CIOL: Check Point Endpoint Security was named as the leading product in its category at Techworld Awards 2008. How important is this recognition to you?

BB: The Techworld Awards have been running for over 13 years and reward innovation on all sides of the IT industry, covering both solutions and users. Each year they select the products and users from the European IT industry that made a significant difference. The awards are judged by an independent panel of industry specialists, and the editorial board of Techworld.com.

Check Point Endpoint Security is the first and only single agent for total endpoint security that combines the highest-rated firewall, network access control (NAC), program control, antivirus, anti-spyware, full disk encryption, media encryption with port protection and remote access together in a modular suite allowing complete flexibility to activate security components as needed.

Techworld is one of the leading IT websites, which makes this award a key one for Check Point. To win this award for Endpoint Security, which was introduced only early in 2008 is even more gratifying. It endorses the fact that Check Point provides unmatched protection and simplifies security by providing a single software agent that is easily deployed and managed by a single intuitive management interface to all vulnerable endpoints.

CIOL: From large enterprise specific toward SMB, can you please elaborate on the SMB perspective initiatives?

BB: Earlier, Check Point solutions were predominantly adopted by larger enterprises. Security is extremely dynamic that the knowledge and software that currently seems adequate soon becomes obsolete. SMBs with their limited IT skills and manpower find deploying and managing security solutions a herculean task.

Higher employee mobility, expansion in terms of geographies have pushed more SMBs to accept IT and the Internet. Certain studies have indicated that nearly 50 percent of SMBs have faced some form of malware attacks that has resulted in data loss and disruption to business continuity. Increasing awareness of the consequences of these disruptions by SMBs has resulted in them being open to considering investments in security solutions.

In 2007 with the launch of our UTM solutions we have seen a greater number of small and medium businesses adopting our solutions. We provide the same level of security that secures 100 percent of the Fortune 100 companies to our SMB customers.

Check Point solutions offer the perfect combination of proven security technologies and easy-to-use deployment and management features. With a full line of both software and hardware-based solutions, Check Point consolidates key security applications such as firewall, VPN, intrusion prevention, and antivirus, into single, easy to manage solutions. Because Check Point UTM solutions are based on the same security technologies used by the Fortune 100, you can rest easy knowing your organization is protected, while enjoying the value-added benefits of lower security costs and management overhead.