Sundar N Balasubramanian  
Managing Director, India and SAARC -  Check Point Software Technologies

SUPPORTING CUSTOMERS IN 2020
As the world reels from COVID-19, Check Point Software Technologies continues to meet customers’ evolving security needs with its leading-edge technologies secure networks, enterprise multi-cloud environments, endpoint, mobile devices, IoT and more. 

The following are some key trends as well as Check Point’s key priorities as COVID-19 continues to impact organizations in India and the rest of the world - 

•    Remote working: The pandemic resulted in many employees working from home. With this shift, employees face a reality where their living room is now part of the company’s perimeter.With the rush to enable remote access, many companies allowed connectivity from unmanaged home PCs and mobile devices that often lacked basic cyber-hygiene such as updated software patches and anti-malware. Check Point helps organizations close security gaps and secure their networks, from employees’ home PCs and mobiles to the enterprise data center, with a holistic, end-to-end security architecture.

•    Cloud: The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation and the move to the cloud. Organizations have to restructure their network and security fabrics overnight, resulting in security gaps and new opportunities for cybercriminals. The lack of security practices such as misconfiguration and poor management of the cloud resources remain the most prominent threat to the cloud ecosystem, subjecting cloud assets to a wide array of attacks. Check Point offers broad and well integrated cloud security solutions to meet organisation’s cloud needs. 

•    IoT: Many IoT devices still suffer from a lack of security and contain security vulnerabilities. Default usernames and passwords, lack of software updates and lack of security awareness by the manufacturers are just some of the reasons that make IoT devices vulnerable to attacks. As IoT increasingly becomes a key part of  consumer products, Check Point helps businesses protect their smart devices and prepare for the wider adoption of IoT.  

 
SET AS A DIFFERENTIATOR
2020 has handed marketers a huge challenge and a great opportunity. The COVID-19 global pandemic has proven that marketing strategies for all organisations need to remain agile to constant changes. This is no different for Check Point while keeping our core marketing principals intact. 

Check Point’s marketing strategy is focused on having an integrated plan targeting prospects. We also emphasize on the programs through our strong channel ecosystem as they are an integral part of our business model. We also continuously develop content that can help CISOs and CIOs make security a key boardroom discussion. 

 
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AGENDA
Check Point believes the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about massive developments, accelerating several years’ worth of Digital Transformation into just a few weeks. As enterprises continue to put more data on the cloud, network and end applications, the traditional security perimeter is proving to be ineffective, providing a backdoor for hackers to access enterprise systems.  Check Point remains committed to providing customers with uncompromised, innovative protection against all types of threats.
 

CYBER SECURITY A PRIORITY
A survey by Check Point found that organizations were being hit by increased cyber-attacks, while having to manage the massive and rapid changes to their networks and employee working practices during the pandemic.  95% of respondents said they faced added IT security challenges with the provision of large-scale remote access for employees, as well as managing shadow IT usage.With the popularity of cloud computing and network-connected devices, there are now more ways to invade an organization. Some of the trends highlighted in Check Point’s 2020 cyber security report include- targeted ransomware, increased number of phishing attacks and mobile malware attacks. 

Additionally, the proliferation of IoT devices in consumer, enterprise, industrial and healthcare organizations, and their inherent security weaknesses, have created a security blind spot where cybercriminals launch 5th and 6th generation cyber-attacks to breach devices (IP camera surveillance), manipulate their operations (medical device infiltration) or even take over critical infrastructure (manufacturing plant) to generate colossal damage.

 
DIGITAL INDIA MAKING STRIDES 
Check Point has been providing cyber security solutions to state data centers and India’s Smart Cities. We are also focused on the energy, utility, oil and gas verticals to provide IOT and SCADA solutions. We also support the leading airports for their cloud and mobile security setups. 

In addition, Check Point, through partnerships with higher education institutions as part of its SecureAcademy program, is helping build a comprehensive cyber security curriculum for students to enable future generations with the right skill sets to meet the cyber security demands of Digital India.