Check Point CloudGuard Network Security Reviews

We use this solution as our perimeter firewall. 

The most valuable feature for us is the cluster support. We have been using this for a long time, so it is not a feature from the latest version.

We would like to be able to scale out such that we can increase performance within a cluster with more active nodes.

Our biggest complaint concerns the high resource usage for IDS/IPS, as we cannot turn on all of the features even with a recent hardware upgrade.

A great enhancement for this solution would be an active-active or multi-active scalability.

As we need to fulfill higher bandwidth demands due to increased cloud usage and research-driven data exchange, we might need to look for other vendors with more competitive pricing.

This is a stable solution.

Six months ago, we updated our version to the most recent one.

The scalability of this solution is limited, which is why we have started looking for alternatives. Currently, we have about twenty-thousand users.

Technical support for this solution is good. They have a quick response and the solution was available within a short period.

We did not use another solution prior to this one.

This initial setup of this solution is complex.

The preparation for deployment took two days, and the deployment itself took about two hours.

We have three staff who are responsible for maintaining the firewall, although there are more tasks that they handle, in addition to it.

We enlisted the help of a service provider to assist us with the implementation. 

The price of this solution could be improved. We pay approximately ‎€150,000 ($166,000 USD) per year. We receive four days of support every year from our service provider before we have to contact Check Point. 

We did not evaluate other options before choosing this solution, although we are currently considering alternative solutions from Forcepoint and Fortinet.

My advice for anybody who is considering this solution is to start by identifying high-bandwidth use cases. If you have any, and you have a high-security requirement, then I suggest considering other options.

This is a secure and reliable solution for us, although we are a bit disappointed with the limited scalability and resource consumption.  

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

I use the product to secure the Azure environment. 

The tool's most valuable features are firewalls and IPS. 

There is room for improvement, especially concerning the integration with the management center. It would be beneficial if tasks that currently require scripts could be performed directly from the GUI. 

I have been using the product for a year. 

The product is stable. 

We faced issues with scalability. 

The solution's support is good but can be improved. 

Neutral

The product is too expensive. 

We have moved our security level from on-prem to the cloud. The security posture is consistent. We can use the same storage system, monitoring system, and objects both on-prem and in the cloud. 

I am quite confident with CloudGuard Network Security. The primary reason for choosing the product over other cloud firewall vendors was to maintain the same solution as on-premises. Additionally, it offered a good level of security functionalities. 

I rate the overall product an eight out of ten. You should define your requirements before choosing the product. 

We use the product for network security and cloud workload protection. 

It's easy to set up in Azure Cloud. The ease of setup helps us save time.

It offers an easy and nice way to manage the gateways, similar to on-prem hardware. It has packet filtering features. Our security operations are faster and less prone to errors. We selected CloudGuard Network Security due to its visibility. 

CloudGuard Network Security more or less provides us with unified security management across hybrid-clouds as well as on-prem. We manage both environments on the same console. It makes our security operations faster and less prone to error. 

The solution needs to improve the interruptions that happen during gateway upgrades. 

I have been using the product for two years. 

There were no major stability issues, although switching gateways could cause some downtime, approximately a minute until the new gateway is fully deployed.

CloudGuard Network Security's scalability is good. 

The tool's support is good. Their responses can get delayed due to time zone differences. 

Positive

I have only used the built-in solutions from Azure. 

CloudGuard is easier to understand. CloudGuard is very easy to translate and easy to incorporate features. CloudGuard has better features like packet filters, EPS, threat prevention, and filtering.

We chose CloudGuard because of the visibility. It's much better.

The setup process saves us time, especially in the Azure cloud, as the system continually improves.

We have seen ROI through its visibility and through understanding attacks on the workloads.

For us, the solution was easy to understand. The syncing of the CloudGuard Network Security is like that of the gateway on-prem. Translating in a very easy path to bring the features is very easy. I rate the product a nine out of ten. 

The tool's most valuable features are IPS and blades. These features are valuable for security. 

CloudGuard Network Security's pricing is expensive. We have encountered issues with its licensing. 

I have been using the product for six years. 

CloudGuard Network Security's stability is good. 

In terms of scalability in the cloud, manual deployment is straightforward. However, the challenge arises due to the pay-as-you-go model. The issue of buying licenses is not specific to the Check Point but is more related to our ordering process.

The tool's support is good. 

Positive

Check Point helped us with the deployment. 

CloudGuard Network Security is an efficient solution. I rate it an eight out of ten. 

We use CloudGuard Network Security to protect our customer's Azure environments. 

The tool's deployment is rapid. Its dashboard is also useful. It's easy to deploy both on-premises and in Azure. In an office with VMware running, deployment is a simple process. Similarly, in Azure, deployment is easy and scalable. Adding more CPUs is a straightforward task – just shut it down, modify the security, and restart. This ease of use translates into cost and resource savings, and faster deployment times.

Clustering in Azure is a bit different, not using the Check Point cluster but relying on load balancing. It's not as instant as I'm used to; in Azure, it might take around half a minute to a minute, and during this time, services could be down. The delay is attributed to Azure using its load balancing mechanisms instead of the Check Point cluster.

I have been using the product for three to four years. 

The tool's technical support is generally good. While there might be occasional delays, they usually manage to resolve issues. 

Neutral

In Azure, when we refer to "size," it could be in terms of factors like the number of instances, bandwidth, or users. We use cloud-native platforms but prefer Check Point solutions. It is easier to manage since we know Check Point is on-prem. I have a high level of confidence in CloudGuard Network Security. I am familiar with Check Point and Azure. I rate the overall product a nine out of ten. 

Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is a security solution that provides advanced threat prevention, network security, and compliance enforcement for public cloud environments. 

It can be used to protect workloads in various cloud environments, such as different clouds. 

The primary use case of Check Point CloudGuard Network Security is to secure and protect workloads and applications running in the cloud by providing a multi-layered security approach that includes a firewall, intrusion prevention, anti-malware, and sandboxing capabilities. 

One way it can improve an organization is by providing advanced threat prevention capabilities to protect against known and unknown threats in the cloud environment. This can help to reduce the risk of data breaches and other security incidents.

Another way it can improve an organization is by providing network segmentation and micro-segmentation capabilities that can help to limit the spread of malware or other malicious activities in the event of a security incident. Additionally, it can improve an organization's compliance posture by providing automated compliance enforcement for cloud environments. This can help organizations to meet regulatory requirements such as HIPAA, PCI-DSS, and more. 

Some of the features that are considered most valuable in Check Point CloudGuard Network Security include:

Advanced threat prevention. This feature includes firewall, intrusion prevention, anti-malware, and sandboxing capabilities that can help to protect against known and unknown threats in the cloud environment.

Network segmentation and micro-segmentation. This feature allows organizations to limit the spread of malware or other malicious activities in the event of a security incident. 

Centralized management. The solution provides a centralized management console for easy administration and monitoring of security policies and events, making it easy for the security team.

In general, some areas where security solutions could be improved include:

More advanced threat intelligence, including the ability to detect and protect against emerging threats in real time.

Improved scalability to allow the solution to handle larger numbers of users and devices without a significant impact on performance.

Greater automation to reduce the need for manual configuration and management.

Integration with other security tools and services to provide a more comprehensive security solution.

Better reporting and analytics capabilities to provide more detailed visibility into security incidents and events. 

I've used the solution for one year.

The CloudGuard Network Security monitors data flow across company applications to enhance efficient safety. 

This application manages all the security programs across the organization and easily identifies any security breaches that might affect performance. 

It blocks harmful content that can be easily transferred among colleagues and spread viruses. 

Network security configurations in the applications have saved the company cost and time that has been invested for the past year in enhancing data safety.

This system has been important in the organization since we deployed it. It tracks workflows in the networking system to enhance a safe data management environment. 

It has launched secure data management systems to identify and troubleshoot coding errors. 

Production has increased since we deployed this software as employees have nothing to fear and can fully focus on productive activities. It stops phishing attacks and any third-party attacks that can destroy data. 

Working in a secure environment free from malware attacks has been a great achievement in the organization. Check Point CloudGuard Network Security has helped us to achieve this.

The advanced threat prevention system stops any ransomware attacks that can leak confidential information to unauthorized parties. 

Both multi-cloud and on-premises are protected from data attackers, which has boosted the company's growth. 

This software is great in overall performance since it can locate any trouble across the networking system and provide solutions before it affects workflows. 

The automated network security is efficient in monitoring CI/CD workflows. The security across the premises has improved, and the application production has improved under a secure working environment.

The current features have ensured that there are no cloud threats that can affect data in any way. 

We have experienced the most advanced data security since we deployed CloudGuard Network Security in the organization. 

A threat categorization system can be added to give users the authority to define vulnerable attacks and classify areas that can threaten the workflow system. 

Working with this platform is complicated for new users. The cost of management is relatively high for small-scale businesses affecting overall performance.

I've used the solution for eight months.

This platform is stable and has improved the network security in the organization.

I am impressed by the overall performance.

The customer service team provides reliable guidance and directions always.

Positive

I have not worked with a similar solution.

The setup was straightforward.

Implementation took place through the vendor team.

There has been increased ROI since we deployed this platform.

The setup price and cost is good for most growing business enterprises.

I started working with this platform, and I have no intention of leaving it soon.

The performance has been stable and I recommend it.

The main usage of the Check Point CloudGuard IaaS within our company is for the protection of our cloud assets. It is deployed on Google Cloud Platform with the help of the Firewall, Application Control, and Intrusion Prevention System software blades. 

In addition, we rely heavily on the GeoIP module to restrict undesired countries from accessing our services, as for now, you can't achieve it with the GCP firewall.

There are about 30 Google Cloud projects of different sizes ranging from 10 to 250 virtual machines, and they are used for development, staging, production, etc. For every project, there is one dedicated scalable instance group of the Check Point CloudGuard IaaS gateways.

While using the Check Point CloudGuard IaaS gateways in the cloud environment, we had almost the same experience as with other Check Point firewall solutions.

The components of the infrastructure are integrated with each other quite well. All the common Check Point Next Generation Firewall blades are supported including Firewall, IPS, Antivirus, VPN, etc. There is not a big difference with the usual on-premises gateway from this perspective. This provided us a smooth experience while moving our load from on-premises data centers to the Google Cloud environments, and increased the adoption and the speed of the migration process.

I find it really useful that CloudGuard supports all the main players on the Public Clouds market including AWS, GCP, and Azure, as well as some exotic ones like Alibaba Cloud, Oracle Cloud, and IBM Cloud. I would say there is about a 95% probability that the platform you are using is supported, and I don't know any other solution for now that can provide the same number. Moreover, it integrates with most of the public cloud management solutions, so you could automate modification of the security policies based on some triggers or changes in your cloud infrastructure.

I also like that different licensing models are supported. For testing/evaluation/PoC projects, you could go with the Pay-as-you-go (PAYG) license without wasting a lot of money in case the solution somehow doesn't suit you. On the other hand, for production, you could use the Bring-your-own-license (BYOL) way, applying the license bought earlier.

As with other solutions of this kind, you still have to manage basic cloud firewalls and routes for VPC outside of CloudGuard IaaS. There's no 100% integration.

I hope that Check Point continues to improve its technical documentation regarding the Check Point CloudGuard IaaS gateway and management system. For example, the questions on how to scale the instances in the relevant cloud should be covered, and all the High Availability options and switchover scenarios. Without that, users have to open numerous consulting cases to the support team to get it right.

We have been using Check Point CloudGuard IaaS for less than a year.

The Check Point CloudGuard IaaS is stable product, and in fact it runs the same code as the hardware Check Point NGFWs, so no issues were encountered there.

The Check Point CloudGuard IaaS scales well for the Google Cloud Platform with the help of the Instance Groups feature.

We have had several support cases opened. Some of the issues were resolved by installing the latest recommended JumoHotfix, whereas some required additional configuration on the OS kernel level.

The longest issue took about one month to be resolved, which we consider too long.

We didn't use such solutions before and had to rely on the built-in firewall rules of the Google Cloud Platform infrastructure.

The setup was straightforward, and the configuration was easy and understandable.

Our deployment was completed by our in-house team. We have a Check Point Certified engineer working in the engineering team.

There is flexibility in the different licensing models that are offered.

For testing/evaluation/PoC projects, you could go with the Pay-as-you-go (PAYG) license without wasting a lot of money in case the solution somehow doesn't suit you. On the other hand, for production, you could use the Bring-your-own-license (BYOL) way, applying the license bought earlier.

This is a flexible approach and we like that.

No, since we decided to have a unified firewalling solution across all the infrastructure, and we already had the Check Point firewalls in the on-premises data centers.

You should fully understand the way CloudGuard would be integrated into your cloud from a networking perspective, and it differs from platform to platform. For example, for Google Cloud, the instances of Cloud Guard must have interfaces in several VPCs as a requirement. Think about the subnetting and routing for your project, then implement a PoC with your networking staff.