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Check Point is an American-Israeli multinational provider of software and combined hardware and software products for
IT security Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, the ...
, including
network security Network security consists of the policies, policies, processes and practices adopted to prevent, detect and monitor unauthorized access, Abuse, misuse, modification, or denial of a computer network and network-accessible resources. Network securi ...
,
endpoint security Endpoint security or endpoint protection is an approach to the protection of computer networks that are remotely bridged to client devices. The connection of endpoint devices such as laptops, tablets, mobile phones, Internet-of-things devices ...
,
cloud security Cloud computing security or, more simply, cloud security refers to a broad set of policies, technologies, applications, and controls utilized to protect virtualized IP, data, applications, services, and the associated infrastructure of cloud com ...
,
mobile security Mobile security, or mobile device security, is the protection of smartphones, tablets, and laptops from threats associated with wireless computing. It has become increasingly important in mobile computing. The security of personal and business ...
,
data security Data security means protecting digital data, such as those in a database, from destructive forces and from the unwanted actions of unauthorized users, such as a cyberattack or a data breach. Technologies Disk encryption Disk encryption refe ...
and
security management Security management is the identification of an organization's assets (including people, buildings, machines, systems and information assets), followed by the development, documentation, and implementation of policies and procedures for protec ...
. , the company has approximately 6,000 employees worldwide. Headquartered in
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
,
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and
San Carlos, California San Carlos (Spanish for "St. Charles") is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. The population is 30,722 per the 2020 census. History Native Americans Prior to the Spanish arrival in 1769, the land of San Carlos was occupi ...
, the company has development centers in Israel and
Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
and previously held in United States (
ZoneAlarm ZoneAlarm is an internet security software company that provides consumer antivirus and firewall products. ZoneAlarm was developed by Zone Labs, whose CEOs were Kevin Nickel, Mouad Abid and Shahin and the Company was acquired in March 2004 by Ch ...
), Sweden (former Protect Data development centre) following acquisitions of companies who owned these centers. The company has offices in over 70 locations worldwide including main offices in North America, 10 in the United States (including in
San Carlos, California San Carlos (Spanish for "St. Charles") is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. The population is 30,722 per the 2020 census. History Native Americans Prior to the Spanish arrival in 1769, the land of San Carlos was occupi ...
and
Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...
), 4 in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
(including
Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
) as well as in Europe (
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
,
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
,
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
) and in Asia Pacific (
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
,
Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
,
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
) .


History

Check Point was established in
Ramat Gan Ramat Gan ( he, רָמַת גַּן or , ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world's major diamond exchanges, and many ...
,
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
in 1993, by
Gil Shwed Gil Shwed (Hebrew: גיל שויד; born 1968) is an Israeli software engineer and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd, one of Israel's largest technology companies and the world's largest pure-play ...
(
CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
),
Marius Nacht Marius Nacht (Hebrew: ; 1962–) is one of Israel's leading serial entrepreneurs, founders and investors. In 1993 Marius Nacht co-founded Check Point SoftwareNASDAQ 100 CHKP, along with Gil Shwed & Shlomo Kramer, and is regarded as one of the foun ...
(Chairman ) and
Shlomo Kramer Shlomo Kramer ( he, שלמה קרמר), is an Israeli information technology entrepreneur and investor. He is the co-founder of cyber-security companies Check Point and Imperva, as well as Cato Networks, a cloud-based network security provider. ...
(who left Check Point in 2003). Shwed had the initial idea for the company's core technology known as stateful inspection, which became the foundation for the company's first product,
FireWall-1 VPN-1 is a firewall and VPN product developed by Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. VPN-1 is a stateful firewall which also filters traffic by inspecting the application layer. It was the first commercially available software firewall to ...
; soon afterwards they also developed one of the world's first
VPN A virtual private network (VPN) extends a private network across a public network and enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network. The be ...
products,
VPN-1 VPN-1 is a firewall and VPN product developed by Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. VPN-1 is a stateful firewall which also filters traffic by inspecting the application layer. It was the first commercially available software firewall to ...
. Shwed developed the idea while serving in the
Unit 8200 Unit 8200 ( he, יחידה 8200, ''Yehida shmone -Matayim''- "Unit eight - two hundred") is an Israeli Intelligence Corps unit of the Israel Defense Forces responsible for collecting signal intelligence (SIGINT) and code decryption. Military pu ...
of the
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...
, where he worked on securing classified networks. Initial funding of
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
250,000 was provided by
venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...
fund BRM Group. In 1994 Check Point signed an
OEM An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...
agreement with
Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, the ...
, followed by a distribution agreement with HP in 1995. The same year, the U.S. head office was established in
Redwood City, California Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California's Bay Area, approximately south of San Francisco, and northwest of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people to being a ...
. By February 1996, the company was named worldwide
firewall Firewall may refer to: * Firewall (computing), a technological barrier designed to prevent unauthorized or unwanted communications between computer networks or hosts * Firewall (construction), a barrier inside a building, designed to limit the spr ...
market leader by IDC, with a market share of 40 percent. In June 1996 Check Point raised $67 million from its
initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
on
NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
. In 1998, Check Point established a partnership with
Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...
, which bundled Check Point's Software with Nokia's computer Network Security Appliances. In 2003, a
class-action lawsuit A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class action ...
was filed against Check Point over violation of the
Securities Exchange Act The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (also called the Exchange Act, '34 Act, or 1934 Act) (, Codification (law), codified at et seq.) is a law governing the secondary market, secondary trading of securities (stocks, Bond (finance), bonds, and de ...
by failing to disclose major financial information. On 14 August 2003 Check Point opened its branch in India's capital,
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
(with the legal name Check Point Software Technologies India Pvt. Ltd.). Eyal Desheh was the first director appointed in India. During the first decade of the 21st century Check Point started acquiring other
IT security Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, the ...
companies, including Nokia's network security business unit in 2009. In 2019, researchers at Check Point found a security breach in
Xiaomi Corporation (; ), commonly known as Xiaomi and registered as Xiaomi Inc., is a Chinese designer and manufacturer of consumer electronics and related software, home appliances, and household items. Behind Samsung, it is the second largest ma ...
phone apps. The security flaw was reported preinstalled. Check Point is presently focused on what it calls "fifth generation cyber security," or “Gen V.” It identifies the fifth generation as focused on large-scale and fast moving attacks across mobile, cloud and on-premise networks that easily bypass the conventional, static detection-based defenses being used by most organizations today. Over the years many employees who worked at Check Point have left to start their own software companies. These include Shlomo Kremer, who started
Imperva Imperva is a cyber security software and services company which provides protection to enterprise data and application software. The company is headquartered in San Mateo, California. History Imperva, originally named WEBcohort, was founded in 20 ...
; Nir Zuk, who founded
Palo Alto Networks Palo Alto Networks, Inc. is an American multinational cybersecurity company with headquarters in Santa Clara, California. The core products is a platform that includes advanced firewalls and cloud-based offerings that extend those firewalls to ...
; Ruvi Kitov and Reuven Harrison of Tufin; Yonadav Leitersdorf, who founded Indeni; and Avi Shua, who founded Orca Security; On 23 July 2020, Aryaka confirmed an alliance with Check Point Software Technologies to optimize the SD-WAN system operated by Aryaka Cloud-First, and Check Point CloudGuard Link and CloudGuard Edge to provide optimized protection and SD-WAN as-a-Service.


Products

Check Point offers the following primary products: * Network Security * Software Defined Protection * Public and Private Cloud Security * Zero Trust Remote Access * Data Security * IoT Security * ThreatCloud * ThreatCloud IntelliStore * Virtual Systems * Endpoint Security * Mobile Security * Security Management * Document Security (Capsule Docs product line) * Zero-day Protection (SandBlast appliance product line) * Mobile Security (Mobile Threat Prevention product line)


Acquisitions

*
Zone Labs Check Point is an American-Israeli multinational provider of software and combined hardware and software products for IT security, including network security, endpoint security, cloud security, mobile security, data security and security managem ...
, makers of the
ZoneAlarm ZoneAlarm is an internet security software company that provides consumer antivirus and firewall products. ZoneAlarm was developed by Zone Labs, whose CEOs were Kevin Nickel, Mouad Abid and Shahin and the Company was acquired in March 2004 by Ch ...
personal firewall software, in 2003, for $205 million in cash and shares. * Protect Data, the holding company for PointSec Mobile Technologies, in a cash deal valued at $586m in late 2006. Prior to their acquisition by Check Point, Protect Data acquired Reflex Software. * NFR security, an intrusion prevention system developer, for $20 million in late 2006, following its failed plan to acquire the larger IPS vendor Sourcefire. * Nokia Security Appliances division was acquired in April 2009. * Liquid Machines, a data security
startup company A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend t ...
based in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, was acquired in June 2010. * Dynasec, a provider of enterprise governance, risk management, and compliance products, was acquired in November 2011. Dynasec offers a Web-based enterprise application, branded as Easy2comply, for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance,
Basel II Basel II is the second of the Basel Accords, which are recommendations on banking laws and regulations issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. It is now extended and partially superseded by Basel III. The Basel II Accord was publ ...
compliance, operational risk management, information security management,
HIPAA The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA or the Kennedy– Kassebaum Act) is a United States Act of Congress enacted by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on August 21, 1 ...
compliance, and internal audit management. * Hyperwise, an early-stage startup focused on CPU level threat prevention, was acquired Feb 2015. * Lacoon Mobile Security was acquired in April 2015. * Dome9 was acquired in October 2018. * ForceNock was acquired in January 2019 * Cymplify was acquired in Dec. 2019 * Protego Labs was acquired in Dec. 2019 * Odo Security was acquired in Sep. 2020 * Avanan was acquired in August 2021 * Spectral was acquired in February 2022 In 2005, Check Point tried to acquire intrusion prevention system developers
Sourcefire Sourcefire, Inc was a technology company that developed network security hardware and software. The company's Firepower network security appliances were based on Snort, an open-source intrusion detection system (IDS). Sourcefire was acquired b ...
for $225 million, but later withdrew its offer after it became clear US authorities (specifically, the
Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS, commonly pronounced "Cifius" ) is an inter-agency committee of the United States government that reviews the national security implications of foreign investments in U.S. compani ...
) would try to block the acquisition.


SofaWare legal battle

SofaWare Technologies was founded in 1999, as a cooperation between Check Point and SofaWare's founders, Adi Ruppin and Etay Bogner, with the purpose of extending Check Point from the enterprise market to the small business, consumer and branch office market. SofaWare's co-founder Adi Ruppin said that his company wanted to make the technology simple to use and affordable, and to lift the burden of security management from end users while adding some features.Interview with Adi Ruppin, Founder and Managing Director of SofaWare, by Berislav Kucan — Tuesday, 21 January 2003.

/ref> In 2001 SofaWare began selling firewall appliances under the SofaWare S-Box brand; in 2002 the company started selling the Safe@Office and Safe@Home line of security appliances, under the Check Point brand. By the fourth quarter of 2002 sales of SofaWare's Safe@Office firewall/VPN appliances had increased greatly, and SofaWare held the #1 revenue position in the worldwide firewall/VPN sub-$490 appliance market, with a 38% revenue market share. Relations between Check Point and the SofaWare founders went sour after the company acquisition in 2002. In 2004 Etay Bogner, co-founder of SofaWare, sought court approval to file a
shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...
derivative suit A shareholder derivative suit is a lawsuit brought by a shareholder on behalf of a corporation against a third party. Often, the third party is an insider of the corporation, such as an executive officer or director. Shareholder derivative suits are ...
, claiming Check Point was not transferring funds to SofaWare as required for its use of SofaWare's products and technology. His derivative suit was ultimately successful, and Check Point was ordered to pay SofaWare 13 million
shekels Shekel or sheqel ( akk, 𒅆𒅗𒇻 ''šiqlu'' or ''siqlu,'' he, שקל, plural he, שקלים or shekels, Phoenician: ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly —and became c ...
for breach of contract. In 2006 the
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
District Court Judge ruled that Bogner SofaWare could sue Check Point by proxy for $5.1 million in alleged damage to SofaWare. Bogner claimed that Check Point, which owned 60% of Sofaware, had behaved belligerently, and withheld monies due for use of SofaWare technology and products Check Point appealed the ruling, but lost. In 2009 the
Israeli Supreme Court The Supreme Court (, ''Beit HaMishpat HaElyon''; ar, المحكمة العليا) is the Supreme court, highest court in Israel. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all other courts, and in some cases original jurisdiction. The Supreme C ...
ruled that a group of founders of SofaWare, which includes Bogner, had
veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...
power over any decision of SofaWare. The court ruled that the three founders could exercise their veto power only as a group and by majority rule. In 2011 Check Point settled all litigation relating to SofaWare. As part of the settlement it acquired the SofaWare shares held by Bogner and Ruppin, and began a process of acquiring the remaining shares, resulting in SofaWare becoming a wholly owned subsidiary.Check Point 20-F SEC filing. 2011


See also

*
Check Point GO Check Point GO is a USB drive that combines an encrypted USB flash drive with virtualization, VPN and computer security technologies to turn a PC into a secure corporate desktop. By plugging Check Point GO into the USB port of a Microsoft Window ...
*
Economy of Israel The economy of Israel is a developed free-market economy. The prosperity of Israel's advanced economy allows the country to have a sophisticated welfare state, a powerful modern military said to possess a nuclear-weapons capability, modern inf ...
*
Silicon Wadi Silicon Wadi ( he, סִילִיקוֹן וְאֵדֵי, ) is a region in Israel that serves as one of the global centres for advanced technology. It spans the Israeli coastal plain, and is cited as among the reasons why the country has ...


References


External links


Corporate website

Check Point Research
{{Authority control Computer security companies Computer security software companies Software companies established in 1993 Israeli brands Networking hardware companies Software companies of Israel Deep packet inspection Server appliance Companies based in San Carlos, California Software companies of the United States Companies based in Tel Aviv Companies listed on the Nasdaq 1993 establishments in Israel 1996 initial public offerings