Each month, we plan to highlight a specific member of the community. For September, that person is Valeri Loukine!
The September Check Mates Member of the Month is Valeri Loukine, Sr Security Consulting Architect with Dimension data. Valeri has been one of the strongest contributors to the community providing advice to fellow members and actively engaging in technical conversations to learn more and stay on the cutting edge of (Check Point) security. Many thanks To Valeri for his contributions and participation to help make Check Mates an educational, informative and engaging place to visit!
At his day job at Dimension Data Valeri is a “Swiss army knife” for all things security. On any given day he can be found educating potential customers on security, designing customer’s security strategies, or implementing products for customers.
Deeply familiar with Check Point products, Valeri has been working with them for more than 15 years. AS part of his on-going commitment to customer success, he is actively engaged in dialog with Check Point via the Check Point user Group (CPUG) and now Check Mates. While CPUG has been a great resource, Check Mates has enabled him to get answers to his technical inquiries faster through more direct access to Checkpoint experts.
In his spare time Valeri enjoys spending time with his granddaughter in Israel, writing poetry and riding his Harley Davidson through the breath-taking Swiss Alps.
On behalf of CheckMates, we thank Valeri for sharing his valuable knowledge with us!
Our interview questions and answers are below:
Tell us a little about yourself & what you do
These days you can consider me a Swiss Army Knife for Check Point security. I do all of it: technical presales, design, architecture, implementations, migrations, upgrades and support. I also do other security vendors, although on a lesser scale. I train people, write and deliver technical security courses. I consult on security, both on technical and conceptual topics.
Tell us a little about your experience with Check Point
I touched Check Point FW first time in 1999. Then it went up hill dramatically after joining Israeli Check Point office in 2000. Since then, I am a Check Point expert. Moving through the ranks, changing positions from VPN QA specialist at the beginning to Check Point Profession Services Consultant at the end of my work at CP Israel would do that to anybody else.
After joining Dimension Data in Switzerland in 2008, I commenced participating in CPUG (cpug.org) activities and eventually became CPUG ambassador in Europe. It also happened that I was the first person in Switzerland to achieve CCMA certification. I am most probably the last one to have it still active, at least here ☺
You may also mention my CCMA blog: http://checkpoint-master-architect.blogspot.ch/
Do you have a unique deployment of a Check Point product?
Every single project I do with Check Point is unique. It is really hard to distinguish just one. I have been to places and seen things. Do not even get me started, otherwise I will not stop talking for a week ☺
What do you use the CheckMates platform for?
CheckMates is a great tool to share experience, learn things and get in touch with experts. Being a CPUG.org member for over a decade, I have seen multiple Check Point attempts to create something similar. I am happy you have finally found a nice way to do so.
What do you like to do for fun? (Hobbies)
Work is fun, most of the time, but I guess the question is not about it. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my granddaughter in Israel, writing poetry and riding my Harley. Some hiking in Swiss mountains and touring interesting places are also in the list.
If you could create any new technology right now, what would it be?
Why should it be technology? One of my distant dreams is to write a book about history of Check Point. Not about technology, although this topic is also fascinating, but about people in and around the company. There are many interesting, dramatic, funny, happy, and sometimes tragic stories there. I have stumbled on some while doing research for a “Short History of Check Point Firewalls” chapter of CPUG papers project: https://www.cpug.org/forums/showthread.php/21868-Paper-1-Brief-History-Of-Check-Point-Firewalls
That is a very deep well to drink from, I promise you.
