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Check Point SandBlast Network vs Microsoft Defender for Office 365 comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Check Point SandBlast Network
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Defender for Offi...
Ranking in Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
Email Security (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) category, the mindshare of Check Point SandBlast Network is 6.0%, up from 5.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is 9.2%, down from 15.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Advanced Threat Protection (ATP)
 

Featured Reviews

GaneshKhutwad - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides advanced threat prevention and utilizes geographic-based policies to mitigate attacks
Check Point offers three types of support: Gold, Platinum, and Diamond. The level of support you receive should be based on the criticality of the issue, not solely on your client's support tier. While there are established support levels, I have experienced instances where the support provided was not categorized as Gold, Platinum, or Diamond but rather a standard support level. In such cases, the response times were slower, and getting support personnel on the call was more difficult.
Tolu Omolaja - PeerSpot reviewer
Great URL scanning and attachment scanning, but I would like more proactive threat analysis
The two main features that prove most beneficial for us are URL scanning and attachment scanning. URL scanning involves an automatic scan of links and emails. When a user clicks on a link within an email, the system promptly checks the link's safety. If the link is deemed safe, access is granted automatically. However, if it is flagged as unsafe, we receive feedback and notification to caution us about the potentially harmful link. At this point, we are presented with the option to proceed or return. I have personally witnessed the system identify a few unsafe links, making this the primary advantage of using the solution. The second crucial aspect is the scanning of attachments. When an email containing an attachment arrives, we receive a notification of the new email, along with information that the attachment is being scanned for threats. This additional layer of security provides peace of mind for our organization. While Microsoft Defender for Office 365 offers numerous features, these two stand out as particularly impressive and valuable to us.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The Check Point SandBlast Network uses caching and static analysis to actually reduce the time it takes to scan and isolate the same file for incoming data compromises."
"SandBlast updates the threat signatures frequently."
"SandBlast Network enhances security by providing advanced threat prevention."
"SandBlast has opened us up to a lot more opportunities where we can offer this service to clients, that way they don't have to go to a third-party to get this specific solution. It comes in the Check Point Infinity Package so it has helped us a lot."
"It saves time with us trying to do the analysis. We use it to try to find out how something got into the network. We use it to stop something before it ever gets in."
"Check Point SandBlast Network Solution provides signature-based as well as zero-day threat protection. Also sandboxing can be performed on an on-premise device, cloud as well as the combination of both. Threat emulation is done on multiple OS & verdict is provided."
"Threat Emulation gives networks the necessary protection against unknown threats in files that are attached to emails. The Threat Emulation engine picks up malware at the exploit phase before it enters the network. It quickly quarantines and runs the files in a virtual sandbox, which imitates a standard operating system, to discover malicious behavior before hackers can apply evasion techniques to bypass the sandbox."
"It is a stable solution."
"The solution is very easy to use. All you have to do is to assign the license to the end-user and it's done. The customer will only have the feature activated, and the solution will monitor the emails to determine if they are a threat or not."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365's most valuable feature is its performance."
"The initial setup is straightforward. You just add the license, click it, and then you can set up the rules. It is quite simple."
"The stability of Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is fantastic."
"It also gives me good visibility because, with Defender, I'm using a Microsoft product to defend Microsoft products. The integration was really seamless and I have wide visibility because it picks up almost everything. Literally, I can see almost every activity that happens, from the e-mail to the workstation itself."
"Defender for 365 is a comprehensive cloud-based solution. The value of the cloud is that you aren't alone. Threat intelligence and analytics are shared in the cloud. We don't have to find the solution alone. If you face an unknown threat with traditional solutions like Trend Micro and Symantec, you need to open a case and send your information to them to analyze forensically and identify the source of the attack."
"The initial setup was easy."
"It’s easy to handle integrations, and we don't need a lot of people in our IT team."
 

Cons

"I am very leery right now about the stability. We've had three outages in the last month because of Check Point, not because of something that the customer has done, but because of changes on the Check Point side."
"Check Point SandBlast Network can improve the integration with third-party vendors, such as EDR or CRM products. For example, IBM Curator."
"I would like if it could emulate bigger files and somehow improve this usability. I don't know if this would be possible. However, if it was able to scan or emulate bigger files, then it would be safer for a company using it."
"I imagine there will be improvements in later versions. There are hotfixes that come out all the time."
"The guides or best practices of Check Point are difficult to find for the client. Therefore, it is sometimes difficult to make better implementations."
"In Check Point SandBlast, improvement has to be made with respect to the GUI."
"The Threat Emulation software blade significantly affects the performance of the NGFWs, we have a significant increase in the CPU and memory consumption."
"The response times were slower, and getting support personnel on the call was more difficult."
"We noticed that from time to time, Microsoft's stability does have problems. Sometimes the service goes up and down. Sometimes they change without prior notice."
"About eight months ago, we started to measure the quantity of phishing and spam that we have been receiving, and it has been increasing a lot. That means that protection for our email is not as good as we were expecting."
"The certification training for Defender for 365 needs to be deeper and incorporate Sentinel. I took all the security courses except one, and Sentinel isn't included."
"The only thing they should improve is the licensing model. They should stop changing it. A year ago, the five features I mentioned were included in one product. Now, three of them are bundled into one product, and you have to pay extra for the other two. I don't mind paying extra, but I don't want them to change it every year or every six months. I need to know what I'm looking at and not worry about it next year."
"Microsoft wants its well-paying customers to finish testing some of its half-baked products, find bugs, and report bugs back to Microsoft's team, which is a little frustrating for those who have to manage it and roll it up to thousands of people across the organization."
"Sometimes, phishing emails manage to pass through the filter, so the system needs to enhance its phishing email detection capabilities."
"In one of the reports I can get the exact place where a vulnerable file resides. But for that, I need to explicitly go into the device and check. If they could include that file part in the report, without my having to go to the device itself, that would help."
"It would be better if it were more scalable. It depends on the architecture, but we would like to make it more scalable for both data centers."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have seen ROI."
"We would like to try the Threat Extraction blade, but you need to buy a license. Check Point is expensive. I would like to buy things, but I would need the funding."
"The product's cost is high."
"I think the overall cost for introducing Check Point with SandBlast was reasonable and competitive in the market."
"The cost is not significantly high and it can be negotiated during any purchase of NGFW."
"The cost of Check Point SandBlast Network is annually, and there is only a standard license."
"Choosing the correct set of licenses is essential because, without the additional software blade licenses, the Check Point gateways are just a stateful firewall."
"The pricing is quite effective, not excessively high. On a scale of one to ten, where ten is the highest price, I rate the pricing a nine."
"Defender is a little bit more expensive as compared to others. We are in the manufacturing environment. So, we don't have a high budget for all of our endpoint devices. Its cost is a major concern for us."
"The solution could be better by simplifying the business model of their licensing. It was hard to figure out how to get the licensing done for the environment, initially."
"The license is expensive because the cost is based on the number of users."
"I was working in the government and it was too expensive for us to use our Microsoft products."
"For licensing, it's usually a yearly package for customers who are subscribed to Office 365, but they can also pay on a monthly basis."
"Compared to other brands, Microsoft Defender for Office 365's pricing is competitive."
"Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is an add-on to the Office license. Many customers are purchasing this solution."
"It is much more expensive than using another solution because we have had to include some options and upgrade our license."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
15%
Government
11%
Energy/Utilities Company
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Check Point SandBlast Network?
The solution can detect and prevent attacks that may be encrypted.
What needs improvement with Check Point SandBlast Network?
The cost is a little bit high-end, and you need to get precise performance metrics in order to get the correct size. Improvements are required in both areas of the tool.
What do you like most about Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
Threat Explorer is an invaluable tool for me, and it plays a crucial role in helping me discern the origins of various email campaigns, pinpointing where they emanate from, and identifying the indi...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
I don't have detailed specifics on pricing, setup cost, or licensing.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Defender for Office 365?
I am generally satisfied with how it currently is. If I could improve anything, I would reduce the cost.
 

Also Known As

No data available
MS Defender for Office 365
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Edenred, State Transport Leasing Company (STLC), Edel AG, Laurenty, Conseil Départemental du Val de Marne, Koch Media
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 is trusted by companies such as Ithaca College.
Find out what your peers are saying about Check Point SandBlast Network vs. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
844,944 professionals have used our research since 2012.