Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration Reviews

This solution is not for our organization. We are system integrators. We have some projects for our clients, and one of our clients was looking for CloudGuard because they use Check Point Firewall for their on-premise. There are a number of machines and critical servers that they have hosted in AWS; 15 to 20 servers and application servers are hosted in the AWS platform. For those, we have applied Check Point IaaS Firewall for their security and firewall protection.

We are using the stable version that was published in March.

I am confident with the block rate. We host our solution in AWS cloud. If someone tries to hit our applications, they could be a legitimate user or a hacker. So, we have found a number of blocked attempts from the external end.

In terms of technical features, this is the best solution that I have worked with so far. For example:

• URL Filtering
• Application control 
• Threat Prevention
• Sandboxing

We have found threat prevention using sandboxing from Check Point, after buying the Threat Prevention license, helped with the malware prevention rate and reduced zero-day attacks.

For Threat Prevention, I was impressed with this feature and the solution's effectiveness. It has been very good. 

Getting reports and finding threats in the console is easy.

The false positive rate is one of the problems that we had faced with Check Point's information. For example, we have a number of false positives in both CloudGuard SaaS and CloudGuard IaaS, which has been quite disappointing when we find them. However, the moment when we whitelist or blacklist false positive things, the solution gives us more efficient security than other solutions. When I teach Check Point IaaS, I feel like it is putting devices into learning mode and feeding more stuff to the solution, which gives me more efficient security.

We download the SmartConsole from AWS, installing it on our computers, then managing it from our end only on local machines. I need to download agents for every machine from the Check Point instance. To connect with the SmartConsole, then I need to give public access to Check Point's machine. At that moment, there is no configuration in my machine so I need to give some public access to our machine. Giving public access without configuring anything is the first defect or drawback. It takes a few times for every engineer to download the agent and configure the policy, and that takes five to 10 minutes. Within those five to 10 minutes, it is insecure.

The integration with the Check Point console needs improvement, e.g., accessing the SmartConsole is difficult. 

I have been working with Check Point for six to seven months.

I haven't tested the scalability.

The worst thing that I have faced with Check Point has been their support.

I have sat with all the following support teams:

• Cisco
• Fortinet
• SonicWall
• Sophos
• Check Point. 

Other vendor support teams go after fixing the issue the moment that they join the remote session. The problem that I have faced with Check Point support is that they share the case number with me, then it takes at least two days for them to join a remote session with us, even though we have asked for this timeframe to change. Even though we have already explained the problems that we are facing or the business pain points in our network on the call or email, we have to repeat the problem statements again in the console. It can take four or five days to resolve the issue from the moment they understand the problem. This includes the time to teach their R&D or internal team whatever the issue is. I have faced timeframes as long as seven to 10 days for fixing some issues. 

Since this is a cloud-based solution for IaaS and SaaS, I need a different support team for a number of things. So, if they increased or developed their support team, then it would be better for their customers.

Compared to other solutions, like Fortinet, this solution's initial setup is complex. Policy configuration and integrations make Check Point's setup difficult. The setup for on-premise and cloud are the same.

Whenever we need to download the agent from Check Point's console and integrate the SmartConsole with the Check Point solution, the configuration is time consuming and a difficult task for an engineer. Getting the console integrated with the firewall can be difficult, affecting engineers during implementation.

When it comes to Threat Prevention pricing and licensing, it has felt a little costly. For some clients, who are looking at security as their primary concern, then it's better for them. 

I'm in this business as a system integrator, so I need to suggest Check Point to some customers who are comparing products. I sell Check Point, Fortinet, and Palo Alto solutions. In terms of licensing, this solution is quite competitive but very costly. For someone looking at security as a primary concern, they should only invest in Check Point. For a customer who is looking at security combined with pricing, Check Point might not be the core solution for them. In today's market, customers are looking for effective security with efficient pricing, and Check Point is not suitable for these types of customers.

I would like them to improve the pricing.

With respect to Check Point's security features, my clients and I feel every feature given by Check Point has been very helpful for us. We have tried FortiGate, Sophos, and Cisco in some places. Even though Check Point wasn't a market leader, like Cisco and FortiGate, they have the most efficient security. Therefore, we feel it is worth the money for their security features.

The cloud security provided by CloudGuard IaaS is simple compared with the security provided by public cloud providers. If I go for Check Point, then I'm getting the complete features of what a firewall does. When I go for AWS, then by default, I don't get anything other than the ACLs.

The security features have been good. The pricing and licensing strategies have been average, but Check Point's support has been the worst.

I would rate the solution as a seven out of 10.

The company desires to protect the current email tool, in this case, Microsoft, and its collaboration products such as One Drive and Sharepoint.

We wanted to avoid malware, phishing, and spam, among other frequent threats in this infrastructure. We managed to solve it through Harmony Email Collaboration.

Other tools provided similar solutions. However, we could not centralize their administration. With the Infinity Check Point Portal, it was possible to meet this requirement.

Through the modern security tool Harmony Email, we managed to protect our email cloud environment and its main collaboration tools.

It is quite simple to connect through a connection API, achieving the main objective.

Its protection against malicious documents allowed us to review the attached documents through threat emulation and threat extraction and deliver the package or file to the user in just a couple of seconds, in an agile, simple, and fast way, providing an ideal delivery time for the users.

We liked this tool a lot. Its most attractive features were:

1- Check Point Harmony Threat Emulation and Threat Extraction technologies that delivered fast attached files or files with threats.

2-The DLP policies helped us a lot against the loss of sensitive information.

3-Its ease of implementation and its API to connect with solutions safely.

4-Its monitoring dashboard with screens and graphs is very useful for us as administrators.

The product is a complete, centralized solution accessible through the Infinity Portal.

Some improvements can be provided, including the documentation available. We need it to better establish the manufacturer's best practices since sometimes it is difficult to find public information because the tool is relatively new in the market.

The costs are not publicly available.     

Support can be a bit quicker in helping the customer.

More training and guides should be available for customers.

A few performance issues should be mentioned regarding the Infinity service.

This is a good tool centralized in Check Point's Infinity Portal. We started using it after a POC was given to us.

This is an extremely stable tool.

It is administered through the Infinity Portal without worrying about HW administration.

Previously, we used the native Office 365 tool, however, we wanted more security power and a centralized environment with our other Check Point solutions.

It is important to have a partner to request help in order to review your business requirements.

We always evaluate the security tools available, however, we are inclined to follow the Check Point line. The Harmony family is quite good, effective, and safe.

We have the entire email infrastructure based on Office 365, as well as the file-sharing environment using OneDrive, and Teams as a communication tool. We did not have a specific technology to protect this environment, except that which was provided by Microsoft.

After analyzing the market, we opted for the CheckPoint SaaS solution to cover all of these needs, which has led to a considerable leap in the company's security.

In this way, we now have a secure environment throughout the Office 365 platform, integrated into our SIEM and monitored by our SOC.

In the same way, we have detected malicious files in both OneDrive and SharePoint that have been blocked, which means the elimination of risks in the corporate network.

One of the important characteristics is the visibility that it gives us about suspicious access to accounts, such as several almost simultaneous accesses from impossible geographical locations. This allows us to detect non-legitimate access due to password filtering or brute force attacks.

All this makes the data of our users safer and therefore the integrity of the company is greater.

The first most remarkable thing is the integration with the Office 365 solution, which is easy, fast, and totally transparent for the user. This facilitates its implementation.

Another very noteworthy feature is that the number of false positives tends to zero, which generates great confidence in both administrators and users.

The system can be easily parameterized and as it is integrated into the Infinity ecosystem, it simplifies the administration and centralization of logs.

All this makes the solution simple, reliable, and above all stable.

Check Point has to continue refining the intelligence engine to minimize the number of false positives.

We have been using Check Point Harmony Email & Office for two years.

For two years, we have not had any problems, so we consider the application very stable.

Scalability-wise, it is easy to expand licenses and therefore coverage.

Check Point's technical service is one of the great values ​​of this manufacturer, with prompt attention and they are very professional.

We did not use another solution prior to this one.

The initial configuration was completely simple, without any problem.

The integration was carried out by Check Point's professional services, and it was a complete success, both in terms of time and results.

Reasonable cost, quick and easy implementation, and transparent.

We evaluated Palo Alto before selecting Check Point.

All these types of tools are gradually refining the intelligence engines that minimize the number of false positives. It is a constant and evolving work that Check Point knows very well and keeps very active.

One of the functionalities that are in the process of coming out is the protection of Teams, a tool that in the current telework situation is essential. This will represent a new leap in communications security.

In any case, Check Point is working on its entire new Harmony environment and surely new ones will appear in the coming months.

We use the solution for preventing malicious emails that we're getting through Google's built-in spam filters. The amount of spam and phishing had greatly increased at our organization and we needed a solution implemented fast. 

Check Point was really quick to integrate and implement and instantly started providing value. The reporting we got during our trial helped to quantify the value to the executive team, in particular, the report that shows what Check Point caught items that Google's spam filters would've let through.

The amount of spam and phishing getting through to end users has reduced drastically. 

We are also now able to advertise how many malicious emails we get and how it is constantly increasing as we grow. This shows our users how valuable a solution like this is and they appreciate that sometimes it may get a false positive. 

We're abe to show to users why emails are quarantined - which has helped to train them on what to look out for if they do receive a suspicious email. We have also improved our reporting process and notifications to admins.

First and foremost, Check Point's ability to detect malicious emails and the filters they put in place are a big improvement on the built-in Google Workspace solution. 

Being able to mass quarantine and remove emails from end users' mailboxes has become extremely important to us as we have grown in size. Admins can be notified as soon as a suspicious email arrives in bulk mailboxes and can act extremely quickly. This has even helped us to notify partners that they had been breached before they knew themselves.

There are a few features that are more geared towards Microsoft users rather than Google, for example, user-reported phishing. It's not fully integrated with Google Workspace, and the statistics don't update in real-time. 

We appreciate that Microsoft has the larger market share, and Check Point has been improving its Google integration. However, more advancements would be appreciated. That being said, the "What Google wouldn't have caught" report was extremely valuable to us in showing value. 

I've used the solution for nine months.

We evaluated other solutions, such as Mimecast, Proofpoint, and Abnormal.

We use it to secure an email gateway.

People are now thinking twice before clicking on something, and if it's suspicious they don't have a chance to click because it's quarantined.

We also provide a process where someone can request an email from quarantine. There are times when legal email gets through because of the subject line or the content. We're able to check it, and also double-check with our individuals to ask if they expected an email from the sender. They can confirm the sender and it can be released. That added layer of protection is always good.

We need the phishing detection and email quarantine. Once an email is considered malicious, it stays in the quarantine where we can interrogate it. We can check out why it was quarantined and see if it should be delivered to the individual.

With the greater use of mobile phones there is more threat of email being compromised. Having the phishing detection is very valuable because we get hundreds of phishing emails per day. Having something to sift through them and alert us that they may be phishing emails, so that we can go in and further now check them, is a very valuable feature.

We still get some false positives. There are times when legitimate stuff gets flagged and it could be that somebody is expecting a very important email but they don't end up getting it. On the flip side, when we alert Check Point about stuff like this, it is corrected, so they are improving. That's a plus.

In terms of additional features, right now it shows you login activity for Office 365, a bit of a broad overview. I would like to be able to drill down further into that to see real-time login events on a map.

I've been using Check Point CloudGuard SaaS for almost two years.

It has been pretty stable. Sometimes Check Point has a cloud issue and we have had instances where that particular box might have been down, but we get alerted that it's being worked on and when it's back up we are alerted as well. Things happen but they always keep up in the loop.

We haven't needed to really scale up or scale up or down.

We have Office 365 for pretty much the whole company, which is over 1,000 users. CloudGuard has been implemented across 100 percent of our company.

For CloudGuard, specifically, their tech support is very responsive. Once we send an email to the guys we work with, they're immediately ready to set up a meeting or set up a call so that we can work through it.

We didn't have anything prior to CloudGuard. We needed something to catch phishing emails and malicious emails, malware, and to have a sandbox area so that we could check the classification, as well as quarantine and release.

The setup was pretty straightforward. We were up and running within a week.

It is my manager and I who are using and maintaining the solution on a daily basis. In terms of maintenance, we've had mis-classifications of emails where we had to reach out to Check Point and they have assisted and helped us fix any issues that we have come across.

We had assistance from Check Point. They were fairly helpful. It's a fairly new solution so we've had a few false positives. We contacted them and helped them to pinpoint some things they could go ahead and fix.

Because of its features and abilities, it has saved us from a lot of possible breaches. That's always a plus.

It's best to cover all your needs because you're going to want all your emails to be checked.

We were looking at a few other options, although I don't remember which ones.

The difference between them boiled down to money. Price-wise, Check Point was very good, it was very competitive.

Make sure you do your homework and compare all the possible vendors to ensure that you get what you really want out of a solution like this.

The biggest lesson I have learned from using CloudGuard is that even legitimate emails can look suspicious. You need to take that little extra step to check them.

We use the solution to protect Office 365 and Gmail.

The anti-phishing feature is the solution's best feature.

A signature-based filter could improve the solution's AI model for spam email. It works right most of the time.

I've worked with this solution for around a year.

The solution is stable, and I rate its stability a ten out of ten.

The solution is scalable, and I rate its scalability a ten out of ten. Both enterprises and SMBs use this solution.

Technical support for the solution is good.

Positive

It is easy to set up the solution. Deploying the solution takes five minutes.

Harmony Email is an API-based solution. Legacy email gateway clouds, by comparison, only inspect internal emails, which include users' and end users' emails. Check Point inspects all emails before they reach the end user's mailbox.

If you are looking for an anti-phishing solution, Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration is the best. I rate the solution a nine out of ten because the spam filtering is still not good enough, though it does not affect the security.

Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration allows me to monitor the activities in the environment. I can check if there are any phishing or spam emails with its efficient reporting features.

It's been an awesome experience working with Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration. I can count the number of endpoints, emails, and collaborations being used in the environment. It gives me insights into the number of tools required to block malicious websites. 

We have to invest a lot of effort in filtering the spam emails. They have not updated any category for phishing or spam emails. There could be more automation features included for it. It will help me with feedback for unusual activities.

We have been using Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration for four months. At present, we are using the latest version.

The platform is stable. I rate its stability a nine out of ten.

The platform is scalable. I rate its scalability an eight and a half.

The product’s initial setup process is more straightforward as I am Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration partner and have the necessary training. It takes less than ten minutes to complete.

The product’s price is very high. I rate its pricing a ten out of ten.

I recommend Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration to others and rate it an eight out of ten.

All of Harmony Email & Collaboration's features are valuable.

Harmony Email & Collaboration could be improved by making the whitelist available on the website and application level.

I've been using Harmony Email & Collaboration for a year.

Harmony Email & Collaboration is stable.

Check Point's technical support is very good.

Positive

We previously used McAfee Endpoint.

I would recommend Harmony Email & Collaboration to other users and rate it eight out of ten.