Check Point has rounded out its security suite with the introduction of a network-based data loss prevention (DLP) platform that emphasises user involvement in the protection of sensitive data.
The platform, called Check Point DLP, contains two new technological developments. The first is what CEO Gil Shwed described as a simple but sophisticated underlying technology. It’s called MultiSpect and can scan files that are uploaded to the web for any classified information, such as intellectual property (IP), personally identifiable information and compliance-related data. A flag can be raised if this information is about the leave the company’s network.
The second technology is called UserCheck, which produces a pop-up window that alerts a user that data may be at risk. Shwed said that this helps the user to think more about their actions and educates them about potential security risks.
“UserCheck gives users the power to make the decision,” Shwed told CBR. “Sending the user a message that asks if they really want to send the information means they can take the decision to not send it or send it out after consultation with the company legal arm. That should drive down the number of unintentional incidents by 90-99%.”
Check Point DLP contains over 250 pre-defined best practice policies to help maintain the security of sensitive data. These policies are flexible and enable IT admins to change and update them to meet evolving security threats, Shwed added.
The new platform represents Check Point’s first foray into the DLP space but Shwed is confident that his firm is bringing something different to the market. “The need for DLP is a universal need,” the told CBR. “Solutions for it have been in existence for several years now and some a good but the main reason they haven’t taken off in a big way is because they became very complex and expensive. They became niche solutions.”
“They were trying to get the computer make a decision that a computer cannot make – whether a document should or should not be transmitted,” Shwed added. “Yesterday a document was confidential, today it’s public. How does a computer know that?”
Content from our partners
The Check Point DLP software blade can be deployed on all Check Point security gateways.
In addition to its DLP announcement Check Point also revealed details of a new security management tool. The SmartEvent Software Blade pulls together management capabilities from multiple systems such as firewalls, intrusion prevention, DLP and endpoints and filters out the daily threat logs. This means that critical events are highlighted as they occur, giving IT managers the ability to stop attacks in real time.
