Check Point Application Control Reviews

Check Point's Application Control blade is a very powerful and useful tool. To use this tool we need to purchase a subscription for it or purchase a threat prevention package. 

Our primary use case is using Application Control with Identity Awareness feature to create granular policies for users, and groups. Hence, we can control access to applications according to our internet regulations and apply them to users/groups. With the combination, even wherever users/groups are in the organization, whenever they access, they are always under control

With Application Control, we can:

1. Block the applications with critical risks like proxies, malicious VPN tools, hidden IPs, hotspots, et cetera.

2. Save network bandwidth by blocking the downloading tools, P2P sharing, or limiting access to entertainment/IPTV/Social Networking (et cetera) that consume the bandwidth.

3. Increase work productivity by only allowing access to legal destinations while blocking unnecessary accesses like gambling, games, et cetera.

4. Control data loss risk through popular channels: Facebook upload, Instagram upload, public email services (Gmail, Yahoo, et cetera), file storage, and sharing.

5. Limit the usage of the application flexibly (like allowing users to log in to Facebook, and chat but cannot upload data, video, et cetera).

6. Create more granular policies.

We can combine Application Control with Identity Awareness and URL Filtering to create security policies for users/groups based on characteristics about security, productivity and network bandwidth. The most important thing is applying internet access regulations to the firewall system is easier than ever.

The Check Point database of Application Control is the largest library and is updated periodically.

Application categories in the SmartConsole are very clear and easy to search.

The application database is public in AppWiki. This helps to search the application information. This helps people that are considering what Check Point Application Control has before deciding to purchase.

All Check Point security features can run in a single gateway or gateway cluster.

It is expensive. The application control is a subscription type, not a perpetual license. Thus, to use this feature year-by-year, customers must purchase a renewal.

To use it effectively, you must turn on the HTTPS Inspection feature. Almost all the applications are running on encrypted connections. Without HTTPS Inspection, Check Point Gateway cannot detect the behaviors of the application. This leads to the gateway's CPU usage being degraded. In an environment of high connectivity growth or using multiple security features on the same appliance, having to handle more encrypted connections will be very stressful for the CPU.

We've used the solution for more than five years.

It is very exact in application detection.

The scalability of Application Control is based on Check Point Gateway. Check Point Gateway has ClusterXL that supports up to five appliances. With the developing Maestro technology, it's very easy to scale up on demand. Using this technology allows us to maximize hardware investment and appliance capacity.

The support team is very professional.

Positive

I used Fortinet before, however, Check Point Application Control is the best. Check Point has the largest database that no other vendor can compare. Besides, the Check Point appliance is very stable.

It's a bit complicated in terms of the setup if you are combining it with Identity Awareness and HTTPS Inspection.

We use Check Point in our internal network, as well as on the perimeter & we have used the Application control-blade on the internal firewall. All of our user traffic will be terminated at the internal firewall, hence we have done primary filtering of traffic on the internal firewall only.

Basically, on the internal firewall, we are blocking all social networking sites, remote meeting applications, adult content, & torrent applications. This restriction helps us to save our bandwidth as well to ensure that users follow & maintain work ethics at the office premises.

Application control blades help us in two ways. The first is to allow specific applications, where earlier we have to find out all of the URLs needed for each application & then allow them one by one. Now, we now just find the application. The second way is to restrict the user from browsing unwanted websites.

Together, these improved security & help to maintain discipline & focus at work.

The application control-blade also helps us by providing visibility. We have an overview of application traffic & depending upon the content, we can decide to allow or deny the application.

Check Point has its own application database where more than 7,300 applications are known. I am able to see them using the smart console, along with details for each one. Each and every application has an accompanying category, some knowledge about the application, the protocol it uses, & the risk factor associate with it.

Implementing application control is very simple & it is designed in such a way that we can introduce it with access policy. Also, to reduce complexity, we can create an altogether different layer.

This product logs & monitors event traffic for each application, giving us better visibility. Updating the application database is very easy; we just have to schedule the update & the device will automatically fetch it on a regular schedule, such as every two hours.

We expect applications to be updated regularly.

I have been using Check Point Application Control for more than three years.

This is one of the stable modules in Check Point.

Scalability for application control in the Check Point gateways is good & does not take need much processing power.  

Check Point TAC is always helpful, although particularly for application control, we have not yet raised any tickets. For the help that they have given us with other products, I appreciate the effort from the support team, as they always help us when we ask. 

Prior to this, we used FortiGate but the Check Point database is far better.

The initial setup is very simple.

We completed the implementation in-house.

I think application control has become a basic feature and it should be enabled automatically, without having to purchase a separate license for it. Alternatively, it should be available at a minimal cost.

We have not evaluated any other options.

The only thing we expect from a Check Point is to regularly update their database with the new applications. Other than this, specific to the application control-blade, I have not seen any issues or problems.

The Check Point Application Control solution is used by us on two firewall clusters. It is used both on the inside and on the outside.

Analyzing internal traffic helps us to understand which applications are used within our network. It does more than simply allowing or blocking traffic. It provides a report on how much these applications consume on the network and where they are used.

On the foreign side, we only allow applications considered safe and we always use the report to identify external attacks or improper use from the inside out.

Check Point Application Control application I would define it as oxygen: you notice it when it is missing and I say this because we now think it is natural to have this module incorporated in a firewall.

In the beginning, without this module, we were in the dark about everything. We were forced to open internal or external traffic by trusting (sorry for the nonsense) who was doing the traffic: unthinkable today!

Now we know who does what and can give specific permissions based on the user or the group to which the user belongs. The same user can have maximum permits on the professional side but be protected himself from ending up on sites that are improper for his work activity, such as porn sites.

The most important feature, in my opinion, regarding Check Point Application Control is the granularity and the great variety of applications and sub-applications recognized.

Consider that I can make multiple rules for the same user or group of users by detailing what it can do perfectly. The applications are not trivially listed but well-specified. To give an example: the Facebook application is not simple but its features are listed so that I can allow the use of Facebook but not the uploading of a file.

It is hard to say what has to be improved in Check Point Application Control.

Occasionally, we have to identify an application that is not registered. I would like to have a periodic update of the applications, perhaps based on a predefined calendar.

We would like to have the ability to submit new applications for registration, as well as request the recategorization of URLs.

We have been using Check Point Application Control for twenty years.

I have not found any particular malfunctions so I can say that it is well implemented.

Through a firewall cluster, I can increase the power and reliability of the system, and avoid buying a superior model.

Customer service is very competent.

We did not use another similar solution prior to this one.

The initial setup was straightforward.

Setup is made easy by using logs. As a first rule, I put the blocking of applications that come to mind, then a rule of allowed applications specifying all applications. By looking at the logs, I will be able to refine the rule by populating that of blocked applications and creating one of the allowed applications.

For maximum security (but maximum limitation), I can put at the end a rule that blocks everything but will block both applications not previously specified and those not recognized. This rule requires having a team that looks at the logs a lot, otherwise, it is better to put it on permission and analyze it periodically.

We implemented it through a team that lived up to the solution.

The blade has its cost but you can take advantage of the license package to pay less for it.

We did not evaluate other options.

It does not require excessive resources but if you intend to use it massively, do not underestimate the size of the firewall.

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. 

It also enables us to save internet bandwidth by filtering applications that are not work-related.

Check Point enables us to save internet bandwidth. The administration offers good guidance. We don't want the employees to access social networking on work computers because it will distract them from their jobs, so we can block that. It also helps us to implement changes very quickly and to get people to be more focused on the job. 

We can block employees from downloading illegal content that would harm the company image with our IPS. If an employee downloads torrents with movies that should be paid for,  they can detect that it's our company's IP. We could be fined and it could be good damage to the company image. So we block those kinds of applications.

The features are very granular. You can block Facebook Chat but allow Facebook itself. The big database and the easy configuration are also valuable features. 

I think Check Point Application Control is one of Check Point's most complete solutions. It has had a lot of years for improvement. I don't see anything that we need to be improved. It does everything that we would need. It always applies new applications. It does what we need it to do. We don't need to select a specific application if we don't need it, it can be selected by category. The solution is very complete. 

I have been using Check Point Application Control for eight years. 

The solution is stable. We didn't have any specific issues. 

It's scalable in a way that you can use the same application and filter objects on all the gateways that you have under managers. You can define one profile applied to all firewalls.

There are around 1,000 users in our company who are affected by Application Control. 

Four network security engineers are responsible for the maintenance. 

We deployed only on the perimeter firewalls. If we need to add some more perimeter firewalls, we will deploy to that as well.

We specifically chose Check Point because we needed to filter internet access. It was already in place in some firewalls when I came to my company. My colleague implemented it on some other firewalls. It was already placed in one or two firewalls. 

The initial setup was straightforward. We generally use the blacklist method for Application Control. That is where you select which application categories and specific applications you don't want to be accessed and then you allow everything else. This method is easier than what we did in the past where we tried to do it the other way. We would only allow specific applications for a specific project and then deny everything else. But then there was always something missing because the machine would need to update and we would need to have a new application. There was always something being blocked that shouldn't. 

It took us about one week to define the strategy and then two to go through the list of categories that were available to define which we would deny. We would also discuss with the GRC team and get guidance from the administration. 

Our ROI Speaker is that it adds another security measure that doesn't allow employees to access websites and applications that can harm our company, and by keeping the company's IPS reputation clean. It also blocks categories like social networking and gambling. Those kinds of categories also increase productivity and decrease internet link usage for things that don't interest the business.

Pricing is in line with the competition. Licensing is not complicated. The license application is straightforward and it functions well. There are no additional costs that I'm aware of. 

My advice would be to deploy Application Control with a blacklist approach. In which you select which application categories to block and accept others. Otherwise, from our experience, it's a mess. It's much more easy and efficient than doing the whitelist approach, in which you would select what you would allow and block off the rest. It can forget to add a category or an application that is needed and so you will always need to be adding them on a request basis.

The whitelisting approach should only be on very specific applications. In which only a server should access a certain application and nothing else. If you miss something, you will have to always be investigating why it doesn't have access or why an application is not working. 

We tried to do a whitelist approach on a specific environment, but we gave up because it was starting to get to be a bit messy. Some servers only need it to go to the internet to do some updates on some applications. They shouldn't access any other categories. That was always something that was not working because some application was categorized as technology and it was also categorized as, for example, social networking.

The biggest lesson is that it's very important to have Application Control on the company's internet access. A previous company I worked at, got a court letter saying that our IP downloaded two movies from torrents. The company got a final warning that if our IP would be caught downloading illegal stuff again we would have problems and so the company implemented Application Control. It's very important for the company's IP reputation and also for employees to be focused on their job. You can block malicious applications which gives you another level of protection and also reduces internet link usage.

I would rate Check Point Application Control a ten out of ten. 

The primary use case of this solution is security, threat prevention, antivirus, and ransomware. You can use it for everything.

The most valuable feature is the protection from threats.

This solution could be easier to manage. 

The security features could be enhanced, and the price could be lower as well.

I have been familiar with this solution for a year and a half.

This solution is stable and we have not had any issues.

This solution scales nicely.

We have not contacted technical support as of yet.

The initial setup was a bit difficult. Every product has its own difficulties and many products are not equal to each other, which is the reason why it was a bit difficult. 

You have to know the features and where they are located and how they work, the logic and even with the logic you have, you don't know the configuration.

The deployment took one week.

We have our team. We implemented this solution ourselves.

It's a bit expensive and it could be cheaper, but it's part of business politics.

We did evaluate other options but they are approximately the same. They may have some differences, but at first glance, they don't appear to have differences in the functions.

It's a good solution and I suggest it. In general, it can be improved but it's good enough.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.