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Check Point launches security automation and collaboration platform
Wed, 18th Oct 2023

In the face of rapidly spreading cyber attacks and the consistent persistence of attackers using multiple vectors, Check Point Software Technologies has launched Check Point Horizon Playblocks, a security automation and collaboration platform that automatically contains attacks and prevents them from spreading, all powered by collaboration between security people, processes and technologies.

Horizon is Check Point’s prevention-first security operations security suite, which includes the Managed Detection/Prevention and Response (MDR/MPR) SOC service, the Extended Detection/Prevention and Response (XDR/XPR) SOC platform and now Playblocks, the security collaboration platform for security teams.

With the volume of alerts and security events increasing, and a lack of skilled security professionals, security teams are struggling to prioritize manual updates and patch vulnerabilities for various security products across the entire network enterprises, the company states.

In a traditional security model, solutions work at the local environment level, which assumes threats are contained within the silo. Horizon Playblocks augments security by enabling products, people, and processes to work together to stop the proliferation of attacks.

It aims to redefine security approaches by enabling a holistic collaborative method. Once a security product detects a potential threat at any enforcement point, it activates preventative actions throughout the entire security infrastructure, across every security solution, and takes operational actions to alert the necessary teams.

Nataly Kremer, Chief Product Officer, and Head of R&D at Check Point Software Technologies, says, “Horizon Playblocks encapsulates our vision of collaborative security - it’s where people, processes and technologies unite to deliver intuitive, consolidated, and automatic defence mechanisms."

“The best way to understand Playblocks is to think of it as an “instinctive” security product, able to immediately block an attack in its tracks and preventing its spread across an organization. With its unique blend of immediate response, automatic updates, and third-party integration, Playblocks embodies true collaborative security.”

Horizon Playblocks key features are:

  • Collaborative: Horizon Playblocks triggers action across every security enforcement point when there is an attack. With predefined prevention playbooks, attacks are immediately detected and prevented from spreading. Integration with Check Point’s Quantum and Harmony (Endpoint, Mobile) fortifies this collaborative defence mechanism, ensuring that threats are contained across the entire security environment.
  • Consolidated: Serving as a unified security infrastructure, Horizon Playblocks provides a consolidated shield across both Check Point and third party products. This unity ensures that all operational and security tools are working in tandem, offering a robust defence against cyber threats.
  • Automatic: The platform can be deployed in under five minutes with playbooks, which provide automatic policy and rule updates that provide immediate value, without manual intervention. Its 25 advanced out-of-the-box playbooks cater to various security needs - from blocking IPs across enforcement points to quarantining internal threats. Playblocks can be triggered to automatically assign zero trust security policies to devices.

“The security and operational value of Playblocks became clear to us immediately. Playblocks eliminates a lot of manual work and does a great job automating prevention to keep our teams and data safe,” says i.A. Plamen Todorov, Senior Information Technology Specialist at MOTORTECH GmbH. “The collaborative nature of the platform means that all of our security products are working in sync together to provide a level of security which was previously unattainable.”

“In cybersecurity time is the attackers’ biggest advantage, so the more preventative actions can be automated the better an organization can prevent severe threats,” comments Michael Suby, IDC Research Vice President, Security & Trust.

“By harnessing the preventative powers of all security products in an environment, the Playblocks platform makes it easier for security teams to automate the most crucial actions across multiple tools and let SOC analysts focus where they can be most effective.”