First Comprehensive Intelligence Solution to Combat Cyber Attacks Delivered by Check Point and SANS Institute

Integration of SmartDefense and Storm Center Unveiled with National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace

PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 17, 2002 – Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, and the SANS Institute, a cooperative research and education organization for security professionals, today announced a collaboration that integrates Check Point’s SmartDefense® with SANS Internet Storm Center to enhance Internet security by providing organizations and government agencies with the first comprehensive intelligence solution to combat cyber attacks. The integrated solution will help implement a key objective in the White House National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace being announced tomorrow at Stanford University – an analysis and warning system or cyberspace network operations center to detect incidents at their earliest inception, respond to them efficiently, and to the best extent possible, anticipate them in advance.

The integration of Check Point SmartDefense with the SANS Internet Storm Center will deliver two key capabilities. The first gives security administrators the option of automatically and anonymously submitting information on attack data collected from Check Point VPN-1®/FireWall-1® gateways running SmartDefense to SANS Storm Center for incidence reporting. Storm Center will collect and correlate this data, compare to SANS’ list of attackers and provide a consolidated worldwide list of top attacks and attackers. The second capability enables real-time attack protection by allowing customers to automatically block traffic from IP addresses listed as known attackers and implement automatic policy updates based on SANS attack information. This integrated solution provides comprehensive attack protection and decreases incidence response time from days and weeks to seconds.

“We are deeply grateful to Check Point for building the technology that makes this collaboration possible. With 236,000 gateways deployed around the world, Check Point’s customers are in a unique position to help fight back against cyber attacks,” said Alan Paller, director of the SANS Institute.” The integration of the Internet Storm Center with Check Point SmartDefense provides comprehensive intelligence on attempted attacks and real-time protection in a matter of minutes. The combination allows Check Point customers to become integral components of the Internet’s early warning system, but with the anonymity required by their corporate policy.”

“With security being highly regarded by most organizations, Check Point and SANS are providing a crucial outlet for sharing data on attempted attacks,” said Larry Schneider, Security Engineer, Lockheed Martin. “This joint collaboration will allow organizations a safeguarded and an anonymous way to share information, while raising the level of awareness and contributing to the fight against cyber threats.”

“Threats to cyberspace can’t be handled exclusively by our military or law enforcement. Different sectors of the economy, and owners of critical infrastructures must each secure their own networks,” said Richard Clarke, special adviser to the President for Cyberspace Security, commenting at George Mason University on the need for a cooperative effort to ensure cyber security. “The country relied on the government to warn of encroaching threats and tell people how to protect themselves. That kind of dependency on the government to be prescient … is not going to be successful.”

“With SmartDefense, we created a new category of Active Defense products for protecting against network attacks,” said Gil Shwed, chairman and chief executive officer of Check Point Software. “This collaboration with SANS catapults SmartDefense to the next level — enabling the most granular and immediate level of incident response and aiding in the fight against cyber attacks around the world.”

About Check Point SmartDefense
Check Point’s revolutionary SmartDefense actively protects organizations from known and unknown network attacks by using intelligent security technology to immediately detect, prevent and respond to attack attempts. SmartDefense blocks attacks by type and class using Check Point’s patented Stateful Inspection technology and provides a single, centralized console to deliver real-time information on attacks as well as attack detection, blocking, logging, auditing and alerting. As the first line of defense, SmartDefense resides on the network perimeter, enforcing security protection and automatically blocking attacks before they are allowed to enter the network.

About SANS Internet Storm Center
The SANS Internet Storm Center is a network of sensors, analysis systems, intrusion-detection analysts, forensics experts and incident handlers from across the globe. Experienced analysts constantly monitor the Storm Center data feeds using advanced data correlation and visualization techniques and search for trends and anomalies in order to identify potential threats. Critical information is disseminated to the public in the form of alerts and postings, improving response times from days or weeks to seconds.

Availability
Check Point SmartDefense is available worldwide as part of VPN-1/FireWall-1 at no added cost. SmartDefense real-time vulnerability information and attack updates are available as an add-on subscription service. The integrated SmartDefense and SANS Internet Storm Center capabilities will be available in the fourth quarter of 2002. For more information, please visit: http://www.checkpoint.com/products/protect/smartdefense.html

About The SANS Institute
The SANS Institute is a cooperative research and education organization through which more than 150,000 security professionals share the lessons they are learning and help each other build more effective defenses. This year more than 16,000 security managers, analysts, auditors, and specialists of all types will spend five or six days in intensive immersion education courses conducted by SANS. Many SANS resources, such as news digests, research summaries; security alerts and award-winning papers are free to all who ask.

About Check Point Software Technologies
Check Point Software Technologies is the worldwide leader in securing the Internet. It is the confirmed market leader of both the worldwide VPN and firewall markets. The company’s Secure Virtual Network (SVN) architecture provides the VPN and security infrastructure that uniquely enables secure and reliable Internet communications. SVN solutions, as delivered in the company’s Next Generation product family, secure business communications and resources for corporate networks, remote employees, branch offices and partner extranets. Extending the power of SVN is Check Point’s Open Platform for Security (OPSEC), the industry’s framework and alliance for integration and interoperability with “best-of-breed” solutions from over 300 leading companies. Check Point solutions are sold, integrated and serviced by a network of 2,500 certified partners in 149 countries. For more information, please call us at (800) 429-4391 or (650) 628-2000 or visit us on the Web at http://www.checkpoint.com or at http://www.opsec.com.