The CheckMates Blog

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

Best of the Best of CheckMates 2020

Voting is now open for our Best of the Best of CheckMates of 2020! We are giving some awards away to our as well as prizes for those who participate, and you, the CheckMates members.

CheckMates Everywhere Photo Contest

Show us where you're at, CheckMates! Send us a photo with a CheckMates logo in a beautiful, exciting, or funny location for a chance to win an Amazon Gift Card. Vote on your favorites.

CheckMates GO S02E36: We All Make Mistakes, Vol. 2

In a recent CheckMates event, put together by Check Point SE and CheckMates Ambassador @sdunn, IT professionals gathered around the virtual campfire to tell some nightmarish tales, like that time a database was accidentally deleted, encountering malware or ransomware for the first time, or other disastrous IT situations that may have been miraculously recovered from.

The previous excerpt from this session was published as S02E34.
In this excerpt, we hear from Tracy Sargeant and Jeremiah Robinson.

Subscribe to CheckMates Go on your favorite podcast app, write a rating/review, and share with a friend/colleague!

Community Highlights

Software/Service Updates:

• Updatable SmartConsole Early Availability for R81
• R80.30 JHF Ongoing Take 226
• R80.10 JHF GA Take 283
• New "Nano Agent" for Endpoint Security Client Deployments
• SandBlast Agent support for Citrix VDI

Other Topics:

• CPme - A Simple Tool to Analyze your Check Point Environment R80.20+
• How to Deploy Check Point R81 Cluster
• CloudGuard Controller in Azure SSL Error
• Check Your Compliance Status in Two Clicks
• Implied Rules
• VPN Mobile Client Tunneling Exceptions
• Remote Access without Visitor Mode Enabled

Upcoming Events

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

TechTalk Deep Dive: Serverless Security

If your organization uses AWS Lambda Functions, Google Cloud Functions, or Azure Functions this Deep Dive lecture is for you. We will teach you how to build security around the functions within the applications hosted by third-party cloud providers. We will also cover the CI/CD integration and how to use the CLI plugin. Join us for this informative session:

• Americas Registration Link (Dec 1, 2020 05:00 PM US Eastern Time)

TechTalk: R81 is Here!

On 2 December 2020, we're doing a session specifically around R81 Security Management and the improvements therein! If you missed our Delivering Security Consolidation Across the Enterprise with R81 session, watch the session and read through the Q&A!

TechTalk: Incident Response - Stories From the Front Lines

On 16 December 2020, our head of Incident Response @Daniel_Wiley will discuss some of the day to day incidents his team observes, and how to defend your network from these threats. Register now for this informative session!

Virtual User Group Events

Given the current and evolving situation with Coronavirus, we are planning virtual events for the time being.
While anyone is welcome to register for CheckMates Live Virtual Edition events, they are generally for a limited number of people with priority given to people in the specified geographic area.
If you don't see your area listed, please 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! 

• 1 December 2020: Iberia: Automation and Orchestration Best Practices
• 3 December 2020: Belux: Remote Access Best Practices
• 10 December 2020:
  • ANZ: R81
  • Norway: Identity Awareness
• 15 December 2020:
  • CheckMates Danmark Julespecial
  • UK & Ireland: Technical Update and Deep Dive Session
  • Adriatics: HTTPS Inspection Best Practices

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 Fest 2021

Save the date for 6 January 2021 where we'll celebrate the Best of the Best of CheckMates of 2020! As part of our virtual celebration, we are giving some awards away to our as well as prizes for those who participate, and you, the CheckMates members, can help choose! Vote now for your favorites and be sure to participate in our CheckMates Everywhere photo contest!

CheckMates Toolbox is Here!

CheckMates ToolBox is your new ultimate collection of various tools: scripts, SmartConsole extensions, SmartEvent, and compliance reports. This new space gives you an easy navigation through multiple categories, indication of downloads and kudos for each tool, and even a"Verified by Check Point" approval stamp!

Check out the Toolbox and if you'd like to be a contributor, reach out to @_Val_ for more details!

CheckMates GO S02E35: IMC Companies on SandBlast Mobile

PhoneBoy talks with David Ulloa, CISO at IMC Companies about their experience with Check Point SandBlast Agent. See also the full IMC Customer success story on the Check Point website and the customer Webinar with IMC Companies.

Subscribe to CheckMates Go on your favorite podcast app, write a rating/review, and share with a friend/colleague!

Join our Usability Feedback Team!

As a member of Check Point's Usability Feedback Team, we will invite you to take part in a one-on-one session with our product experts. You will experience a live environment, get a glimpse to our upcoming features and make an impact on product decisions through your feedback. To join, visit our Usability Feedback Team page.

Community Highlights

Software/Service Updates:

• Updatable SmartConsole Early Availability for R81
• New Compliance Blade Enhancements in R81 Security Management
• R80.40 JHF GA Take 87
• R80.20 JHF Ongoing Take 187
• R80.20 SmartConsole Build 119
• Endpoint Security E84.30 macOS Clients Early Availability

Other Topics:

• CheckMates GO S02E35: IMC Companies on SandBlast Agent
• Recognize the Best of the Best of CheckMates for 2020
• CheckMates Everywhere, our Photo Contest!
• Replace Expert Password on SMB Appliance
• CloudGuard WAAP Hands-on Labs
• Finding TCP and UDP Service Timeouts
• Outbound Internet Access Firewall Feature Recommendations

Upcoming Events

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

TechTalk Deep Dive: Serverless Security

If your organization uses AWS Lambda Functions, Google Cloud Functions, or Azure Functions this Deep Dive lecture is for you. We will teach you how to build security around the functions within the applications hosted by third-party cloud providers. We will also cover the CI/CD integration and how to use the CLI plugin. Join us for this informative session:

• APAC Registration Link (Nov 25, 2020 04:00 PM Tokyo)
• EMEA Registration Link (Nov 26, 2020 10:00 AM Paris)
• Americas Registration Link (Dec 1, 2020 05:00 PM US Eastern Time)

TechTalk: R81 is Here!

On 2 December 2020, we're doing a session specifically around R81 Security Management and the improvements therein! If you missed our Delivering Security Consolidation Across the Enterprise with R81 session, watch the session and read through the Q&A!

TechTalk: Incident Response - Stories From the Front Lines

On 16 December 2020, our head of Incident Response @Daniel_Wiley will discuss some of the day to day incidents his team observes, and how to defend your network from these threats. Register now for this informative session!

Protecting the Mobile Workforce with SandBlast Mobile

Join our webinar on November 24 to learn how SandBlast Mobile, the industry-leading Mobile Threat Defense solution, delivers complete mobile security that is friendly to both security admins and employees. We'll cover top mobile threats in 2020, key considerations for choosing the right mobile threat defense solution, and demonstrate SandBlast Mobile covering multiple use cases and recent product enhancements!

Virtual User Group Events

Given the current and evolving situation with Coronavirus, we are planning virtual events for the time being.
While anyone is welcome to register for CheckMates Live Virtual Edition events, they are generally for a limited number of people with priority given to people in the specified geographic area.
If you don't see your area listed, please 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! 

• 24 November 2020:
  • Netherlands: Performance Optimization Part 2 - SecureXL
  • Caribbean: Introduction to Performance Optimization
• 26 November 2020:
  • Romania: Next Generation Firewall - 10 Years After - Part 2
  • Sweden: Identity Awareness Best Practices
• 1 December 2020: Iberia: Automation and Orchestration Best Practices
• 3 December 2020: Belux: Remote Access Best Practices
• 10 December 2020: Norway: Identity Awareness
• 15 December 2020:
  • CheckMates Danmark Julespecial
  • Adriatics: HTTPS Inspection Best Practices

Each year, we celebrate the best of the best within the CheckMates community. While 2020 was a very different year in many ways, the CheckMates virtual community continued to grow and flourish, becoming more active than ever to help you learn about the latest cyber security technologies, share best practices amongst your peers, and inspire others.

As part of our virtual celebration, currently scheduled for 6 January 2021, we are giving some awards away for our best members/contributions as well as prizes for those who participate. You, the CheckMates members, can help choose by voting for the best of the best for 2020!

We also miss seeing you face-to-face and would love to see you all participate in our CheckMates Everywhere contest!

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 S02E34: We All Make Mistakes, Vol 1

In a recent CheckMates event, put together by Check Point SE and CheckMates Ambassador Stacy Dunn, IT professionals gathered around the virtual campfire to tell some nightmarish tales, like that time a database was accidentally deleted, encountering malware or ransomware for the first time, or other disastrous IT situations that may have been miraculously recovered from. In this excerpt from the event, we have stories from Stephen Hawkey and @Joe_Sullivan.

Subscribe to CheckMates Go on your favorite podcast app, write a rating/review, and share with a friend/colleague! 

Join our Usability Feedback Team!

As a member of Check Pointls Usability Feedback Team, we will invite you to take part in a one-on-one session with our product experts. You will experience a live environment, get a glimpse to our upcoming features and make an impact on product decisions through your feedback. To join, visit our Usability Feedback Team page.

Community Highlights

Here's the threads to watch from the last week:

• SmartConsole R80.40 GA Build 414
• Remote Installing SandBlast Agent Initial Client (SCCM/Intune Replacement)
• Availability of Endpoint (SBA/VPN) for macOS Big Sur 
• Upgrade Gateways Hardware
• Connect Smart-1 Cloud to Local Active Directory for Creating Access Roles

Upcoming Events

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

TechTalks: R81 is Here!

On 2 December 2020, we're doing a session specifically around R81 Security Management and the improvements therein! If you missed our Delivering Security Consolidation Across the Enterprise with R81 session, watch the session and read through the Q&A!

TechTalk: Incident Response - Stories From the Front Lines

On 16 December 2020, our head of Incident Response @Daniel_Wiley will discuss some of the day to day incidents his team observes, and how to defend your network from these threats. Register now for this informative session!

Virtual User Group Events

Given the current and evolving situation with Coronavirus, we are planning virtual events for the time being.
While anyone is welcome to register for CheckMates Live Virtual Edition events, they are generally for a limited number of people with priority given to people in the specified geographic area.
If you don't see your area listed, please 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! 

• 17 November 2020:
  • Norway: Automation and Orchestration Best Practices
  • France: Expert Talk on Performance
  • Southern US: Performance Optimization Series: SecureXL
• 19 November 2020:
  • DACH: Maintenance and Upgrade Best Practices 
  • South Central US: Remote Access Best Practices
• 24 November 2020:
  • Netherlands: Performance Optimization Part 2 - SecureXL
  • Caribbean: Introduction to Performance Optimization
• 26 November 2020:
  • Romania: Next Generation Firewall - 10 Years After - Part 2
  • Sweden: Identity Awareness Best Practices
• 1 December 2020: Iberia: Automation and Orchestration Best Practices
• 3 December 2020: Belux: Remote Access Best Practices
• 15 December 2020: CheckMates Danmark Julespecial

We are aware of some issues in the community reading most community messages (e.g. "Unexpected Error Has Occurred").
This was first noticed around 5pm Pacific Time (01:00 UTC) and has been resolved as of about 7pm Pacific (03:00 UTC).

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 and our podcast (RSS Feed)

CheckMates GO S02E33: Wiper Malware

PhoneBoy talks with @Tim_Otis from the Check Point Incident Response Team about Wiper Malware. The Cuckoo's Egg gets a mention in this episode.

Subscribe to CheckMates Go on your favorite podcast app, write a rating/review, and share with a friend/colleague! 

Join our Usability Feedback Team!

As a member of Check Pointls Usability Feedback Team, we will invite you to take part in a one-on-one session with our product experts. You will experience a live environment, get a glimpse to our upcoming features and make an impact on product decisions through your feedback. To join, visit our Usability Feedback Team page.

Community Highlights

Here's the threads to watch from the last week:

Service/Software Updates

• GAIA API version 1.5
• R80.40 JHF Ongoing Take 87 and SmartConsole GA Build 412
• CloudGuard Infinity Next Gateway -- Access Control and Protection
• SOAR Siemplify + Check Point SandBlast Agent Integration: Malware Analysis

Other Topics

• Create a User via API
• Best Practice for Backing Up R80.40 Management and MDS for Disaster Recovery
• SmartTask: Restrict Use of Specific Objects in Access Control Policy
• Firewall Policy Layers and Implicit Cleanup Actions
• Endpoint VPN Users Facing Slowness
• PBR Configuration is Missing in Audit Logs

Upcoming Events

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

TechTalk: Network Detection and Response with SandBlast/CloudGuard Now

In this TechTalk on 11 November, we will talk about the Check Point Now DEPLOY – HUNT – PREVENT paradigm for Network Detection and Response (NDR). Specifically, we'll cover:

• Sensor deployment – on premises and in the cloud
• Threat hunting using the Cyber Defense Center with the latest AI engines and advanced Now Analytics
• Threat-based defense using the Smart Intel platform

Register now!

TechTalks: R81 is Here!

On 2 December 2020, we're doing a session specifically around R81 Security Management and the improvements therein! If you missed our Delivering Security Consolidation Across the Enterprise with R81 session, watch the session and read through the Q&A!

Virtual User Group Events

Given the current and evolving situation with Coronavirus, we are planning virtual events for the time being.
While anyone is welcome to register for CheckMates Live Virtual Edition events, they are generally for a limited number of people with priority given to people in the specified geographic area.
If you don't see your area listed, please 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! 

• 10 November 2020:
  • Africa: Remote Access Best Practices
  • France: Troubleshooting Firewall Cluster, VPN
  • Germany: How to Protect Against Unknown Threats on Mobile Devices?
  • North Central US: Machine Learning 101
• 12 November 2020: Thailand: Identity Awareness
• 17 November 2020:
  • Norway: Automation and Orchestration Best Practices
  • France: Expert Talk on Performance
  • Southern US: Performance Optimization Series: SecureXL
• 19 November 2020:
  • DACH: Maintenance and Upgrade Best Practices 
  • South Central US: Remote Access Best Practices
• 24 November 2020:
  • Netherlands: Performance Optimization Part 2 - SecureXL
  • Caribbean: Introduction to Performance Optimization
• 26 November 2020:
  • Romania: Next Generation Firewall - 10 Years After - Part 2
  • Sweden: Identity Awareness Best Practices
• 1 December 2020: Iberia: Automation and Orchestration Best Practices
• 3 December 2020: Belux: Remote Access Best Practices
• 15 December 2020: CheckMates Danmark Julespecial

On 5th November 2020, we will be migrating to a new "groups" feature in the community that will impact availability of some parts of the community, specifically:

• All the groups under Local User Groups
• Any private groups (e.g. the CCSM Group)
• Region-specific Partner groups

During the migration, which is expected to complete the same day, access to the above parts of the community will result in error messages.
We expect to restore access to these groups once the migration has been completed and a few supporting code changes are pushed.
Other parts of the community should be unaffected by this.

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 and our podcast (RSS Feed)

CheckMates GO S02E32: Ransomware Rising

On 30 October 2020, the Check Point Incident Response Team issued a Flash Notice regarding a marked increase in Ransomware incidents.

Subscribe to CheckMates Go on your favorite podcast app, write a rating/review, and share with a friend/colleague! 

Community Highlights

Here's the threads to watch from the last week:

• IPS and SSH
• SmartConsole Extensions for Traffic Monitoring
• CloudGuard Blueprint Architecture Diagrams
• R80+ Change Control: A Visual Guide
• FQDN Objects Allowing Non-Relevant IPs in R80.40 T78
• Upgrade Security Management from Windows R55 to R80.40 Gaia

Upcoming Events

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

TechTalk: Network Detection and Response with SandBlast/CloudGuard Now

In this TechTalk on 11 November, we will talk about the Check Point Now DEPLOY – HUNT – PREVENT paradigm for Network Detection and Response (NDR). Specifically, we'll cover:

• Sensor deployment – on premises and in the cloud
• Threat hunting using the Cyber Defense Center with the latest AI engines and advanced Now Analytics
• Threat-based defense using the Smart Intel platform

Register now!

TechTalks: R81 is Here!

On 2 December 2020, we're doing a session specifically around R81 Security Management and the improvements therein! 

If you missed last week's Delivering Security Consolidation Across the Enterprise with R81 session, you can click the link to watch the session and read through the Q&A!

Virtual User Group Events

Given the current and evolving situation with Coronavirus, we are planning virtual events for the time being.
While anyone is welcome to register for CheckMates Live Virtual Edition events, they are generally for a limited number of people with priority given to people in the specified geographic area.
If you don't see your area listed, please 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! 

• 4 November 2020: India and Gulf Countries: R81 Identity Awareness New Features and SASE
• 5 November 2020: Benelux: What Are Containers and How To Secure Them
• 10 November 2020:
  • Africa: Remote Access Best Practices
  • France: Troubleshooting Firewall Cluster, VPN
  • North Central US: Machine Learning 101
• 17 November 2020:
  • Norway: Automation and Orchestration Best Practices
  • Southern US: Performance Optimization Series: SecureXL
• 19 November 2020:
  • DACH: Maintenance and Upgrade Best Practices 
  • South Central US: Remote Access Best Practices
• 24 November 2020: Caribbean: Introduction to Performance Optimization
• 26 November 2020: Romania: Next Generation Firewall - 10 Years After - Part 2