats. With Check Point's CloudGuard Network Security, we offer attack services protection. 

CloudGuard Network Security needs to include new features. One specific feature I would like to see is the ability to protect external resources using single sign-on integration with various identity providers, including custom identity providers. Its pricing could also be cheaper. 

I have been using the product for six years. 

CloudGuard Network Security is stable. 

CloudGuard Network Security is highly scalable in our virtual environment. We can easily add more ports, and it functions perfectly. We use it in cluster mode, deploying multiple Check Point clusters horizontally and vertically, making scalability easy and excellent.

I find Check Point's technical support to be excellent. We have premium support, and whenever we open a case, especially for high-severity issues, we receive a phone call from their support team.

CloudGuard Network Security's deployment is straightforward. 

The product is expensive but also valuable. 

CloudGuard Network Security provides unified security management across hybrid clouds as well as on-premises environments. It helps to manage everything from a single point. 

I have been exploring Harmony SASE for remote security and zero-trust access in some proof-of-concept activities. Also, I'm checking out the CloudGuard Web Application Firewall for safeguarding our applications on the internet.

I rate the product a ten out of ten. We have had a great experience with Check Point, and we haven't faced any major incidents or attacks compromising our organization. It has helped us detect activities on our endpoints. 

I would genuinely recommend it. Check Point is easy to manage, implement, and configure. The support is excellent, and the constant threat intelligence updates ensure protection against various threats. It's truly an amazing product for securing your environment.

I like the tool's ability to manage cloud traffic locally without routing it through our data centers.

The product needs to improve technical support.

I have been using the product for four years. 

The tool's support has been excellent. We can maintain our Check Point Firewalls effectively, both on-premises and in the cloud.

Positive

The tool's monthly costs have undergone a significant reduction, dropping from approximately 12,000 euros to around 4,000. This represents a cost reduction of over 60 percent. However, it's essential to note that while costs decreased in some areas, they increased in others due to shifts in our environment. As our overall environment has grown, currently connecting 50 accounts to the cloud, it's challenging to directly compare costs with the state of our setup three years ago.

Initially, we faced some challenges, especially with the AWS transit gateway, involving manual routing configurations and complex setup tasks. I rate the overall product a nine out of ten. 

For the Azure platform, especially Azure endpoint protections and other network aspects, we utilize CloudGuard Network Security to secure the egress connection. This includes configuring and maintaining express route connectivity between on-premises and Azure.

The Identity Awareness blade and dynamic tagging in Azure are valuable because they make access management automatic. Instead of manually setting up access for each new resource, it happens automatically based on the same access policy. This dynamic setup is scalable. 

The tool is cloud-based and scalable. As our resources scale up or down, the system automatically adapts. This reduces the need for manual work, allowing us to manage the entire cloud infrastructure with a smaller workforce. It helps with automation. 

Regarding CloudGuard Network Security's integration with various resources like application gateways and application-based security groups, there's room for exploring dynamic access in those areas. A significant concern is the upgrade process. Unlike an in-place upgrade, upgrading the tool in Azure requires deploying a new resource, which can be hectic and less reliable. We have to spend something new to have the tool's latest version. 

I have been using the product for four years. 

Stability is generally good, and I don't have many complaints due to its scalability. When there are hardware issues, it automatically sets up a new, healthy instance. Overall, it contributes to a stable environment for us.

The solution's scalability is excellent, but we do encounter some restrictions with the API on the cloud platform. This occasionally causes issues with the frequent pulling up of new resources.

Our deployment model involves VM scale sets. We have set up instances across three environments: production, staging, and development. This structure allows for easy testing in the development environment before moving on to the production environment. We utilize Check Point's professional services to integrate, deploy, and build a cloud platform for CloudGuard Network Security.

We have seen a return on investment from CloudGuard Network Security. As more workloads shift from on-premises to the product, the costs associated with on-premises infrastructure decrease. Additionally, its dynamic and scalable nature in Azure allows us to maintain control. 

The solution's licensing is based on the number of users of the VMs. We follow a pay-as-you-go model. Its pricing is competitive. 

CloudGuard Network Security can manage security for both our hybrid cloud and on-premises systems. Currently, we have separate solutions for on-premises and the cloud. We also use Smart-1 Cloud from the Infinity portal. We haven't integrated the tool with both Azure and on-prem environments. 

I have about an eight out of ten confidence level in our cloud network security with the product. It is because of Azurre's robust and dynamic nature. It is easy to incorporate anything new that comes up. We can integrate any new steps in Azure concerning the blades, CloudGuard Network Security, and Check Point. 

Cloud-native firewalls lack functionalities such as IPS, which are exclusive to products like Check Point or other vendor-specific solutions. This is why we opted for CloudGuard Network Security as an additional layer, complementing the limitations of Azure's native or any cloud-native firewalls.

We are already using Check Point for our on-prem environment. The cloud solution was easy to integrate with our existing infrastructure. 

I rate the overall product a six out of ten. Due to certain limitations in the integration between Azure and CloudGuard Network Security, I currently rate the experience as a six. However, I'm hopeful that Check Point is working on its new release. 

We have used CNAPP on our OpenShift test cluster but are planning to deploy it in our production clusters. We used CNAPP to enhance the visibility of our cloud-deployed applications. It offers various modules to do so. For example, the Posture Management module shows you exposed secrets and security misconfigurations and also gives you hints and ready-to-use JSON configuration files to fix them. 

Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) gives you visibility and management automation of identities, roles, entitlements, and privileges in your cloud environments. This helps you find and fix identity- and role-related security holes by constructing a complex privileges graph, which shows you granted permissions and enforced ones, suggesting you enforce the stricter and more secure enforced ones over the ones you granted.

The various CNAPP modules have granted more visibility of our cloud applications to our system engineers and developers. Doing so helps our transition to the cloud by making the management and administrative tasks of our cloud and system engineers easier, as well as suggesting and helping to prioritize patching and updating.

The most valuable features include the Cloud Infrastructure Entitlement Management (CIEM) module, Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM), and Cloud Workload Protection (CWP).

The costs are really high if you want the entire capabilities of the platform. However, it is really motivated by the great value of the product. Moreover, you can buy individual licenses for the different modules if you don't need some of them.

I've used the solution for one year.

We use Check Point firewalls and SMS servers in on-prem DC and in multi-cloud environments extensively. These are used to protect the perimeter, DMZ, and internal network to protect and inspect network traffic.

The firewalls are best of breed and provide extensive rich features and a diverse range of protection against DDoS, malware, ransomware, and zero-day attacks. Also, it is used for terminating client and mobile VPN tunnels, URL filtering, IDP, DLP, etc. 

The environment is Internal and a multi-tenant hosted for external clients which is a complex setup.

The new Check Point firewalls are best-of-breed and provide next-gen firewall features with AI and ML capabilities. This helps to reduce the operational support overhead and protects against new emerging threats.

Previously we used Juniper, Cisco, and other firewall platforms which have very limited capabilities and offer no inspection or threat-prevention features at all. 

Check Point has changed this dynamic completely and offers a complete security solution to protect all digital assets which is immensely helpful.

Identity awareness, URL filtering, IDS, DLP, Content Filtering, VPN, and Application Control are all excellent. They provide features to inspect internet traffic, data protection compliance, and DDoS attack detection and protection.

The Check Point firewall product that we picked up has an excellent feature set and all the required licenses, it's a nicely engineered firewall technology and has a great support team to escalate.

Features like threat prevention and protection are good to have to protect against zero-day attacks, malware, and ransomware.

Software bugs and OS releases can be very fast to keep up with. Check Point has a history of moving fast with software release and upgrade cycles which are difficult to keep up with at times.

New features should have a single-pane-of-glass view for on-prem DC and cloud environments. 

Licensing costs are very high compared to other vendors. Check Point needs to be competitive to keep the cost down for the customers and partners. 

The previous Check Point OS model had to support multiple OSs which was difficult and cumbersome (i.e. SPLAT, IPSO, GAIA).

I've used the solution for ten years.

We did use a different solution and wanted to have better security capability and visibility.

The solution is expensive but feature-rich.

We looked at other options and checked if the firewalls had all the security and compliance features required by the organization.

Check Point CloudGuard Posture Management is utilized to monitor our various cloud-related portals on AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, and other platforms. This solution offers a unified console to manage all the servers and provide us with comprehensive details.

We can automate certain aspects of our security through Check Point CloudGuard Posture Management. However, complete automation is not possible due to the dependencies of the applications installed in the cloud VMs.

The agentless workload posture enhances the compatibility of our VMs since there's no requirement to install any agents or assign write permissions. This approach also simplifies management, reduces the need for multiple levels of approvals, and eliminates the necessity of installing anything on our servers.

Check Point CloudGuard Posture Management saves us time by enabling communication with all of our devices within a span of two days.

CloudGuard Posture Management's unified platform has saved our organization time when dealing with our cloud environment.

The visibility in our cloud environment is the most valuable feature.

We have concerns regarding the pricing and would appreciate seeing some improvements.

We are currently conducting a POC with Check Point CloudGuard Posture Management and have been testing it for one month.

I would give the stability an eight out of ten.

The technical support is good.

Positive

The price is on the higher end.

I would rate Check Point CloudGuard Posture Management eight out of ten.

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security has a beautiful threat emulation different from the market. They have a threat extraction feature. The solution's zero phishing feature is pretty much commendable. The solution has one of the best reporting any vendor has in network security. The solution also has a CSPM or posture management tool inbuilt into CGNS or network security.

The solution’s technical support, DNS security and training could be improved. Check Point CloudGuard Network Security's training and reachability to the customer can be done a bit better. One recommendation from my side is that the handover of the tasks can be a bit better. If an engineer is on a ticket and their shift gets over, the smooth handshake between the two engineers can be a bit better.

I have been using Check Point CloudGuard Network Security for more than one and a half years.

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is a stable product.

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is a scalable product. I would recommend the solution to small, medium, and enterprise companies because it has a scalable model. The solution is over the cloud and can be integrated with any company.

Previously, I worked with Palo Alto, a direct competitor of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security. CloudGuard Network Security's threat extraction features, reporting features, and threat emulation are better than Palo Alto's. Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is more user-friendly than Palo Alto. On the other hand, Palo Alto has a bit better DNS security than Check Point CloudGuard Network Security.

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is easy to deploy, and if you are unable to do it, you can get support from the OEM.

The solution's implementation depends on the customer's network scenario and policies. The initial setup doesn't take more than 30 minutes, and the rest can be done later.

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security's pricing is far better than Palo Alto's because Palo Alto is very expensive. Check Point CloudGuard Network Security comes at a price that even a small business can manage to buy, whereas Palo Alto would restrict you to enterprise customers. Check Point CloudGuard Network Security's licensing cost changes from country to country. The solution has different discount models across the globe in regions like Asia and Ireland.

People who want to implement Check Point CloudGuard Network Security should focus during the planning phase. If planning is done correctly and the prerequisites are matched perfectly, they won't face any challenges during deployment. But it's very important to check the prerequisites' limitations.

Overall, I rate Check Point CloudGuard Network Security nine and a half out of ten.

We use the solution to protect workloads and users on the cloud, including both internal and external users. The solution must monitor user roles, the overall posture of the cloud application, and database and web servers that are exposed to the internet. It is an improvement over the default Amazon AWS security posture because it is sensitive to the context in which the application is being used, such as whether it is being used by a public user or an internal user who is managing the system on the cloud.

We used on-premises solutions until recently. However, we are now moving to the cloud for all of our applications. Posture management tools are now essential, and we must have them, regardless of whether they are from Tenable, Check Point, CrowdStrike, or another vendor. This solution is cost-effective, so we chose it, but we may change it in the future.

Embedded machine learning in the core of the firewall to provide in-line real-time attack prevention is most valuable. This is because analytics and machine learning capabilities come much later. In a high-volume situation, things can go bad quickly. Therefore, an in-line alert mechanism is much better than any other.

Visibility is the most important part. On the cloud, shared resources can make it difficult to see all of the resources that are deployed. This solution helps to keep everything visible, and it also alerts us if something is wrong, such as if someone opened extra ports or services that they are not supposed to. This is a valuable tool for monitoring and maintaining our cloud environment.

The solution is also capable of controlling resources, but this is a highly controversial and context-aware area. If the platform takes too much control, it could potentially stop our applications from working. Therefore, we limit its use to monitoring and visibility only.

Check Point must provide a multi-cloud facility where AWS, Azure, and GCP can seamlessly work together and display posture in an integrated manner. Instead of showing separate AWS, Azure, and GCP environments, the solution should provide a single integrated view. This will make it easier to decide which issues to fix first and will reduce the amount of technical work required.

Check Point is always adding new features. However, we are sometimes confused about how to use the features that are already available. There are so many features and we are unable to use all of them.

I have only been using Check Point CloudGuard Posture Management for a very short time, not even a year yet. Earlier, we were not using the cloud very much, so there was no need for such a product. However, after we shifted a few of our applications to the cloud, we started using the solution.

The solution has been quite stable for the past year. However, I cannot say how it will behave in the future, as it may experience a bigger load and a wider variety of workloads. The stability of the solution is subjective and will depend on the specific environment in which it is used.

We have not yet tested the solution at that scale. It is just a starting point. We may add more applications and more load to it. We will have to see how scalable the solution is.

The technical support is good. They sometimes call people from outside India to help us, because we are longtime Check Point customers. We have been using their hardware, software, and firewalls for about two decades. This solution is a new addition to our support.

Neutral

We are still using a variety of firewall solutions, including Juniper and Cisco, throughout our organization. As a government organization, we are required to purchase the cheapest option available. Therefore, we must utilize the solution that is the most affordable in each case.

I am involved in the deployment of the solution. I am not the technical hands-on person for this project. I manage the deployment process.

It is very difficult to measure the return on investment for security measures. Security is not an investment in the traditional sense, as it does not generate direct revenue. Instead, security is a safety measure, similar to insurance. As such, it is difficult to quantify the ROI of security measures.

It is difficult to contextualize the pricing because we are used to Indian pricing and licensing. In India, there is very little interaction with North America and the private sector regarding pricing.

We evaluated all the firewalls including Juniper and Cisco.

I give Check Point CloudGuard Posture Management a seven out of ten.

The solution claims to provide a unified platform that integrates all security capabilities. However, there are on-premises issues, cloud issues, and hybrid issues that make this impossible. No tool can ever provide such capability.

We are not a small office. Therefore, I have no experience with how the solution helps small offices. However, for us, the solution only helps us with our cloud posture management. We still use different tools on-premises. And maybe in the future, we will go directly to the cloud.

I have doubts about the value of looking for the cheapest or fastest firewall. There is always someone who is coming out with a new product that is faster or cheaper than the current one. However, it is important to consider the overall security capabilities of a firewall, not just its speed or price. A firewall that is slower because it is doing more analytics may actually be more secure than a faster firewall that does not do as much analysis. The best firewall for you will depend on your specific needs and requirements.

This is my first time at an RSA conference, and I find it very confusing. There are too many vendors, too many products, and too much to see. I only had a few hours to visit today, and it was overwhelming. I think the conference would be better if it were split into two or three parts, with one part focused on the Asia Pacific and another part focused on North America. Most of the vendors here are focused on North America, so it would be helpful to have a dedicated space for vendors from Asia Pacific. I will try to visit the RSA conference in Singapore next year, and I hope it will be more manageable.

The RSA does not impact our cybersecurity solution purchases. The Indian government's procurement process is completely independent of vendors and their products. Our purchases are based on our needs and requirements, and the solutions must be supported in India.

We mainly use it as a CSPM solution.

It gives us clarity.

The most valuable feature is the ability to see our customers' environments if they use more than one cloud provider, such as AWS, Google, and Azure.

Also, CloudGuard CDR's intrusion detection and threat hunting capabilities are good enough. They help us detect anomalous behavior and respond to threats before they become an issue.

There are regulatory requirements. I would like to be able to pick the regulation I would like to scheck compliance with and it would tell you where you stand on that regulation and what you are missing to reach compliance. And it shouldn't matter which cloud we're dealing with; we would have these possibilities.

I have been using Check Point CloudGuard CNAPP for about two years.

Scalability really isn't an issue with everything in the cloud. That's the essence of a cloud product: the scalability you get compared to on-prem.

Their technical support is perfect. When we contact them, they answer immediately. Their support knows the platform very well.

We did not use a different solution before.

It's very simple to set up because it's all in the cloud.

We have seen a return on investment. It can reduce the human resources we need. Also, there is ROI from everything connected to the fact that it's in the cloud: I don't need someone for management or to pay for on-prem resources, such as CPU.

If I compare the price of CloudGuard, Palo Alto is more expensive and others are less expensive. CloudGuard CNAPP is in the middle.

We looked at other solutions, but with CloudGuard everything is located in the cloud. It's very convenient for us to manage our assets in the cloud.

If they could reduce the price and provide more capabilities, it would be better.

We use CloudGuard CNAPP for accessing the security status of our assets, managing inventory, and overseeing configuration settings.

It assists our visibility team in monitoring configurations, enabling us to proactively address issues before they arise.

I find the product to have strong detection capabilities. It is adept at generating the desired reports, provided you are familiar with its functionality.

It offers a range of features tailored to address the unique security challenges.

Having additional documentation on how to use CloudGuard CNAPP would be advantageous, especially if it were made more user-friendly. The application's structure seems to lead users down one path, then into another, making it difficult to backtrack or navigate seamlessly between different components. Streamlining the user interface would greatly improve the user experience.

We have been using it for three years.

It is proven to be stable.

It provides good scalability.

There is room for improvement in technical support. I would rate it five out of ten.

Neutral

Setting up CloudGuard CNAPP is straightforward, as it is API-driven. Just a few quick steps, like providing credentials and configuring settings, and you're ready to go.

The ROI of CloudGuard CNAPP is intangible since it primarily involves cost avoidance rather than direct cost reduction or profit generation. It doesn't directly contribute to revenue generation.

When we were comparing Prisma or Pallos, we found that CloudGuard CNAPP offered a more comprehensive range of tools and configuration management settings. It appeared to be a more mature product with a broader scope of capabilities.

My advice to anyone thinking about implementing it is to consider investing in professional services to handle the setup, as they possess a deeper understanding of the platform. Overall, I would rate it seven out of ten.