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Check Point SandBlast Network vs Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Check Point SandBlast Network
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Defender Threat I...
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
11th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
Threat Intelligence Platforms (4th), Microsoft Security Suite (18th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category, the mindshare of Check Point SandBlast Network is 5.7%, up from 5.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence is 1.6%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
 

Featured Reviews

GaneshKhutwad - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides advanced threat prevention and utilizes geographic-based policies to mitigate attacks
Check Point offers three types of support: Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. The level of support you receive should be based on the criticality of the issue, not solely on your client's support tier. While there are established support levels, I have experienced instances where the support provided was not categorized as Gold, Platinum, or Diamond but rather a standard support level. In such cases, the response times were slower, and getting support personnel on the call was more difficult.
Nim Nadarajah - PeerSpot reviewer
A native Microsoft solution the provides great ROI and continuously improves its offering
We have Microsoft bias. We generally don't have any significant negative feedback or improvement points around Defender, EDR and CMDR platforms. It does a good job across the board. The price point is something they can improve slightly for those who don't have an M 365 E5. I believe it's a $2.80 cents add-on. In Canadian, that's expensive. If they can drop it to a dollar, for those who don't have M 365 E5, they're going to open up market share and increase affordability for an entire market segment in the medium business category. Other than that, we have no major negative feedback.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"When our workers are downloading software, SandBlast Cloud is useful to emulate the downloads that the workers are doing. Then, there are no threats coming into the company."
"The product gives us advanced protection, including artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies and services."
"Threat Emulation gives networks the necessary protection against unknown threats in files that are attached to emails. The Threat Emulation engine picks up malware at the exploit phase before it enters the network. It quickly quarantines and runs the files in a virtual sandbox, which imitates a standard operating system, to discover malicious behavior before hackers can apply evasion techniques to bypass the sandbox."
"The Check Point SandBlast Network uses caching and static analysis to actually reduce the time it takes to scan and isolate the same file for incoming data compromises."
"The most efficient and protective characteristics of Check Point's SandBlast solution are that we can see a lot of this protection at the network and mail levels."
"SandBlast updates the threat signatures frequently."
"It seems like it works all the time. We have never had an issue. We have never had something go undetected, anything major. All in all, it works pretty well."
"The use of threat cloud protection with its artificial intelligence can automate possible threats."
"The global review and remediation of malicious code is probably the most valuable feature."
"The product provides efficient email security for sending links and file attachments."
"I would rate Microsoft Defender ATP as nine out of ten."
"The technical support services are excellent."
"Microsoft collects trillions of signals from all over the world, which is incredibly valuable. It helps us identify zero-day vulnerabilities and global threats."
"They have a very transparent roadmap for the product."
"The product’s most valuable feature is the ability to provide threat detection and protection simultaneously."
"One of the best features is that it provides a certain level of customization, allowing us to set our spam confidence levels."
 

Cons

"EDR and EPM solutions like Carbon Black or CyberArk have integrations with the cloud version of Sandblast, however, there must be on-premise Sandblast options also."
"There is a limit on the number of files that can be scanned in real-time, which could lead to us being found with our guard down on a high-traffic day."
"The Threat Emulation software blade significantly affects the performance of the NGFWs, we have a significant increase in the CPU and memory consumption."
"Most of the time stability is okay, but sometimes, we're not able to contact the cloud. It won't last for long. The product could be faster."
"I would like if it could emulate bigger files and somehow improve this usability. I don't know if this would be possible. However, if it was able to scan or emulate bigger files, then it would be safer for a company using it."
"We have found a need for the application to be a bit more elastic, bringing it to SAS services and not IAS."
"In Check Point SandBlast, improvement has to be made with respect to the GUI."
"The initial setup was complex because of the lack of information from the consultant."
"It's a bit complicated to manage because you have many dependencies of servers, many dependencies in queue, and so on. Entries or different endpoints, and you make different configuration topics for each one. So that's a major problem."
"I would like for there to be extra confirmation that there aren't viruses. Even if the virus detection software is always running there could be hidden applications that are using the computer."
"We encounter problems connecting the product deployed on the user endpoints with the servers."
"Microsoft itself is a major target for attacks and threats due to its size and popularity. That could be considered Microsoft's Achilles heel."
"It takes time for the support team to understand the issue, and they then respond with a delay at times, which causes a lot of trouble."
"Some of the customization features could be improved by providing a portion of it as open source."
"Having up-to-date documentation and real-time reflections in all portals would be beneficial to keep users informed about any changes. Additionally, the frequent changes in Microsoft's UI and the movement of features between different products in the set pose difficulties."
"The price of the solution is an area of concern where improvements are required. In general, the solution's price needs to be reduced."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost is not significantly high and it can be negotiated during any purchase of NGFW."
"The product's cost is high."
"Choosing the correct set of licenses is essential because, without the additional software blade licenses, the Check Point gateways are just a stateful firewall."
"We have seen ROI."
"I think the overall cost for introducing Check Point with SandBlast was reasonable and competitive in the market."
"We would like to try the Threat Extraction blade, but you need to buy a license. Check Point is expensive. I would like to buy things, but I would need the funding."
"The cost of Check Point SandBlast Network is annually, and there is only a standard license."
"The pricing is quite effective, not excessively high. On a scale of one to ten, where ten is the highest price, I rate the pricing a nine."
"The tool is expensive as a stand-alone solution. However, it is not cheap when you purchase it as a bundle."
"They offer two license plans: Microsoft Defender for endpoints and Microsoft Defender for businesses."
"It's reasonably priced, though there's room for further improvement."
"The solution can be licensed, but most users would already have it in their Office 365 license."
"The solution's pricing is reasonable and not very expensive."
"I use the product's default version, which is a free one and not the licensed version."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a six or seven out of ten."
"Considering Microsoft is constantly changing licensing, I would give it a seven out of ten. It can be difficult to get your head around it, especially for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
14%
Government
11%
Energy/Utilities Company
6%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Educational Organization
11%
Government
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Check Point SandBlast Network?
The solution can detect and prevent attacks that may be encrypted.
What needs improvement with Check Point SandBlast Network?
The cost is a little bit high-end, and you need to get precise performance metrics in order to get the correct size. Improvements are required in both areas of the tool.
What do you like most about Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence?
It just runs in the background. I don't have to worry about, making sure it's Intelligence. So, you know, this kind of makes it very easy, have to worry about installing. It is easy to use.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence?
Some of the customization features could be improved by providing a portion of it as open source. This would allow integration with other solutions, enhancing Threat Intelligence. Providing code cu...
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence?
We are using Microsoft Defender ATP specifically as an email security solution, as well as for our critical servers as a web security solution. We have almost eleven hundred users utilizing it for ...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Edenred, State Transport Leasing Company (STLC), Edel AG, Laurenty, Conseil Départemental du Val de Marne, Koch Media
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