Web Designer at Milestone Technologies, Inc.
User
Top 10
Good security and policy management with helpful excellent customization capabilities
Pros and Cons
  • "It blocks ransomware attacks that can affect performance-enhancing secure work environments with zero-day attacks."
  • "I recommend network upgrades in the next release to meet most company demands and daily changes."

What is our primary use case?

It helps us to discover applications that run across the organization network and admin accounts that are generated within the ecosystem. 

Monitoring the performance of applications has been easy since we deployed this platform. 

Check Point Application Control gives the IT team permission to deploy and assign tasks to various apps. 

It gives us the authority to eliminate unnecessary admin accounts and blacklist applications that are not required anymore. It protects apps from malware attacks with powerful security tools.

How has it helped my organization?

Setting up new applications and testing the suitability of deployed tools has been efficient since we deployed this platform. 

It blocks ransomware attacks that can affect performance-enhancing secure work environments with zero-day attacks. 

We are able to manage workstations and servers across remote offices with a unified control system. Setting up a default system for allowing applications that are useful and blocking untrusted platforms has saved time and cost. 

This product has enabled my web development team to set reliable control policies for managing applications.

What is most valuable?

Policy management features have enabled the organization to set up achievable goals and programs that can be implemented successfully. 

The security systems prevent external attacks from affecting workflows and compromising data. 

Customization has enabled us to create policies that can easily meet our requirements with flexible features. 

The overall cost of deployment and maintenance has been efficient and affordable. Application blacklisting helps us to filter our tedious apps that can negatively affect operations. 

What needs improvement?

The current features have great performance capabilities and have highly boosted production in the organization. I recommend network upgrades in the next release to meet most company demands and daily changes. 

The performance has been stable, and we really appreciate the great results. The security tools and policy enhancement tools perform effectively. The overall productivity of the current features is excellent, and I recommend the use of this product to other companies. 

We have longed for a reliable Application Control platform for a long time, and finally, we have received the best solution.

Buyer's Guide
Check Point Application Control
May 2024
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For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This tool is highly stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I am impressed by the product's great performance.

How are customer service and support?

The customer support staff responds effectively.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have not worked with any other similar solution before.

How was the initial setup?

The setup was straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

Implementation took place through the vendor.

What was our ROI?

ROI has grown from 40% to 65% from the previous year.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The cost and licensing terms have been reliable.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I settled on this product due to its stable performance after evaluating several products.

What other advice do I have?

I highly recommend the use of this product to other organizations for reliable application control services.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Jonathan Ramos G. - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud Engineer at ITQS
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Great for control and management with good granularity
Pros and Cons
  • "The best value we have is their actionable reports on user analytics, events, and activity that are extracted from their database."
  • "I would like this layer to be faster to install in the future."

What is our primary use case?

We had the need to control and be able to manage rules in a granular way for maintaining the security and control of the data, management by teams, identity, and applications grouping them by category and thus being able to defend ourselves from threats and malware that wants to enter our infrastructure while  reducing the operating cost.

Something that we need and want is an inspection of the data. We must see what the different users and applications of our network are sharing, and that is where the control solution brings us that administration value.

How has it helped my organization?

As our need is great, and we not only have a single organization yet also have several subsidiaries. It is there where we are integrating a centralization under well-managed control. It is where application control gives us the possibility of generating rules, and policies that are adjusted and flexible. We need the solution to be able to be adapted to the business and to be modified and scalable according to the need and evolution of our organization. It offers a powerful administration and a great catalog.

What is most valuable?

The best value we have is their actionable reports on user analytics, events, and activity that are extracted from their database. This technology allows us to present reports on the control and management of event policies against applications, locations, IoT, and Identity. Having all this data available generates a control layer that strengthens a security posture. Its best feature will forever be the generation of tangible reports of every actionable activity found and stopped by the solution.

What needs improvement?

I would like this layer to be faster to install in the future. The evolution of its equipment and appliances where the solution is executed has improved a lot, however, it is necessary to increase that capacity. Some competitors do it just as well and in that layer, are faster to apply their changes. These would give greater value and would be a differentiator. Among other things, I would like this integrated solution to manage from mobile devices in an optimized way and be able to administer from anywhere in the world.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable and has regular updates.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is fast and easy to scale and manage.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Their cost is based on their appliances, and they offer equipment with the highest licensing.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Check Point Application Control
May 2024
Learn what your peers think about Check Point Application Control. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2024.
771,170 professionals have used our research since 2012.
reviewer1626546 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Head at SUKARNE
User
Stable with good automatic updating and effective filtering capabilities
Pros and Cons
  • "The automatic updates of new applications and signatures guarantee protection at all times without the need to apply a change manually."
  • "It's important that there is the option to validate the policies before applying them."

What is our primary use case?

Before using this solution, I needed to have other network components that would allow me to block or restrict access to unauthorized sites, which generated a very high cost in terms of licensing and maintenance. Now, I can control authorized and unauthorized access to my end-users, and I can control bandwidth and assign a defined bandwidth to guarantee the operation of my company. 

With this solution, I was able to establish and guarantee the security of my end-users using the categories and definitions within the solution. I'm able to easily identify high-risk sites, as well as sites not allowed for explicit content.

How has it helped my organization?

In the beginning, I did not have control of the content that my users had access to, which put the integrity of my company at risk. With this solution, I was able to create explicit policies that would adhere to the rules that we established for access to applications. 

Previously, I had 2 appliances from another brand to control the traffic of applications and to control bandwidth. It is a very simple product to administer with amazing potential endowed within a large database of applications and is constantly updated.

What is most valuable?

The automatic updates of new applications and signatures guarantee protection at all times without the need to apply a change manually. This has been largely beneficial to my organization and only on a couple of occasions have I had a problem with legacy applications being applied to a filter incorrectly. We've solved this by documenting them in the Check Point portal to ensure they are not listed as a malicious application or IP. There is a large database of applications that have been incorporated together with the traffic control tool assigning a defined bandwidth for certain applications.

What needs improvement?

It's important that there is the option to validate the policies before applying them since it is very annoying and causes a waste of time to apply a new policy or rule and afterward receive an error that the policy has failed. 

It is important that, if you are being notified of the modifications in the automatic policies that were updated, it's clear in terms of the content that is included as well as the applications that have been modified for being malicious or not. 

Without a doubt, these would be contributions that would greatly benefit the solution's operation within my company.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've worked with the solution for 5 years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In some equipment, the scaling is very good, however, it depends on the equipment that is purchased and if there is correct sizing.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Yes, I made the change because I tried a demo and it seemed like a great product.

What was our ROI?

It is a very safe and stable product.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The licensing is very good. We always rely on an authorized dealer to ensure proper operation and sizing.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Yes, I evaluated Cisco, Palo Alto, and Fortinet.

What other advice do I have?

Not at this time. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Network Engineer at Fujairah Port
User
Top 5
Great for access control and site blocking with the capability to restrict file sharing
Pros and Cons
  • "We can control bandwidth and high-risk application access from our network using application control."
  • "Custom applications for internal applications must be defined frequently."

What is our primary use case?

On our infrastructure, we installed the Check Point 6200 appliance as our primary firewall. It is deployed in a distributed mode, with the security gateway and management running on separate machines.

Our major purpose is to limit web access from internal networks.

Using application control, we blocked the use of peer-to-peer applications such as torrent from our networks and allowed only youtube.com from the media streaming category, resulting in a significant improvement in bandwidth.

Aside from these numerous categories, we blocked a large number of high-risk applications from access our network.

How has it helped my organization?

We can control bandwidth and high-risk application access from our network using application control.

We want our users to only be able to access certain websites during working hours. We accomplished this through application control by blocking social media, phonography, drugs, media sharing, and other sites.

We also restricted file sharing sites through application control and blocked file uploading, which helped us avoid data loss.

We set a usage limit for YouTube.com, giving us more bandwidth control.

What is most valuable?

The control options for an application are very specialized. We may thus ultimately decide what to access and what to prevent.

It is relatively easy to implement an application control policy, and it is made to integrate with the access policy.

The ability to see each application clearly in the logs is quite helpful.

Application control utilizes signatures similarly to how IPS does. It is an excellent feature.

It's pretty easy to schedule updates to the application control database. We can design a check for fresh updates every two hours.

Users can clearly understand the reasons for site blocking from the blocked message.

What needs improvement?

1 – Custom applications for internal applications must be defined frequently. This should be improved. It would be much better if Check Point could detect internal applications and automatically bypass them.

2- Without HTTPS decryption, the majority of App Control recognition features will be rendered ineffective, as everything has been encrypted thus far.

3-An application may have multiple category tags, which is confusing.

These areas should be improved. 

It satisfies all of our needs except for this. 

Check Point Application Control assists us in controlling bandwidth and restricting internet access for our infrastructure.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for almost two years.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Yes, we used a different solution. However, it did not satisfy us in terms of security. As a result, we decided to deploy Check Point NGFW for enhanced security.

Before migrating to Check Point firewall, we conducted market research and solicited feedback from my contacts who are already Checkpoint NGFW customers. We decided to use Check Point NGFW as a result of this.

What was our ROI?

Our ROI is that it increases the security precautions that prevent users from accessing websites that can harm our business. Additionally, it also reduces the use of the internet, which is often unrelated to business tasks.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Nagendra Nekkala - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager ICT & Innovations at Bangalore International Airport Limited
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Helps to control VPN and bandwidth but needs to incorporate better documentation and regular security patches
Pros and Cons
  • "The tool's most valuable features are VPN access, website defense, and maintenance."
  • "Check Point Application Control needs to ensure that they release up-to-date security patches regularly. It should release better documentation so end-users can use the product without depending on the support team."

What is our primary use case?

We use Check Point Application Control to control VPN and bandwidth. 

What is most valuable?

The tool's most valuable features are VPN access, website defense, and maintenance. 

What needs improvement?

Check Point Application Control needs to ensure that they release up-to-date security patches regularly. It should release better documentation so end-users can use the product without depending on the support team. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with the product for three years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Check Point Application Control's stability is good. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The tool is scalable. My company has 1000 users. 

How are customer service and support?

The tool's support is good. 

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

You need guidance to do the product's deployment. It cannot be done directly. You need two people to handle the deployment. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Check Point Application Control is expensive. The tool's licensing costs are yearly. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate the product an eight out of ten. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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PeerSpot user
Edwin Solano Salmeron - PeerSpot reviewer
Soporte técnico superior at Acobo
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Helps define policies, integrates with third-parties, and offers good threat detection
Pros and Cons
  • "One of the greatest capacities and the benefits it gives us is the ability to control applications based on defining access or denial policies in specific applications, groups, or category profiles."
  • "The guides used today are a bit complex, and we need efficient and simple access to them so that any administrative or technical person can solve, analyze, and configure each of the rules and identities seamlessly."

What is our primary use case?

We needed to allow, control, block, and access specific applications based on the policies that the institution has as a baseline. Given this need, we have tried, analyzed, and tested various solutions that could comply with said internal directive. We have sought solutions that allow us greater visibility and control over applications on the network, improving the protection of applications and the security of the organization in general. We've validated the software's great potential at detecting malicious events on unauthorized applications or resources. 

How has it helped my organization?

Check Point Application Control has offered us the possibility of achieving several important organizational pillars that were required to cover. We had application identification, application control, and protection based on known or unknown threats. 

These capabilities have allowed us to discover known or unknown threats by detecting them under the identity of users. We managed to include a malware intrusion detection index based on the identity of the users in order to protect them. 

What is most valuable?

One of the greatest capacities and the benefits it gives us is the ability to control applications based on defining access or denial policies in specific applications, groups, or category profiles. Compared to other products, it has offered us a unique combination by allowing the integration of third-party services or brand-owned services, which gives us a chance to insure, protect ourselves, and generate scalable, comprehensive protection. 

What needs improvement?

One of the improvements that we need is in the manual services. The guides used today are a bit complex, and we need efficient and simple access to them so that any administrative or technical person can solve, analyze, and configure each of the rules and identities seamlessly. We need clear directions to help us configure effectively. It's important to be able to have this documentation available to make the many available features easy to configure and allow us to promote defense tactics in depth against all available threats. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for two years.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Software Engineer at Doddle
User
Top 5
Mitigates security risks, has workflow tracking capacity and offers increased workflow performance
Pros and Cons
  • "It ensures that the health of each application can handle the set tasks and projects without any challenges."
  • "The set performance monitoring systems are complex to interpret and scale down their operations."

What is our primary use case?

The company-based applications have benefited from this software in the enhancement of security and performance acceleration. 

Check Point Application Control monitors all tools' performance and operations in all enterprise activities. 

The reported performance metrics help us allocate resources and unlock hidden business potentials. Over the past year, this product has boosted the end output of all applications and promoted efficient teamwork. Each tool can easily link and integrate with others with set task objectives.

How has it helped my organization?

Check Point Application Control has highly improved business operations with modern data control systems. 

It ensures that the health of each application can handle the set tasks and projects without any challenges. 

We have increased workflow performance and improved the service delivery to our clients. 

Data transfer with preferable security measures has enhanced better collaboration among teams. The connection of applications has enabled members to understand the data flow and set goals with real-time reports.

What is most valuable?

The set security measures integrated with applications help us to identify and set policies that can support our programs. 

It mitigates the security risks that can affect business tools and their implications on the overall production capacity. 

The workflow tracking capacity provides data on all employees working with certain tools and their contributions. 

Check Point Application Control can monitor the operations of many applications at the same time without low-performance experiences. There is increased revenue from the reduced cost of consolidating required security tools.

What needs improvement?

The set security features have increased the production efficiency of all applications. The new IT team monitoring this system requires proper training in order to execute the targeted goals effectively without failure. 

The set performance monitoring systems are complex to interpret and scale down their operations. 

The customer service team works tirelessly to ensure our teams are satisfied. Cloud network security has kept our assets secure since we deployed with a smooth continuation of other enterprise activities.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for one year and four months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This product is stable and with high-performance capabilities.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I like the persistence of improving security across the organization from this application.

How are customer service and support?

I have no words for the support team; I really congratulate them on the excellent job!

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have previously worked with AppDynamics - although the security models did not meet our targets.

How was the initial setup?

It is easy to setup and learn how the product works.

What about the implementation team?

The vendor team did the implementation.

What was our ROI?

The set targeted ROI has been achieved.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The setup procedure is good and the cost is suitable for most enterprises.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I evaluated operations and performance of AppDynamics.

What other advice do I have?

Check Point Application Control is the best solution for security and performance controls.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Hugo Alexis Espinoza Naranjo - PeerSpot reviewer
Perimeter Security Administrator at a security firm with 51-200 employees
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Good blocking and filtering but needs more of a knowledge base for users
Pros and Cons
  • "The most outstanding feature is the Check Point APK wiki."
  • "The blocking characteristics for filtering content currently are not so customizable."

What is our primary use case?

We needed a solution that would allow us to protect the applications that we were constantly developing. Those applications needed to be classified by categories, including integrity, risk level, and productivity issues, as well as identity per user. We needed all these characteristics to safeguard a library, repository, or platform that could allow us to manage it in a secure, fast, and scalable way. We tried more than one solution that would allow us the required granularity in the teams and management so that we could implement it according to the regulations that we had internally.

How has it helped my organization?

At the time of implementation, we had a great feeling of satisfaction with the solution as it allowed us to have granularity across types of applications - by the network, identity, social networks, the function of the application, et cetera. We were able to do more than what we really needed, and this gave us that feeling that we now had the internal compliance that we did not have before. The libraries are much larger and grouped by application in categories to protect us from attacks or threats.

What is most valuable?

The most outstanding feature is the Check Point APK wiki, which is a product that is incorporated into the solution that allows us to naturally and dynamically apply internal applications to the application database. It is continuously updated, which allows us to have constant detection capabilities and more than 8000 different applications at different sites. It allows us to be more dynamic and have greater control. Additionally, it has blocking via content filtering or HTTPS inspection, which we can combine with identity. That gives us a more centralized correlation and management for more granular policies and more expeditious control over each activity from the users.

What needs improvement?

The blocking characteristics for filtering content currently are not so customizable. I would like to be able to modify them a bit. I hope that customization will be incorporated in the future. Right now, we must educate the users who are constantly violating or in fear of violating an issue. We would like to be able to incorporate filtering with notifications in a learning portal so users can be educated and will no longer have a lack of experience. A portal will help make better, more educated, and knowledgeable users. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for two years.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Check Point Application Control Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: May 2024
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Application Control
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Check Point Application Control Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.