Welcome to "This Week in CheckMates," your weekly highlight reel for all things CheckMates!
Past and future posts will be available here: The CheckMates Blog
To have these updates show up in your preferred RSS reader add the following URL: The CheckMates Blog RSS Feed
See also our social media accounts:

CheckMates Go S03E02: Is There a Talent Shortage in Cyber Security?

Is there really a talent shortage in Cyber Security? I talk with Eric Anderson at Atlantic Data Security about the reality of the situation. 

Subscribe to CheckMates Go on your favorite podcast platform. Share with your friends and colleagues!

Call For Papers: CPX 360 2021

We are excited to announce CPX 360 2021, the industry's premier cyber security summit and expo. This year the event is going virtual on Feb 23 - 24, 2021. Register now to attend!

We’re also looking for speakers who will teach, share and inspire Check Point customers and partners to use the innovations, strategies, tools, and techniques needed to prevent cyber threats! Think you got what it takes? 

Check Point Certification Program Update

Beginning 31 January 2021, Check Point is updating the certification program with new criteria for achieving the Check Point Certified Security Master (CCSM) certification as well as introducing the new CCSM Elite certification. Check out the New Certification Model FAQ for details.

How-To Videos

• Generic Data Center Objects in R81
• R81 Data Center Query Objects
• R81 Identity Awareness with Azure AD

Community Updates

• New in CheckMates Labs: IoT and SOAR
• The Value of Security Vendor Self-Awareness TechTalk: Video, Slides, and Q&A
• ClusterXL, Failover, and Cisco Meraki
• Modify sshd_config in R81 and R80.40 JHF
• Check if Object Exists for IP Subnet/CIDR
• Move R77.30 Full HA Cluster to Smart-1 Cloud

Upcoming Events

We have a number of events planned for the next several weeks:

Virtual User Group Events

While anyone is welcome to register for a CheckMates Live Virtual Edition event, events are limited to a certain number of participants with priority given to those within the specified geographic area.
If you're interested in a specific topic for your area, contact us and we'll be happy to arrange a session for your area!
Bookmark the CheckMates Calendar to have an up-to-date list of events at your fingertips!
If you attend CheckMates Live events, you can get CPE credit! 

• 26 January 2021: Netherlands: Performance Optimization Part 3: CoreXL
• 28 January 2021: DACH: Performance Optimization Part 2: SecureXL
• 4 February 2021:
  • Belux: CloudGuard WAAP - Automated Web Application, API, and Bot Protection
  • Southeastern US: What's New in R81
• 9 February 2021: Western US: What's New in R81
• 11 February 2021: Adriatics: Performance Optimization Part 2: SecureXL
• 18 February 2021: Mid-Atlantic US: Remote Access and SASE Best Practices

@Shay_Levin and the team have been busy cooking up some new things in CheckMates Labs for everyone:

• IoT Security Solution: The IoT security solution is based on Discovery, Automatic security policy, and Enforcing that policy on a gateway. In this demo, you will see how we can connect to a pre-installed 3rd party asset provider, import assets and dynamic policies, and prevent attacks by enforcing the policy.
• SOAR Demo with Siemplify and Check Point: Security Orchestration Automation Response lab
• R81 Automation and Orchestration: How to use web services and the CLI to configure the security policy in R81 (replacing the previous R80.40-based demo).

These labs and more can be spun up on-demand in the cloud by CheckMates members with nothing more than a web browser (though access via RDP is recommended).
Each lab has a blueprint that walks you through step-by-step how to perform specific tasks and demonstrate the features and functionality of Check Point products.
No software to install 🙂

As always, we're always looking for new ways to help you learn, share, and inspire.
Feedback is welcome.

Welcome to "This Week in CheckMates," your weekly highlight reel for all things CheckMates!
Past and future posts will be available here: The CheckMates Blog
To have these updates show up in your preferred RSS reader add the following URL: The CheckMates Blog RSS Feed
See also our social media accounts:

CheckMates Go S03E01: Dan Wiley on Cyber Threats in 2020

We're back with new episodes of the CheckMates Go Cyber Security podcast! If you missed our CheckMates Fest, Check Point's Chief Security Advisor Dan Wiley gave us an overview of what Incidence Response saw in 2020 in terms of cyber threats.

CheckMates Everywhere Winners

Congratulations to our winners of the CheckMates Everywhere Photo Contest:

• People's Choice: Brooke Cassidy
• Most Exciting Photo: Liam Churchman

• Most Beautiful Location: Andrew Pearce and Olaf Jacobi

Call For Papers: CPX 360 2021

We are excited to announce CPX 360 2021, the industry's premier cyber security summit and expo. This year the event is going virtual on Feb 23 - 24, 2021. We’re looking for speakers who will teach, share and inspire Check Point customers and partners to use the innovations, strategies, tools, and techniques needed to prevent cyber threats!

Check Point Certification Program Update

Beginning 31 January 2021, Check Point is updating the certification program with new criteria for achieving the Check Point Certified Security Master (CCSM) certification as well as introducing the new CCSM Elite certification. Check out the New Certification Model FAQ for details.

Software Updates

• R80/R80.10 End of Support in May 2021

• SandBlast Agent/Endpoint Security E84.30 for Mac is GA

Community Updates

• R81 Migration Tools
• How to Configure Site-to-Site VPN as Responder Only
• URL Filtering Troubleshooting
• Disable/Delete/Rename admin User in Gaia
• AdBlock and IPS: Multiple Websites Mine Cryptocurrencies CPU Hijacking

Upcoming Events

We have a number of events planned for the next several weeks:

Value of Security Vendor Self-Awareness

Is your company really secured? How can Check Point remain relevant in the ever-changing attack landscape? Join us on 20 January 2021 when @Irina_Shalem will give you a unique peek under the hood of a platform enabling Check Point to stay head of new, sophisticated multi-stage attacks!

Virtual User Group Events

While anyone is welcome to register for a CheckMates Live Virtual Edition event, events are limited to a certain number of participants with priority given to those within the specified geographic area.
If you're interested in a specific topic for your area, contact us and we'll be happy to arrange a session for your area!
Bookmark the CheckMates Calendar to have an up-to-date list of events at your fingertips!
If you attend CheckMates Live events, you can get CPE credit! 

• 26 January 2021: Netherlands: Performance Optimization Part 3: CoreXL
• 28 January 2021: DACH: Performance Optimization Part 2: SecureXL

Welcome to "This Week in CheckMates," your weekly highlight reel for all things CheckMates!
Past and future posts will be available here: The CheckMates Blog
To have these updates show up in your preferred RSS reader add the following URL: The CheckMates Blog RSS Feed
See also our social media accounts:

Call For Papers: CPX 360 2021

We are excited to announce CPX 360 2021, the industry's premier cyber security summit and expo. This year the event is going virtual on Feb 23 - 24, 2021. We’re looking for speakers who will teach, share and inspire Check Point customers and partners to use the innovations, strategies, tools, and techniques needed to prevent cyber threats!

Check Point Certification Program Update

Beginning 31 January 2021, Check Point is updating the certification program with new criteria for achieving the Check Point Certified Security Master (CCSM) certification as well as introducing the new CCSM Elite certification. Check out the New Certification Model FAQ for details.

Software Updates

• R80/R80.10 End of Support in May 2021
• R80.20 JHF GA Take 188
• R81 Now Available in Smart-1 Cloud
• Critical Update for CloudGuard Controller, CME, and CloudGuard for Azure

Remote Access Updates

• Must Update VPN/Endpoint Clients E81.10 and Earlier
• Finding Endpoints that Haven't Received VPN Patch
• Oneliner to Find VPN/Endpoint Versions in Use
• Can't Uninstall Virtual Network Adapter, Can't Update the VPN Client
• Endpoint Security VPN Version Versus Build Numbers
• Enable SDL Programmatically

Other Community Updates

• CheckMates Fest 2021: Video and Q&A
• Geo Policy using Geo Objects
• Log Compression and Auto-Upload to AWS S3
• How to get Revisions by API or CLI
• vsxeport.sh - Export VSX Settings and Configuration Files

Upcoming Events

We have a number of events planned for the next several weeks:

Value of Security Vendor Self-Awareness

Is your company really secured? How can Check Point remain relevant in the ever-changing attack landscape? Join us on 20 January 2021 when @Irina_Shalem will give you a unique peek under the hood of a platform enabling Check Point to stay head of new, sophisticated multi-stage attacks!

Virtual User Group Events

We are scheduling more "Virtual Edition" User Groups after the new year.
If you're interested in a specific topic, contact us and we'll be happy to arrange a session for your area!
Bookmark the CheckMates Calendar to have an up-to-date list of events at your fingertips!
If you attend CheckMates Live events, you can get CPE credit! 

• 26 January 2021: Netherlands: Performance Optimization Part 3: CoreXL
• 28 January 2021: DACH: Performance Optimization Part 2: SecureXL

The CheckMates Community became increasingly important during 2020 as a resource to help you secure your everything under the new normal. We could not have done it without the contribution of all of you, but especially our Champions for 2020! So, rather than our weekly This Week in CheckMates post, we will highlight and recognize our Champions for their fantastic contributions!

If you haven't registered yet, please join us on 6 January 2021 @ 8am Pacific / 5pm CET as we celebrate our Champions, showcase your photos from the CheckMates Everywhere contest, discuss Check Point's Product Roadmap, led by VP of Products Dr. Dorit Dor and team, as well as some tales from Incident Response with our head of Threat Management and Chief Security Advisor Dan Wiley. We also have some amazing prizes to give away!

Members of the Year

Congratulations to @HeikoAnkenbrand, @Danny, and @Timothy_Hall, all three of which who have been previous Champions and continue to make fantastic contributions to the community! Some key contributions from each include:

Heiko:

• Face Recognition with R81
• Easy Execute CLI Commands from Management on Gateways
• R80.x Ports Used by Various Check Point Modules

Danny:

• Remote Access VPN Statistics One-Liner
• One-Liner to Update IpToCountry Data on Security Management
• CoreXL Dynamic Balancing

Tim:

• How to Disable IPS Protections in Bulk
• Uneven Use of Multiqueue CPU Cores
• How to Disable SecureXL for Specific Source to Specific Destination

Rising Stars

Congratulations to @Magnus-Holmberg and @Norbert_Bohusch whom made a significant impact to the community this year! A few key contributions from each include:

Magnus:

• How to Import Multiple Objects into R8x Management Using .CSV
• How to Add Additional Log Space in a VM
• How to Use fw monitor

Norbert:

• Management Server Behind NAT: Cannot Get Logs from One Cluster
• Changing the Certificate Presented for Endpoint Security Client
• Enable Tracking All Rules Not Working After Upgrade to R80.x

Contributions of the Year

Congratulations to these award-winning contributions!

• Easy Mobile User License Tool from @HeikoAnkenbrand
• ASA to VSX: Translate Your Cisco Running Configuration to VSX from @FedericoMeiners
• CPviewer: Visualize your cpview/cpinfo Files in 5 Minutes from @Petar_Markota