Check Point Harmony To Protect Web Browsing, Remote Access

Check Point Harmony brings together endpoint, browser, email and remote access security into a single offering that’s managed via a cloud service, and is available to customers for $11 per user per month.

Check Point has rolled out the Harmony unified offering to secure both internet connections as well as corporate and BYOD devices for remote workers.

The San Carlos, Calif.-based platform security vendor said Check Point Harmony brings together endpoint, browser, email and remote access security into a single tool that’s managed via a cloud service. The entire Harmony bundle will be available to customers for $11 per user per month, while each of the individual components will cost roughly $4 per user per month on a standalone basis.

“Partners don’t need us to sell these products,” said Itai Greenberg, Check Point’s vice president of product management. “It’s very intuitive for partners to bring their customers on board without even talking to us.”

[Related: Check Point To Buy Secure Remote Access Startup Odo Security]

Check Point has noticed a huge increase in attacks being launched against users since COVID-19 forced most people to work from home, with hackers using phishing and malicious files to take over computers, steal credentials and take corporate data, Greenberg said. Check Point has therefore focused on locking down laptops and mobile devices while providing secure access to emails, applications and the internet.

The all-new Harmony Browse tool provides secure, fast and private web browsing by inspecting all SSL traffic directly on the endpoint without adding latency or re-routing traffic through a secure web service, Check Point said. It blocks zero-day malware downloads and access to phishing websites as well as preventing the reuse of corporate passwords, according to the company.

Harmony Browse is easily deployed as a nano-agent in users’ browsers, and can be combined with any secure web gateway or endpoint security tool to enhance overall protection, according to Check Point. It also maintains compliance with data privacy regulations by keeping users’ browsing history private, Check Point said.

Securing web traffic directly in the browser rather than redirecting all traffic back to Check Point’s data center will greatly reduce latency and give organizations a much better understanding of what users are actually doing in the browser, allowing companies to see if employees are typing corporate passwords in places they shouldn’t like personal LinkedIn, Facebook or Netflix accounts, according to Greenberg.

Harmony Browse will ensure users aren’t accidentally harming their employer while downloading files or visiting websites, Greenberg said. It can inspect files and ensure they’re not malicious in seconds rather than minutes so that users can quickly proceed with a download, and make it possible for companies to prevent the user of corporate passwords on private websites, according to Greenberg.

Other elements of the Harmony bundle include Connect, which securely connects any user or branch to any resource, supporting clientless zero trust network access from any browser, according to Check Point. Harmony Browse is new to market, Greenberg said, while Harmony Connect launched last year and has been recently enhanced with new capabilities.

Harmony Email & Office and Harmony Endpoint, meanwhile, are more mature offerings than have been rebranded under the Harmony moniker, according to Greenberg. All Harmony products can be managed from a single portal, Greenberg said, simplifying the day-to-day experience for users and administrators alike, Greenberg said.

Greenberg expects the Harmony bundle to initially gain the most traction in the mid-market since they’re more security-aware than their smaller counterparts but have more flexibility than large organizations to adopt the entire bundle at once rather than assessing each component separately.

From a metrics standpoint, Greenberg said Check Point expects to track how many customers are buying Harmony, how much recurring revenue it’s generating, and how it’s impacting the company’s bottom line. Check Point hopes having a positive experience with Harmony will prompt customers to buy the entire Infinity portfolio and reduce the number of security vendors they’re using, Greenberg said.