Protecting remote and hybrid workers with Harmony Connect SASE

Editor’s brief: While the world is thawing and slowly waking up, the dynamics of work has changed radically over the last 2 years. For one, some enterprises have gone liberal with hybrid or remote work as a de facto choice for employees. And yet, with diverse nodes tapping into the office network and data resources remotely from anywhere and everywhere, how can organizations still retain security and assurance of data integrity? Fortunately, cybersecurity stalwart Check Point Software has a current solution, Harmony Connect SASE. Read more below.

SINGAPORE — Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP), a leading provider of cyber security solutions globally, announced that its enhanced Harmony Connect Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) allows:

• Zero-trust connectivity to corporate applications with cloud delivered VPN-as-a-service
• Improved connectivity speed worldwide with new global points-of-presence
• Increased security for your environment thanks to device posture validation for remote user devices

These new enhancements and capabilities make it simpler than ever to protect remote and hybrid workforces and branch offices against Gen V cyber-threats when they connect to any resource, from any device, anywhere, in the world. This is especially important as more and more businesses are moving toward remote or hybrid work models.

By bringing together networking and security in the cloud, the SASE model is able to overcome the shortcomings of conventional network architectures. Organizations that must cater to an ever-increasing number of telecommuters and employees at satellite offices should seriously consider adopting a SASE framework in order to better manage security and avoid potential disasters. By 2025, compared to 2020, when only 10% of businesses had such a plan in place, 60% of businesses would have one that included user, branch, and edge access (as stated by Gartner®). When it comes to blocking malware, Harmony Connect SASE is the only solution that offers complete protection. This paves the way for businesses to adopt new security paradigms that take advantage of the cloud’s scalability, unified management, user experience, and speed to prevent and block even the most sophisticated cyber attacks before they can disrupt operations.

“Enterprises are becoming more distributed, expanding their perimeters and increasing the risk of sophisticated network security attacks. This increased complexity requires centralised and consistent security policy management across the network. Secure Access Services Edge (SASE) is a reference architecture that addresses the security challenges of the distributed enterprise”, said John Grady, Network Security Analysts at ESG. “Check Point’s Harmony Connect SASE solution takes a security-first approach by delivering core unified cloud security services, including next-generation firewall, advanced threat prevention, secure web gateway, zero-trust network access, data loss prevention and intrusion prevention (IPS). Check Point Software also integrates with leading networking companies to provide enterprises the flexibility to combine the best security with the best network performance.”

The Harmony Connect SASE enhanced solution will deliver:

• New VPN-as-a-service – Client-based Network-level Access – VPN-as-a-service providing the power of layer-3 network connectivity, secured by Zero-Trust access policy. The service will include embedded cloud DLP and industry-leading IPS to protect apps from the latest vulnerabilities (such as Log4J).
• Cloud points of presence (PoPs) in new regions – With multiple availability zones (PoPs) for each region, Check Point Software will extend its global cloud services by adding new PoPs to its network, with new locations in Switzerland, Norway, Netherlands, Central US, South US, UAE and China.
• New device posture validation for managed devices – Improving security hygiene from employee devices connecting remotely.

“WR Grace is global chemical manufacturer with 5,000 users in over 40 countries. By leveraging Harmony Connect’s Firewall as a Service and Harmony Office and Email, we can protect our users, offices and applications wherever they are located.” said David Antlitz, Global Manager, Security and Firewall Technologies, WR Grace. “Harmony Connect SASE’s unified management allows us to address the challenges of remote connectivity, applying one unified security policy across our enterprise and simplifying administration while still delivering the highest level of security.”

“By extending Check Point’s prevention-first approach to SASE, organisations no longer need to choose between security and performance across their distributed environments,” said Itai Greenberg, VP of Product Management of Check Point Software. “Harmony Connect unifies multiple cloud-delivered network security services and makes it simple to secure remote and hybrid workers, as well as globally distributed offices. The service is already deployed by 400 customers worldwide, and with the new enhancements, organisations will enjoy increased connectivity options, enhanced remote device security and an even better user experience.“

Built to stop the most advanced cyber attacks, Harmony Connect delivers core network security services, such as Secure Web Gateway, Zero Trust Network Access, branch Firewall-as-a-service, Intrusion Prevention (IPS) and Data Loss Prevention (DLP), and is deployed within minutes to apply Zero Trust policies with a seamless user experience.

The new enhancements will add to previously acquired zero trust technology, positioning Check Point’s SASE solution to deliver simple secure connectivity for remote users and branch offices with top-rated threat prevention.

For more information on Check Point Harmony Connect SASE, visit: https://www.checkpoint.com/harmony/connect-sase/

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