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reviewer1626546 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Head at SUKARNE
User
Stable with good automatic updating and effective filtering capabilities
Pros and Cons
  • "The automatic updates of new applications and signatures guarantee protection at all times without the need to apply a change manually."
  • "It's important that there is the option to validate the policies before applying them."

What is our primary use case?

Before using this solution, I needed to have other network components that would allow me to block or restrict access to unauthorized sites, which generated a very high cost in terms of licensing and maintenance. Now, I can control authorized and unauthorized access to my end-users, and I can control bandwidth and assign a defined bandwidth to guarantee the operation of my company. 

With this solution, I was able to establish and guarantee the security of my end-users using the categories and definitions within the solution. I'm able to easily identify high-risk sites, as well as sites not allowed for explicit content.

How has it helped my organization?

In the beginning, I did not have control of the content that my users had access to, which put the integrity of my company at risk. With this solution, I was able to create explicit policies that would adhere to the rules that we established for access to applications. 

Previously, I had 2 appliances from another brand to control the traffic of applications and to control bandwidth. It is a very simple product to administer with amazing potential endowed within a large database of applications and is constantly updated.

What is most valuable?

The automatic updates of new applications and signatures guarantee protection at all times without the need to apply a change manually. This has been largely beneficial to my organization and only on a couple of occasions have I had a problem with legacy applications being applied to a filter incorrectly. We've solved this by documenting them in the Check Point portal to ensure they are not listed as a malicious application or IP. There is a large database of applications that have been incorporated together with the traffic control tool assigning a defined bandwidth for certain applications.

What needs improvement?

It's important that there is the option to validate the policies before applying them since it is very annoying and causes a waste of time to apply a new policy or rule and afterward receive an error that the policy has failed. 

It is important that, if you are being notified of the modifications in the automatic policies that were updated, it's clear in terms of the content that is included as well as the applications that have been modified for being malicious or not. 

Without a doubt, these would be contributions that would greatly benefit the solution's operation within my company.

Buyer's Guide
Check Point Application Control
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Check Point Application Control. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
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For how long have I used the solution?

I've worked with the solution for 5 years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In some equipment, the scaling is very good, however, it depends on the equipment that is purchased and if there is correct sizing.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Yes, I made the change because I tried a demo and it seemed like a great product.

What was our ROI?

It is a very safe and stable product.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The licensing is very good. We always rely on an authorized dealer to ensure proper operation and sizing.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Yes, I evaluated Cisco, Palo Alto, and Fortinet.

What other advice do I have?

Not at this time. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Nagendra Nekkala - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager ICT & Innovations at Bangalore International Airport Limited
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Helps to control VPN and bandwidth but needs to incorporate better documentation and regular security patches
Pros and Cons
  • "The tool's most valuable features are VPN access, website defense, and maintenance."
  • "Check Point Application Control needs to ensure that they release up-to-date security patches regularly. It should release better documentation so end-users can use the product without depending on the support team."

What is our primary use case?

We use Check Point Application Control to control VPN and bandwidth. 

What is most valuable?

The tool's most valuable features are VPN access, website defense, and maintenance. 

What needs improvement?

Check Point Application Control needs to ensure that they release up-to-date security patches regularly. It should release better documentation so end-users can use the product without depending on the support team. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with the product for three years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Check Point Application Control's stability is good. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The tool is scalable. My company has 1000 users. 

How are customer service and support?

The tool's support is good. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

You need guidance to do the product's deployment. It cannot be done directly. You need two people to handle the deployment. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Check Point Application Control is expensive. The tool's licensing costs are yearly. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate the product an eight out of ten. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Check Point Application Control
November 2024
Learn what your peers think about Check Point Application Control. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: November 2024.
814,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Edwin Solano Salmeron - PeerSpot reviewer
Soporte técnico superior at Acobo
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Helps define policies, integrates with third-parties, and offers good threat detection
Pros and Cons
  • "One of the greatest capacities and the benefits it gives us is the ability to control applications based on defining access or denial policies in specific applications, groups, or category profiles."
  • "The guides used today are a bit complex, and we need efficient and simple access to them so that any administrative or technical person can solve, analyze, and configure each of the rules and identities seamlessly."

What is our primary use case?

We needed to allow, control, block, and access specific applications based on the policies that the institution has as a baseline. Given this need, we have tried, analyzed, and tested various solutions that could comply with said internal directive. We have sought solutions that allow us greater visibility and control over applications on the network, improving the protection of applications and the security of the organization in general. We've validated the software's great potential at detecting malicious events on unauthorized applications or resources. 

How has it helped my organization?

Check Point Application Control has offered us the possibility of achieving several important organizational pillars that were required to cover. We had application identification, application control, and protection based on known or unknown threats. 

These capabilities have allowed us to discover known or unknown threats by detecting them under the identity of users. We managed to include a malware intrusion detection index based on the identity of the users in order to protect them. 

What is most valuable?

One of the greatest capacities and the benefits it gives us is the ability to control applications based on defining access or denial policies in specific applications, groups, or category profiles. Compared to other products, it has offered us a unique combination by allowing the integration of third-party services or brand-owned services, which gives us a chance to insure, protect ourselves, and generate scalable, comprehensive protection. 

What needs improvement?

One of the improvements that we need is in the manual services. The guides used today are a bit complex, and we need efficient and simple access to them so that any administrative or technical person can solve, analyze, and configure each of the rules and identities seamlessly. We need clear directions to help us configure effectively. It's important to be able to have this documentation available to make the many available features easy to configure and allow us to promote defense tactics in depth against all available threats. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for two years.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Software Engineer at Doddle
User
Top 5
Mitigates security risks, has workflow tracking capacity and offers increased workflow performance
Pros and Cons
  • "It ensures that the health of each application can handle the set tasks and projects without any challenges."
  • "The set performance monitoring systems are complex to interpret and scale down their operations."

What is our primary use case?

The company-based applications have benefited from this software in the enhancement of security and performance acceleration. 

Check Point Application Control monitors all tools' performance and operations in all enterprise activities. 

The reported performance metrics help us allocate resources and unlock hidden business potentials. Over the past year, this product has boosted the end output of all applications and promoted efficient teamwork. Each tool can easily link and integrate with others with set task objectives.

How has it helped my organization?

Check Point Application Control has highly improved business operations with modern data control systems. 

It ensures that the health of each application can handle the set tasks and projects without any challenges. 

We have increased workflow performance and improved the service delivery to our clients. 

Data transfer with preferable security measures has enhanced better collaboration among teams. The connection of applications has enabled members to understand the data flow and set goals with real-time reports.

What is most valuable?

The set security measures integrated with applications help us to identify and set policies that can support our programs. 

It mitigates the security risks that can affect business tools and their implications on the overall production capacity. 

The workflow tracking capacity provides data on all employees working with certain tools and their contributions. 

Check Point Application Control can monitor the operations of many applications at the same time without low-performance experiences. There is increased revenue from the reduced cost of consolidating required security tools.

What needs improvement?

The set security features have increased the production efficiency of all applications. The new IT team monitoring this system requires proper training in order to execute the targeted goals effectively without failure. 

The set performance monitoring systems are complex to interpret and scale down their operations. 

The customer service team works tirelessly to ensure our teams are satisfied. Cloud network security has kept our assets secure since we deployed with a smooth continuation of other enterprise activities.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for one year and four months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This product is stable and with high-performance capabilities.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I like the persistence of improving security across the organization from this application.

How are customer service and support?

I have no words for the support team; I really congratulate them on the excellent job!

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have previously worked with AppDynamics - although the security models did not meet our targets.

How was the initial setup?

It is easy to setup and learn how the product works.

What about the implementation team?

The vendor team did the implementation.

What was our ROI?

The set targeted ROI has been achieved.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The setup procedure is good and the cost is suitable for most enterprises.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I evaluated operations and performance of AppDynamics.

What other advice do I have?

Check Point Application Control is the best solution for security and performance controls.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Hugo Alexis Espinoza Naranjo - PeerSpot reviewer
Perimeter Security Administrator at a security firm with 51-200 employees
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Good blocking and filtering but needs more of a knowledge base for users
Pros and Cons
  • "The most outstanding feature is the Check Point APK wiki."
  • "The blocking characteristics for filtering content currently are not so customizable."

What is our primary use case?

We needed a solution that would allow us to protect the applications that we were constantly developing. Those applications needed to be classified by categories, including integrity, risk level, and productivity issues, as well as identity per user. We needed all these characteristics to safeguard a library, repository, or platform that could allow us to manage it in a secure, fast, and scalable way. We tried more than one solution that would allow us the required granularity in the teams and management so that we could implement it according to the regulations that we had internally.

How has it helped my organization?

At the time of implementation, we had a great feeling of satisfaction with the solution as it allowed us to have granularity across types of applications - by the network, identity, social networks, the function of the application, et cetera. We were able to do more than what we really needed, and this gave us that feeling that we now had the internal compliance that we did not have before. The libraries are much larger and grouped by application in categories to protect us from attacks or threats.

What is most valuable?

The most outstanding feature is the Check Point APK wiki, which is a product that is incorporated into the solution that allows us to naturally and dynamically apply internal applications to the application database. It is continuously updated, which allows us to have constant detection capabilities and more than 8000 different applications at different sites. It allows us to be more dynamic and have greater control. Additionally, it has blocking via content filtering or HTTPS inspection, which we can combine with identity. That gives us a more centralized correlation and management for more granular policies and more expeditious control over each activity from the users.

What needs improvement?

The blocking characteristics for filtering content currently are not so customizable. I would like to be able to modify them a bit. I hope that customization will be incorporated in the future. Right now, we must educate the users who are constantly violating or in fear of violating an issue. We would like to be able to incorporate filtering with notifications in a learning portal so users can be educated and will no longer have a lack of experience. A portal will help make better, more educated, and knowledgeable users. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for two years.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
SHRINKHALA SINGH - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager at Advertising Standards Council of India
Real User
Top 10
Great for blocking and malware protection with improved productivity
Pros and Cons
  • "It improved the performance outcome for all our verticals due to more automation in system security, which helped in the identification and blockage of malware-affected applications and widgets."
  • "More and more product specifications should be infused with new incumbent features in the market to stay relevant and concurrent with the organization's needs."

What is our primary use case?

Check Point Application Control is a one-stop shop for providing the strongest security to an organization's business verticals in the most efficient and effective manner. 

It eases the business working as it enables smooth flow of information and helps businesses to create micro-managed accurate, granular policies, and helps in strengthening the organization's security by blocking and restricting the unknown and unsecured phishing widgets and applications across multiple integrations. 

It limits the usage and utilization of any unknown malware attempts from any application

How has it helped my organization?

Check Point Application Control improved the productivity of our workforce by reducing the coordination time and efforts involved in strengthening the system's security through a traditional manual way or path. 

It improved the performance outcome for all our verticals due to more automation in system security, which helped in the identification and blockage of malware-affected applications and widgets.

It helps in categorizing the basis of the application, its types, security level, the usability of resources, and its implications on productivity as a whole.

What is most valuable?

The solution is great at blocking and stopping unidentified and malware-affected applications.

The next-gen firewall system is inbuilt and is highly efficient in restricting terminated and unsecure applications.

It ensures smooth and secure API integrations with other system firewalls and applications due to advanced next-gen identification of malware-affected applications. 

Unauthorized and unsecured applications would not pose any risk to the organization's effectiveness if carried out efficiently by application control security.

What needs improvement?

In my view, more efforts are required with the business development and customer service team to create more and more awareness across businesses of all sizes on the benefits of deploying the Check Point application control security across all business verticals and improving the performance outcomes for the organization.

More and more product specifications should be infused with new incumbent features in the market to stay relevant and concurrent with the organization's needs.

They need more and more secure integration features should be included with less cost so that the adoption rate can be increased multifold amongst new business users.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for over six months now.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product is stable and highly recommended.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is highly scalable and replicable across multiple platforms and systems.

How are customer service and support?

We get great support and services from business and corporate customer service teams.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

An in-house solution was utilized for application security previously.

How was the initial setup?

The product is easy to comprehend and deploy.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented the product through the vendor only.

What was our ROI?

We've seen an ROI of over 80%.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

To every business out there, I strongly recommend trying Check Point Application Security and analyzing the utilities independently. It's one of the best security application software with advanced features to strengthen security with integrated applications and other platforms.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated McAfee and Trend security applications before making a final selection.

What other advice do I have?

I'd advise users to go for its mandatory trial and explore the gamut of facilities on their own.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Swetha Yadhav - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Engineer at Wipro Limited
Real User
Good application control, useful notifications, and a straightforward setup
Pros and Cons
  • "We can easily switch from a classical firewall to a next-gen firewall using application security."
  • "Configuration and deployment are a little bit difficult."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case of Check Point Application Control is to filter which application categories we want to allow our organization members to have access to so that they are secured. 

For example, we don't allow access to malicious applications and some categories that could be threats. We only allow organization members to access secure applications and applications that are aligned with the company's strategy. 

The user interface is easy and dynamic. You can drag objects around the screen to facilitate their use. Besides, it is quite easy to understand and apply changes.

How has it helped my organization?

It also enables us to save internet bandwidth by filtering applications that are not work-related and helps us to easily create granular policies based on users to identify the usage of applications.

We can easily switch from a classical firewall to a next-gen firewall using application security. 

We implemented application control at MDM global security policies, which helps us set general security standards for all managed devices. 

Identity awareness module integration is to be used for user/group-based controls.

What is most valuable?

Application control and having features like completeness and validity, identification, authentication, and granularity with unified layers is awesome. The most important aspect is that it allows users to define policies based on source IP and user role, quickly identifying traffic flow with SAML.

You can allow or block traffic coming or going out to the internet for specific applications or websites.

It offers user notifications for blocked access, time-defined policies, and bulk categorization of malicious applications.

What needs improvement?

Sometimes, documentation is not accurate and with the support issue we have to wait a long time for an engineer to understand the errors. I would like to see if they can help with the issue of service and more qualified staff. They need to have good service with Check Point products.

The load balancer functionality for application traffic might be a better option.

Configuration and deployment are a little bit difficult. 

This product works only when the user is in traffic flow through NGFW. 

Sometimes there are more than one category tag to an application which can be tricky.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using the product for more than 12.5 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We are satisfied with the stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We are satisfied with the scalability.

How are customer service and support?

The product provides the largest database about application control and we can create granular policies to identify the usage. Overall it's been a very good experience, working with this product.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We didn't use any solutions previously. Check Point Application Control is easy and user-friendly. We're able to control and manage all applications with it.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

The help we had was excellent.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing has to be more economical.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Network Engineer at LTTS
Real User
We can filter a search based on risk level to see all applications at a certain risk level
Pros and Cons
  • "With Check Point Application Control we can say we improved our legacy and have made them more secure. Now we are able to allow specific applications on respective service and we are allowed those respective services only."
  • "Most of the business applications stopped working, we don't know why and we have already escalated to the top level but we still haven't gotten any corrective action on this. They always take logs but after that, there is no resolution."

What is our primary use case?

The Check Point Application Control blade provides application security and identity control for our organization. It gives us very easy to create policies based on users and groups. We use Critical Risk and Anonymizers, P2P file sharing, Spyware, and Remote admin categories. We use Application Control in two ways, separate rule base and with access policy as well. My all over experience is good.  

How has it helped my organization?

With Check Point Application Control we can say we improved our legacy and have made them more secure. Now we are able to allow specific applications on respective service and we are allowed those respective services only. 

With Application Control we have visibility into who is accessing which application but our pain area is still with HTTPS inspection. 

Overall, Application Control is a very good blade and it is very helpful in our complex environment. We can restrict our site to site rule as well.

What is most valuable?

The Check Point Application control database contains each and every application and category and each of the applications and categories describe the additional category and also a risk level. The database updates regularly. It gives us the updated and latest lists of applications that are widely used. We can filter a search based on risk level, risk level 5 to see all applications with that risk level. We can also see the description of the risk level with the lag line. 

What needs improvement?

Most of the business applications stopped working, we don't know why and we have already escalated to the top level but we still haven't gotten any corrective action on this. They always take logs but after that, there is no resolution. They need to improve this, this will help us a lot. We have not blocked anything on a rule base we have enabled HTTPS on a monitoring mode but still, we are facing issues, and if we add an unknown category on that respective rule only then does it start working.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Check Point for four years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability is good. 

How are customer service and technical support?

Support is genuinely not good on Application Control.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

We initially implemented it with a vendor. 

What was our ROI?

We have seen ROI.

What other advice do I have?

They have to improve more on the Application Control blade.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Check Point Application Control Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: November 2024
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Application Control
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Check Point Application Control Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.