Check Point Quantum Force (NGFW) Reviews

Our company works in developing and delivering online gambling platforms. The Check Point NGFWs are the core security solution we use to protect our DataCenter environment located in Asia (Taiwan). The environment has about ~50 physical servers as virtualization hosts, and we have two HA Clusters consist of 2x5400 hardware appliances, managed by an OpenServer Security Management Server on a Virtual Machine (KVM), all running on R80.10 with the latest JumboHotfix. The Clusters serve as firewalls for both inter-VLAN and external traffic.

The overall security of the environment has been greatly improved by the Check Point NGFWs. Before implementing this solution we have to rely on the Cisco ACLs and Zone-Based firewall that we had configured on switches and routers, which in fact a simple stateful firewall, and currently not an efficient for protecting from advanced threats. The Check Point NGFWs brought up the security level with the help of the advanced software blades - we use Application Control, URL Filtering, IPS, Anti-Bot, and Antivirus. The setup was simple, and the performance is great - we have significant resources to expand the environment in the future without disabling any blades and thus maintaining the security on the same, high level.

1. Advanced logging capabilities - our support team on duty constantly monitors the security logs in the SmartConsole, and notifies the security team in case of major alerts.

2. Advanced networking and routing features - we use Proxy ARP to announced virtual IPs to ISP and bing domain names to it; BGP for dynamic routing over IPSec VPN tunnels to other environments, and Policy-Based Routing for connecting to two ISPs.

3. The new Policy Layers feature for building up the Access Control policy - the rules are now more understandable and efficient.

The pricing for the Check Point products should be reconsidered - we found it to be quite expensive to purchase and to maintain (the licenses and the support services need to be prolonged regularly). 

We also had several support cases opened for software issues (e.g. unstable BGP sessions over VPN tunnels), which, in our opinion, took too long to resolve - up to one month.

Also, even so, the new SmartConsole is declared to be unified starting from version R80.10, there are still some features that have to be configured in the old SmartDashboard (e.g. Mobile Access policy and Antivirus), or on the Gaia OS level (all the routing features).

We have been using the Check Point Next-Generation Firewalls for about 3 years, starting from late 2017.

In general, the solution is stable, but we still have had some support cases opened and have to install the JumboHotfixes on a regular basis to fix the minor bugs. Please note that the current version of the software we use - R80.10 - is not the latest one (R80.40).

The solution is scalable - we use the Active-Standby Clusters, but could switch to Active-Active and add additional Gateway nodes if needed.

We have had several support cases opened. Some of the were resolved by installing the latest recommended JumoHotfix, some required additional configuration on OS kernel level (e.g. TCP MSS clamping). The longest issue took about one month to be resolved, which we consider too long.

We relied on the ACLs and Zone-Based firewalls of the Cisco switches and firewalls, which doesn't provide sufficient security protection against the modern advanced threats. 

The equipment has been delivered on time, without delays. The setup was straightforward. The configuration was easy and understandable. 

In-house team - we have a Check Point Certified engineer.

Use the Check Point Performance Sizing Utility to measure and estimate the hardware needed to purchase for your environment.

Our primary uses for the Check Point NGFW are network segmentation, identity awareness, and application control.

The most valuable features for us are identity awareness, IDS and IPS, and application control.

The speed of technical support is very slow and is something that should be improved.

We have been using Check Point firewalls for about 20 years.

There were times in the past when it wasn't as stable as it is now. However, with the current version, we have been running for the past year without any issues.

Our company has about 1,000 users that generate traffic that passes through the firewall. Beyond that, we haven't had much need to scale.

The technical support is very slow.

The two firewalls that we having implemented are Check Point and Fortinet.

I have also worked with Juniper but it does not have all of the advanced features that Check Point has, such as application control and identity awareness.

The initial setup is pretty simple. The amount of time required for deployment depends on the number of rules that need to be configured. The initial setup can be done in one day, and the post-setup configuration depends on the rules to be applied.

The initial setup was completed by a partner, who was a certified system integrator.

Our in-house team handles maintenance.

This product is not cheap and there are additional costs that depend on what model or package that you buy. If you need more features then you may have to buy additional modules. In our case, we knew what we wanted in advance so there were no additional costs.

Overall, I am pretty happy with Check Point firewalls. My advice for anybody who is implementing this product is to get somebody with experience to help choose the correct, stable version, and assist with the configuration. All of the new features take time to implement properly, but if the correct steps are followed then they won't run into problems when the system goes into production. 

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

We have a big environment with nearly fifteen multi-vendor clusters. We are using firewalls mainly for layer three access rules. But nowadays, application-layer-based security and threat prevention are also important. We are using IPS and antivirus blades actively, too.

In the Intrusion Prevention System blade, we are using a lot of different signatures and actions according to the impact, severity, and cost of the specified signature. The antivirus blade is also in the same logic as the Intrusion Prevention System.

Multilayered protection is provided thanks to Check Point. For instance, security is achieved both on the endpoint side, as well as the firewall side.

Another example is that we can prevent critical and high-risk applications from being reached through the internal network by utilizing the application blade.

All of the blades, except URL filtering, are in the same interface and provide big savings when leading the security operations.

Firstly, inline layer technology is helpful because it will classify the traffic according to different security groups. This means that we can isolate them totally and it will also prevent human error because you are limiting source, destination, service, and application parameters at the top of the inline layer rule.

Check Point is very administrator-friendly and the SmartDashboard is easy to use.

The Blades and security features are also very innovative and up-to-date.

With the IPS blade, the administrator can write signature-based exceptions for specific users. This provides flexibility to except specific connections from specific signatures.

The cloning and copy/paste operations are very useful.

The SmartUpdate interface is a little bit crowded if your company has a lot of software items.

As an administrator, one should know how to troubleshoot by issuing related CLI commands before or after upgrading gateways, or the management server, in case of a problem.

Hardware problems on Check Point devices, such as those related to NIC or disk problems, may occur at times. In cases such as this, the support team is available and does what is needed, including the RMA process if necessary.

We have been using Check Point for 10 years.

In my opinion, scaling is very important and it must be done ahead of time. I would suggest considering scale three years in advance, as opposed to just the present.

We did not use another solution prior to this one.

Licensing issues may be confusing at times.

We did not evaluate other products before choosing Check Point NGFW.

This is a complex high availability solution growing by over 100% per year. The complexity of the business environment made the ability to increase capacity without having to remove previous hardware much easier.

We have a large online presence with users needing realtor access to our environment. 

The improvements to our business are easy to explain. It is faster, easy to use, and there are multiple capabilities all in one box. The best examples are the endpoint and anti-virus options.

The ability to add more firewalls and increase the capabilities, rather than remove the hardware, is an exceptional step forward. No competitor was able to compete with this. Not having to continually replace hardware year after year was a massive driver in the decision-making process. The throughput going up by 100% with each added device is exceptional.

There are many features we have found good.

The best feature is the ability to increase the capacity of the solution by exactly what you add, not losing anything for High Availability. This feature alone will save us as we increase the number of devices in the stack.

Having so many top-end products in one box also assists in managing this device. URL filtering and anti-virus and other services are easy to deploy but assist in getting your company a good name.

The Infinity product seems amazing but we have a long way to go before saying it is successful.

One of the biggest disappointments is the GUI. I felt it was a little bit more clunky than some competitors. The screens don't flow as easily as they should. Improving user experience will further elevate this product.

The way the management console operates is not user-friendly, either. It needs to become less intrusive. The user experience is not as high as it should be due to the problems with the user interface. The newer products in the range seem to address my concerns, which I have had for even the older products.

I have been using Check Point NGFW for six months.

Having leading-class firewalls with massive growth possibilities made the purchasing decision much easier. Having carried out a few PoCs, the obvious decision was the Check Point solution of Maestro and 6500s in a high availability environment.

We use this solution for our perimeter firewall to protect our web applications, systems, and network. We are running our complete business with Check Point.

The complete traffic is managed by Check Point. The Check Point threat emulation blade is enabled to protect zero-day attacks and it will detect and prevent attachments and other payloads from this type of attack.

We have been running Check Point for the last ten years and it protected our network, systems, and applications against the latest attack. Our organization is running 500 applications that are being protected.

The next-generation firewall will manage all of the traffic and prevent the latest & advanced threats from attackers. The latest operating systems R 80.20 is wonderfully designed and allows customers to manage everything with a single console.

The most valuable feature is that we are protected against zero-day threats.

Everything can be managed from a single console.

We would like to see the following improvements:

1. Multiple ISP redundancy.
2. CPU utilization.
3. VPN traffic.
4. HA concept, where if we apply the policy in the primary appliance that should be applied to HA appliance automatically.
5. The number of bugs has to be reduced.
6. The number of false positives should be reduced. 
7. Threat emulation has to be improved.
   
8. Reporting has to be improved.

I have been using Check Point Next Generation Firewall for ten years.

We are happy with Check Point technology and support.

Both IN and OUT traffic is managed by Check Point. We are happy with Check Point technology including the protection, management, and the ability to secure the enterprise network against advanced threats.

The solution is easy to use. I like the monitoring the most.

All the advanced features of automation, especially the first installation of tunnels, need improvement. Also, in terms of configuration, in terms of tuning, and fine-tuning the system, I think they do make it a bit hard for users. Right now, we need to teach admins, the network and security admins about system fine-tuning in terms of load balancing between CPUs, assignment of processes. I don't think a network admin or a system admin should deal with it in terms of when we are speaking about the firewall or networking device. It should be automatic.

It's a stable solution. There are about 15,000 users installed behind the firewall.

It's a scalable solution. It's very good.

It's easy to install Check Point, but not in the case of a large environment and multiple clusters. This is an ongoing project I can't tell you how long deployment takes. It's a huge network that I have. I have three people maintaining the solution.

I have a basic network firewall and not the advanced feature, full feature security system. I think they are the best. Still, for instance, when installing a tunnel in Check Point vs installing a tunnel in Cisco, the difference is that in Check Point nothing makes sense, and in Cisco you have the duration capability, the hierarchy of the configuration.

I would rate this solution as 8 out of 10. Mostly because of configuration problems - problems with configuring VPNs, and panels, etc.

We are using Check Point Next-Generation Firewalls to protect and prevent our corporate network and infrastructure from attackers.  We are using NGFWs to filter unwanted and malicious traffic from the internet. Check Point NGFWs provide Layer 7 or application layer monitoring and detection. 

It is a stateless firewall which examines packets deeply and detects any malware or malicious URLs. It greatly protects our infrastructure by acting as a perimeter for our organization. 

Moreover, it has log ingestion and deep packet analysis capabilities. 

Check Point Next-Generation Firewalls improved the security posture of our organization by detecting, analyzing, and blocking unwanted traffic. It blocks any malicious files, processes and URLs due to having deep packet inspection and monitoring. 

Check Point firewalls not only detects anything malicious against it's signatures rather it analyses and monitors all processes running on different machines to detect anything wrong and then block those processes or URLs. 

Log storage gives us insights when required. 

Deep packet inspection, Layer 7, and application layer monitoring and detection are the great features of Check Point Next-Generation Firewalls. They greatly improve and protect an organization, its staff, and its resources. 

Check Point's SmartConsole is a great tool for admins as all firewalls can be centrally managed and all policies can be pushed as and when required by using SmartConsole. Log ingestion and threat hunting are also great functions in Check Point firewalls that enhances and improves a security posture. 

The SmartConsole to manage Checkpoint Next Generation Firewalls takes a long time to load and gets stuck sometimes. It could be due to a lot of rules and policies defined on the firewalls. However, SmartConsole software needs to be improved by having some more functions to make an admin's life easier. 

Log queries are slow and take time to load. 

Query functions need to be improved and should be quick to give the required information. 

There should be filters having drop-down options to use and select during log analysis. 

I have been using Check Point firewalls for more than two years. 

We have proposed and deployed Check Point in a university environment that has multi-layer firewall protection for different zones, including DMZ, a server zone, Wi-Fi, a staff zone, a student hostel zone, guests, etc. Each zone is guarded by a firewall.

We need the NGFW to protect and secure the campus networks for more than 50,000 users. One of the key points is it is cost-effective and scalable to expand the throughput capacity. We expect the solution is possible to protect the networks for at least five to eight years without replacing the hardware investment. 

The solution provides better stability and some interesting features such as the ease of throughput expansion (or we can say the load sharing).

The scalability helps to offload the high traffic volume during school time. It also enhances redundancy. 

The load sharing capabilities using ClusterXL is possible to switch over the cluster mode to load sharing or Maestro. I also appreciate how easy it is to scale this product.

It is also great that the Check Point community (CheckMates portal) has a lot of helpful guidance. It helps us to work better and ease to find unfamiliar configurations on the new features, it is great for larger organizations as well as very small ones.

They offer very scalable solutions to extend computing resources if needed. We can expand the capacity in a very short time. 

The threat analysis reporting from their management console is very comprehensive and easy to use. 

Their web-based dashboard is well designed and offers much out-of-the-box reporting, and provides admins extensive customizations. 

In the operational GUI, Check Point provides rich customization methods to allow us to easily visualize/categorize objects in different colors. It makes operating the firewall much easier.

Under the same capacity requirements, Cheak Point is a bit higher than Fortinet yet much cheaper than Palo Alto. Although using Quantum Maestro to enhance scalability expansion is very helpful to cut down the total cost, it is still an issue for most of the company. Check Point is not a cheap solution and it's always painful to see exactly how much we need to spend on this. 

The upgrade process is not as easy as may be expected. If there is something that goes wrong, it causes the internet service to go down for the whole campus network. I am not happy with that situation since the upgrade process is a very common process. The outcome is not acceptable.

It is scalable and very easy to expand the throughput and resources.

Check Point firewall provide a very cool feature using Quantum Maestro Hyperscale Orchestrator, it provides on-demand cloud-like scaling of our on-premises security gateways. By using Maestro, we can aggregate multiple mid-level Check Point appliances to provide a high throughput volume. It is very useful to scale up to 52 appliances. If we use other firewall solutions, they can only aggregate up to TWO firewalls with same model in clustering or purchase a more high end model firewall. 

For a long term planning, we can expand the throughput by reusing the existing Check Point hardware investment and adding new appliances to.

The deployment is straightforward, however, the ongoing upgrades are not satisfactory.