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Merrill Lynch: Sourcefire strategic positive for Check Point
Analysts Edward Maguire and Garrett Bekker recommend buying Check Point shares on their current weakness.
Globes correspondent 9 Oct 05 10:20
US investment house Merrill Lynch is strongly approving of the latest acquisition by network security company Check Point (Nasdaq: CHKP). In a note dated October 6, analysts Edward Maguire and Garrett Bekker say that the benefits to Check Point will be strategic, and they recommend buying the company's share, particularly on its current weakness.
"Management expects Sourcefire to contribute 6-8% of 2006 revenues, with ~$0.02 EPS dilution expected in the first half of 2006. The $225 million purchase price values Sourcefire at 7-8x trailing 12-month revenues and 4-5x 2006 sales - not inexpensive but in line with prevailing premiums for premier private security vendors," Maguire and Bekker write.
"Though Check Point should benefit financially from the addition of Sourcefire, we think the more meaningful benefits are strategic. Check Point gains adjacent and highly relevant technology to broaden the portfolio, which increases the company's strategic value to customers and improves competitive positioning against Cisco, NetScreen/Juniper and IPS focused vendors McAfee and Tipping Point/3Com.
"For some time we have held that acquisitions would be key to regenerate momentum within Check Point's business. The ZoneLabs acquisition in 2004 helped Check Point diversify into the endpoint security market. Sourcefire benefits from a more established (and enthusiastic) channel ecosystem, and we believe Check Point's VARs should be able to more rapidly become productive with new products. Initial reseller reactions have been surprisingly positive (including some that have been critical of Check Point's direction), which reinforces our positive stance.
"Check Point's weakness in 3Q results appears to be International, despite steady improvement in commentary from U.S. resellers. Seasonal softness in Europe would not be altogether surprising - lthough we note Check Point's 4Q is historically strongest.
"Although the market for the company's core Firewall-1 and VPN-1 products is maturing, the new NGX platform provides an architectural foundation to unify management of the broad product portfolio. This in turn provides greater incentive for customers to standardize on Check Point as the key vendor for perimeter, endpoint and internal security solutions.
"We think the reaction to Check Point's news today is overdone and would be buyers, particularly on today's weakness. We note the $5-6 million revenue difference with consensus was at the low end but still within management's guided range. With favorable seasonal trends ahead (as well as increasing signs of challenges among key competitors) we think Check Point remains favorable positioned both for the near and longer term."
Check Point shares closed on Friday at $20.93, giving the company a market cap of $5.14 billion. Merrill Lynch's 12-month price objective for the stock is $25.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on October 9, 2005
Dubi
Check Point buys US co Sourcefire for $225m
Gil Shwed: The acquisition is an important step in delivering Check Point's expanded strategy.
Globes correspondent 6 Oct 05 14:57
Internet security company Check Point (Nasdaq: CHKP) has signed an agreement to buy privately held company Sourcefire Network Security for $225 million.
The consideration includes cash and assumption of the Sourcefire stock option plan.
The agreement has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies and the stockholders of Sourcefire, and is expected to close by the first quarter of 2006, subject to regulatory approvals.
Check Point said that Sourcefire would strengthen its perimeter, internal, Web and endpoint security portfolio, and would expand its opportunity to take advantage of the fast-growing Intrusion Prevention and Network Awareness Internet security segments. The company said the acquisition would also give it access to the talent of Sourcefire employees, and strengthen its relationship with Sourcefire enterprise customers and the Snort community with tens of thousand of users worldwide.
Check Point chairman and CEO Gil Shwed said, "We believe Sourcefire has world-class solutions for internal security through their Intrusion Sensor, Real-time Network Awareness (RNA), and Defense Center product lines. These align perfectly with Check Point's vision for internal security and are ideal complements to our InterSpect and Integrity solutions.
"Both companies share a deep commitment to customers, and this acquisition will enable us to deliver the industry's most comprehensive end-to-end Internet security to all types of customers -- from consumers to the largest enterprises."
Sourcefire was recently declared the best Intrusion Prevention solution among twelve vendors evaluated by Secure Computing Magazine. Earlier this year Sourcefire was named Frost and Sullivan's "Security Company of the Year" and the Most Innovative Company at the 2005 RSA Conference. In April, Sourcefire's Real-time Network Awareness (RNA) solution became only the fifth product in history to receive "NSS Gold" for its unique ability to solve customers' complex security awareness issues.
"Over the past two years Check Point expanded its strategy from primarily offering perimeter gateway security solutions to provide a fully integrated architecture for perimeter, internal, Web and endpoint security," Shwed continued. "This architecture enables our customers to take a proactive approach to security, prevent known and unknown threats and utilize security as a critical layer in today's networked business environment. The acquisition of Sourcefire is an important step in delivering this expanded strategy by enhancing our set of attack prevention intelligent technologies and providing the most comprehensive internal security solutions portfolio."
Check Point also announced today that it would report its third quarter financial results on October 28. The company said it expected the results to be within guidance.
Total revenue for the third quarter is expected to be in the range of $140 million to $141.5 million. Earnings per share for the third quarter, excluding acquisition-related charges, are expected to be in the range of $0.31 to $0.32.
The company's guidance provided on July 19 was for revenue in the range of $140 million to $150 million and earnings per share, excluding acquisition-related charges, in the range of $0.30 to $0.33.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on October 6, 2005
Dubi
Check Point Software Technologies to Acquire Sourcefire
Thursday October 6, 7:04 am ET
Next Generation Intrusion Prevention Solutions to Extend Unified Security Architecture
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. & COLUMBIA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 6, 2005--Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:CHKP - News), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, and Sourcefire®, Inc., creator of Snort® and a leading provider of intrusion prevention and real-time network awareness solutions, today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement for Check Point to acquire privately held Sourcefire for a total consideration of approximately $225 million. The transaction consideration includes cash and assumption of the Sourcefire stock option plan. The agreement has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies and the stockholders of Sourcefire. The acquisition is subject to closing conditions including the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 ("HSR") and Exxon-Florio Act of 1988 and is expected to close by Q106 shortly after receiving regulatory approvals.
One of the fastest growing companies in the industry, Sourcefire, with its award-winning solutions for securing mission-critical enterprise networks, is expected to further strengthen Check Point's perimeter, internal, Web and endpoint security portfolio and to expand its opportunity to take advantage of the fast-growing Intrusion Prevention and Network Awareness Internet security segments. Additionally, Check Point will gain access to the talent of Sourcefire employees, and strengthen its relationship with Sourcefire enterprise customers and the Snort community with tens of thousand of users worldwide.
"We believe Sourcefire has world-class solutions for internal security through their Intrusion Sensor, Real-time Network Awareness (RNA), and Defense Center product lines. These align perfectly with Check Point's vision for internal security and are ideal complements to our InterSpect(TM) and Integrity(TM) solutions," said Gil Shwed, chairman and CEO of Check Point Software Technologies. "Both companies share a deep commitment to customers, and this acquisition will enable us to deliver the industry's most comprehensive end-to-end Internet security to all types of customers -- from consumers to the largest enterprises."
An Internet security pioneer and leader, Check Point delivers the industry's most intelligent security solutions. Through its NGX(TM) platform, it is the only company to deliver a unified security architecture across a broad range of perimeter, internal, Web and endpoint security solutions, enabling enterprises of all sizes to reduce the cost and complexity of security management and ensure their security systems can be easily extended to adapt to new and evolving threats. These solutions protect 100 of the Fortune 100 companies, and are installed at hundreds of thousands of sites worldwide.
"Our shared passion for excellence and Check Point's commitment to Sourcefire's products, partners, customers and the Snort community were paramount in making this decision," said Wayne Jackson, CEO of Sourcefire. "With our common vision for integrating network intelligence with network security, Check Point's substantial industry, channel, and financial strengths will allow us to accelerate our pace of innovation while reaching a global market of enthusiastic partners and customers."
Sourcefire has received significant company and technology recognition throughout 2005. Most recently, Sourcefire was declared the best Intrusion Prevention solution among twelve vendors evaluated by Secure Computing Magazine. Earlier this year Sourcefire was named Frost and Sullivan's "Security Company of the Year" and the Most Innovative Company at the 2005 RSA Conference. In April, Sourcefire's Real-time Network Awareness (RNA) solution became only the fifth product in history to receive "NSS Gold" for its unique ability to solve customers' complex security awareness issues.
"Over the past two years Check Point expanded its strategy from primarily offering perimeter gateway security solutions to provide a fully integrated architecture for perimeter, internal, Web and endpoint security," Mr. Shwed continued. "This architecture enables our customers to take a proactive approach to security, prevent known and unknown threats and utilize security as a critical layer in today's networked business environment. The acquisition of Sourcefire is an important step in delivering this expanded strategy by enhancing our set of attack prevention intelligent technologies and providing the most comprehensive internal security solutions portfolio."
Investor Conference Calls and Webcast Information
In a separate release today, Check Point announced that it will release its financial results for the third quarter of 2005 on October 28th and provided a preview of the results. Today, the company will conduct a conference call with investors to discuss the Sourcefire acquisition. A conference call will be held before the market opens on October 28th 2005 to discuss the results of the third quarter.
Today's conference call with investors to discuss the acquisition of Sourcefire will take place at 9:00AM ET/6:00 AM PT (October 6th). Please dial 973-935-8512 and reference confirmation code 6579459 to access the live call or visit the company's website at www.checkpoint.com/ir for the live webcast. A replay of the conference call will be available through October 27, 2005 at the company's website or by telephone at 973-341-3080, confirmation code 6579459.
About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (www.checkpoint.com) is a leader in securing the Internet. It is a market leader in the worldwide enterprise firewall, personal firewall and VPN markets. Through its NGX platform, the company delivers a unified security architecture for a broad range of perimeter, internal, Web, and endpoint security solutions that protect business communications and resources for corporate networks and applications, remote employees, branch offices and partner extranets. The company's ZoneAlarm product line is the highest rated personal computer security suite, comprised of award-winning endpoint security solutions that protect millions of PCs from hackers, spyware and data theft. Extending the power of the Check Point solution is its Open Platform for Security (OPSEC), the industry's framework and alliance for integration and interoperability with "best-of-breed" solutions from over 350 leading companies. Check Point solutions are sold, integrated and serviced by a network of more than 2,200 Check Point partners in 88 countries and its customers include 100% of Fortune 100 companies and tens of thousands of businesses and organizations of all sizes.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051006/65377.html?.v=1
Dubi
>>Teva (TASE, Nasdaq:TEVA) and Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) were excluded from the race because of their elephantine proportions, but won plaudits as the leaders of Israel's technology scene.<<
Actimize is the fastest-growing tech company in Israel
25.9.2005 | 12:33
Zuri Dar
Actimize is the fastest-growing company in Israel, says Deloitte Brightman Almagor in its Fast 50 listing for the year 2005.
The company develops software to prevent bank fraud and money-laundering. The accounting firm says its revenues sprouted by 8,821% in the last five years.
In second place is Starhome with 7,246% revenue growth in five years, followed by Arotek, with 3,252%.
Other noteworthy companies on the list included M-Systems (Nasdaq:FLSH) (23rd place), Retalix (Nasdaq:RTLX) (24), PowerDsine (25), Lipman Electronic Engineering (TASE, Nasdaq: LPMA ), (28), Tadiran Communications (TASE: TDCM) (33), Ness Technologies (Nasdaq:NSTC) (37), DSP Group (Nasdaq:DSPG) (38), and Nice Systems (NASDAQ:NICE) (47).
Teva (TASE, Nasdaq:TEVA) and Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) were excluded from the race because of their elephantine proportions, but won plaudits as the leaders of Israel's technology scene.
Igal Brightman commented that Israel today has about 1,500 hi-tech companies, adding that in the last year, 40 Israeli companies were bought in some $2.5 billion worth of transactions
http://tinyurl.com/exe8z
Dubi
Check Point Advances Virtualized Security Solution on NGX Unified Security Platform
Monday September 19, 1:38 pm ET
VPN-1 VSX Added to NGX Series
Enterprise and Service Provider Customers Can Easily Deploy and Manage Security for Complex Environments on a Single Device
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 19, 2005--Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP - News), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced the introduction of VPN-1® VSX(TM) (Virtual System Extension) NGX(TM), the latest version of the company's innovative virtualized security gateway that provides unmatched security protection and simplified deployment and management for complex security environments. VPN-1 VSX NGX is an integrated VPN/firewall solution designed for enterprise and service provider customers that protects multiple networks by utilizing up to 250 virtualized security gateways running on a single hardware platform - reducing hardware costs and complexity. The new version has just been added to the NGX platform, a unified security architecture for Check Point's perimeter, internal and Web security solutions.
"Enterprises and service provider customers can easily scale their security infrastructure to meet the growing needs of their business with VPN-1 VSX NGX," said Gonen Fink, vice president, solutions and strategy for Check Point Software Technologies. "Our new solution gives customers a simplified, cost-effective way to secure increasingly complex networks, while providing flexible, reliable security."
Enhanced to include a variety of new features, Check Point VPN-1 VSX NGX offers customers the following:
Dynamic Routing - Maximizes the efficiency of network traffic and eliminates the need for purchasing additional networking devices to achieve end-to-end security
Enhanced Application Intelligence Protection - Provides more application level security protection than any other solution and easily adapts to new and evolving threats
Support for Virtualized Bridge Mode - Creates a transparent firewall, eliminating the need for reconfiguration of the network
Streamlined Management - Allows VPN-1 VSX NGX to be managed using a single IP address, reducing management complexity and conserving network resources
Virtual System Wizard and Creation Templates - Includes pre-defined templates to decrease deployment time and a wizard that simplifies the creation of a virtual system
Calamos Investments Achieves Success with VPN-1 VSX NGX
Calamos Investments is an investment firm that provides money management services to corporations, public and private institutions, pension funds, insurance companies and individuals. "As a part of the fast-paced financial industry, our network must reliably function at all times," said Garry Winer, Senior VP of Enterprise Services for Calamos Investments. "Internet security is crucial for us, and we really needed a solution that was robust yet didn't hinder us with complex policy configurations and cumbersome management. Check Point's VPN-1 VSX NGX provides Calamos Investments with a wide range of security capabilities, and our administrators have the luxury of a security solution that makes their lives easier."
Pricing and Availability
Pricing for Check Point VPN-1 VSX NGX starts at $24,000 for 10 virtual gateways and will be available in early Q4. For more information on Check Point VPN-1 VSX NGX, please visit http://www.checkpoint.com/products/vpn-1vsx/index.html.
The NGX platform delivers a unified security architecture that enables enterprises to reduce the cost and complexity of security management and ensure that their defenses can easily adapt to new and evolving threats. VPN-1 VSX is the latest solution to be added to the NGX series.
About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (www.checkpoint.com) is the worldwide leader in securing the Internet. It is the market leader in the worldwide enterprise firewall, personal firewall and VPN markets. Through its NGX platform, the company delivers a unified security architecture for a broad range of perimeter, internal and Web security solutions that protect business communications and resources for corporate networks and applications, remote employees, branch offices and partner extranets. The company's ZoneAlarm product line is one of the most trusted brands in Internet security, creating award-winning endpoint security solutions that protect millions of PCs from hackers, spyware and data theft. Extending the power of the Check Point solution is its Open Platform for Security (OPSEC), the industry's framework and alliance for integration and interoperability with "best-of-breed" solutions from over 350 leading companies. Check Point solutions are sold, integrated and serviced by a network of more than 2,200 Check Point partners in 88 countries.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050919/196054.html?.v=1
Dubi
City of Montreal Re-Elects Check Point to Secure Voter Registration for November 2005 Election
Monday September 12, 8:30 am ET
Check Point's Perimeter Security Solutions Enable Secure Connectivity and Privacy
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 12, 2005--Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:CHKP - News), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced that the City of Montreal, the largest city in the Canadian province of Quebec, will use Check Point's intelligent perimeter security solutions to secure remote voter registration locations for its next major government election in November 2005.
"The City of Montreal has relied on Check Point to secure its IT infrastructure for many years, but recently learned just how adaptable their security technology can be when we faced a special election in 2004," said Normand Jette, telecommunications specialist for the City of Montreal. "We needed to register voters quickly, effectively and securely. Security was paramount. Check Point's easy to use, reliable security was the perfect fit for setting up secure remote voter registration sites not only for that special election circumstance, but for future elections as well."
For its upcoming mayoral election, the City of Montreal will employ Check Point's market-leading perimeter security solutions across 30 registration centers located within shopping malls and other public venues in the city. To provide secure connectivity and reliable security, the City of Montreal will use VPN-1® Pro at the gateway and VPN-1 Edge(TM) for their remote voter registration sites. By leveraging these technologies for the 2005 election, the City of Montreal will benefit from the flexibility the Internet offers without sacrificing the security of the city's network.
"Citizens who perform their civic duty by registering to vote expect that their personal information will be kept private once entered into government databanks," said Carol Stone, vice president of worldwide marketing for Check Point Software Technologies. "Through our unified security architecture, The City of Montreal quickly realized that they could easily adapt their existing Check Point infrastructure to capitalize on this progressive way of registering their voters. With Check Point solutions in place, voter information will remain secured, and the City of Montreal will experience smooth Internet communications without any disruptions."
The City of Montreal is a long-standing Check Point customer and has widely deployed Check Point's intelligent perimeter and endpoint security solutions throughout its network to protect its government operations which support a network of 25,000 users.
About The City of Montreal
From its start as a small fur trading settlement on an island in the Saint Lawrence River in the mid 1600s, the City of Montreal has grown to a population of more than 1.8 million, making it the largest city in the Canadian province of Quebec.
About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (www.checkpoint.com) is the worldwide leader in securing the Internet. It is the market leader in the worldwide enterprise firewall, personal firewall and VPN markets. Through its NGX platform, the company delivers a unified security architecture for a broad range of perimeter, internal and Web security solutions that protect business communications and resources for corporate networks and applications, remote employees, branch offices and partner extranets. The company's ZoneAlarm product line is one of the most trusted brands in Internet security, creating award-winning endpoint security solutions that protect millions of PCs from hackers, spyware and data theft. Extending the power of the Check Point solution is its Open Platform for Security (OPSEC), the industry's framework and alliance for integration and interoperability with "best-of-breed" solutions from over 350 leading companies. Check Point solutions are sold, integrated and serviced by a network of more than 2,200 Check Point partners in 88 countries.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050912/125403.html?.v=1
Dubi
Update,
Check Point is progressing well in third quarter, says CIBC
11.9.2005 | 10:56
Omri Cohen
In the first half of 2005, Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) proved the skeptics wrong, presenting 16% revenue growth against the same period of 2004 to $282 million. Its net shot up to $152 million, an increase of 44% against January-June 2004.
Yet so far Check Point stock hasn't done much about it: this year it has lost 6%, and is now lodged in the range of $21-23 per share, while its fans among the analyst community think a pair 12-month price target is $25-31.
This week CIBC Israel said it talked with Check Point distributors and says the company is progressing well ahead in this quarter, which ends at the end of September. The analysts, headed by Avivit Mannet-Kalil, say they feel comfortable with a revenue forecast of $146 million for the quarter, up 13% from the parallel quarter of 2004.
CIBC repeated an Outperform rating for the stock and set it a 12-month price target of $30.
On Friday, Deutsche Bank raised its price target for Check Point stock from $26 to $27, saying the data security company is trading at a deep discount compared with peer companies.
Check Point is a central player in the data security sphere, the German investment bank pointed out: its stock is all of 17 times estimated 2006 earnings, whereas the multiple in the sector is 23. The analysts do not see the gap disappearing altogether, but believe it should narrow in the quarters to come, since Check Point is well positioned to beat the forecasts.
http://tinyurl.com/a9qur
Dubi
Check Point is progressing well in third quarter, says CIBC
08.9.2005 | 10:32
Omri Cohen
In the first half of 2005, Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) proved the skeptics wrong, presenting 16% revenue growth against the same period of 2004 to $282 million. Its net shot up to $152 million, an increase of 44% against January-June 2004.
Yet so far Check Point stock hasn't done much about it: this year it has lost 6%, and is now lodged in the range of $21-23 per share, while its fans among the analyst community think a pair 12-month price target is $25-31.
This week CIBC Israel said it talked with Check Point distributors and says the company is progressing well ahead in this quarter, which ends at the end of September. The analysts, headed by Avivit Mannet-Kalil, say they feel comfortable with a revenue forecast of $146 million for the quarter, up 13% from the parallel quarter of 2004.
CIBC repeated an Outperform rating for the stock and set it a 12-month price target of $30.
Check Point stock gained 1.5% yesterday, passing $23 for the first time in two months.
http://tinyurl.com/a9qur
Dubi
Swan Labs and Check Point Enable Enterprises Optimal Application Performance While Operating in a Highly-Secure WAN Environment
Monday August 22, 8:00 am ET
Swan Labs Achieves OPSEC Certification From Check Point
SAN JOSE, CA--(MARKET WIRE)--Aug 22, 2005 -- Swan Labs, the premier provider of enterprise application shaping solutions, today announced that its solutions have achieved OPSEC(TM) (Open Platform for Security) certification from Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NasdaqNM:CHKP - News), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet. In addition, the company has released results from benchmark tests conducted during the certification process. The results show dramatic performance improvements on WAN file transfers, driven by advanced TCP optimization, and transparent data reduction, when Swan Labs' WANJet is deployed in conjunction with Check Point's VPN-1® Pro®. The OPSEC certification proves the seamless interoperation of Swan Labs' multi-application acceleration and advanced WAN optimization technologies with Check Point's market-leading perimeter security solutions.
The proliferation of VPN technology is due to the significant cost savings achieved over traditional dedicated lines. As VPN technology provides a flexible and cost-effective infrastructure for extending the corporate network to all employees and key partners, administrators must ensure that WAN bandwidth is optimized. Swan solutions prevent latency by combining multi-application acceleration and advanced WAN optimization technologies on one platform to provide the highest rate of performance for individual applications and the WAN as a whole.
"By achieving OPSEC certification, customers are reassured that the Swan Labs optimization technologies will interoperate with their existing Check Point infrastructure," said Tom Tansy, VP of marketing at Swan Labs. "Swan Labs is the only solution that combines multi-application acceleration and advanced WAN optimization in one platform to ensure the absolute highest level of performance over VPNs, maximizing performance to rival that of leased lines."
Swan Labs' enterprise application delivery technology used in conjunction with Check Point's VPN-1 Pro solutions provides enterprises with optimal application performance while delivering the applications securely to remote users anywhere in the world. The combined solution dramatically increases application performance over any network, enhances the end user experience, and provides system-wide predictability and reliability.
As part of the certification process, benchmark tests were conducted on different file types under a variety of link speed and latency configurations, while tracking performance improvement for both first-time transfers as well as repeat transfers. The test scenarios included Linux HTTP transfers of a 30MB file, Linux FTP transfers of a 30MB file, Windows FTP transfers of a 9MB PDF file and Windows HTTP transfers of a 12.5MB zip file. All scenarios were tested across 10Mbps, 1.5Mbps and 512Kbps links with latencies ranging from 100ms to 300ms. The results of the tests confirm dramatic performance improvements on WAN file transfers, driven by advanced TCP optimization and transparent data reduction, when Swan Labs' WANJet is deployed in conjunction with Check Point's VPN-1 Pro. (For detailed benchmark results, go to www.swanlabs.com/whitepapers)
"We are pleased that Swan Labs has achieved OPSEC certification," said Paul Weinstein, vice president of Business Development for Check Point Software Technologies. "Swan Labs' acceleration technology coupled with Check Point's VPN solutions enables enterprises to deliver applications securely over the Wide Area Network with optimal performance."
About Check Point's OPSEC
OPSEC (Open Platform for Security) is the industry's open, multi-vendor security framework. With over 350 partners, OPSEC guarantees customers the broadest choice of best-of-breed integrated applications and deployment platforms that support Check Point's Perimeter, Internal and Web security solutions. Products that carry the OPSEC Certified seal have been tested to guarantee integration and interoperability, ensuring maximum protection for business communications and resources for corporate networks and applications, remote employees, branch offices and partner extranets. For complete OPSEC Alliance program information, including partner and product listings, the freely available OPSEC SDK (software development kit) and evaluation versions of OPSEC Certified products, visit http://www.opsec.com.
About Swan Labs
Swan Labs is the premier provider of enterprise application shaping solutions to Global 2000 companies. Enterprise application shaping is a new technology that combines the best aspects of WAN optimization and application acceleration. With Swan Labs' solution, enterprise customers experience increased application utilization, predictable end-user response times, dramatic WAN performance gains, and lower WAN costs. Swan Labs is headquartered in San Jose, California, and has development and support operations in Ireland. For more information, visit www.swanlabs.com.
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/050822/093541.html
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Check Point's Gil Shwed: I’m cautious, but not hesitant
“We're studying acquisition targets, but growth through acquisitions is no simple matter, especially in the software business.”
Shlomit Lan 18 Aug 05 14:58
“Growth through acquisitions is no simple matter, especially in the software business. The most important thing is to find what suits the company’s strategy. It’s not easy finding the right deals,” Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:CHKP) CEO Gil Shwed told “Globes”.
Shed does not rule out acquisitions. “We’re constantly considering companies, and when we find the right things, we’ll buy them.” Shwed’s comment implies that acquisitions are not Check Point’s priority as a means to enhance growth.
In response to a question whether perfect information security was possible in the wake of the Trojan Horse Affair, he said, “Perfection is a matter of philosophy. As for the Trojan Horse, we sell fairly simple software tools to deal with it. The problem is people’s awareness and caution.
“It’s like a person crossing the road. He can cross without looking, or he can take 15 minutes looking both ways before crossing. The weak link is the human factor. Wherever people are involved, maximum caution should be used.”
“It’s possible to achieve a good understanding, and companies can obtain fairly good security at a reasonable investment. The cost of installing a Trojan Horse in a well-protected company could cost more than stealing documents, both in terms of money and in terms of the complications and risk involved.”
Commenting on competition with Cisco Systems (Nasdaq:CSCO), which has become mutually vituperative, Shwed said, “As far as security products are concerned, we have much better products that work better. Check Point’s existence is based on having better products than Cisco.
“99% of our customers are also customers of Cisco, and most of Cisco’s big customers are also our customers. They apparently have a reason. It seems that not only do we have better products, but we also have products that people need.”
As for depictions of Shwed as a cautious and conservative manager, he said, “I’m very cautious, but I’m not hesitant. My job as manager is to take risks and gamble on the future. But the moment I identify risks and gambles, it’s my job to minimize them. I think I have a broad view of the picture, and the experience to find the brave things to do, while balancing the risks.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on August 18, 2005
Dubi
Media Alert: ZoneAlarm Subscribers Automatically Protected from New Internet Worm Attacks
Wednesday August 17, 1:57 am ET
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 16, 2005--Zone Labs®, a Check Point® company (Nasdaq:CHKP - News), announced this evening that users of the award-winning ZoneAlarm 6.0 line of Internet security solutions are proactively protected from the new outbreak of the Win32.Peabot.A worm (also known as Zobot.E), as well as any other threats targeting the Microsoft Windows Plug and Play Buffer Overflow Vulnerability (as described in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-039).
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Without requiring any user intervention, ZoneAlarm's firewall is configured to prevent this Windows vulnerability from being exploited. ZoneAlarm blocks TCP port 445 - a file and printer sharing port, from sending or receiving information from the Internet. That default feature, active in all but the lowest of ZoneAlarm's security settings, is critical to preventing these types of destructive worms from gaining access to a personal computer.
If a customer does choose to lower their security settings, they are still covered by the SmartDefense(TM) Advisor, a rapid response update system intended to quickly react to emerging threats. Check Point, and the Zone Labs division, utilizes SmartDefense services to offer both enterprise customers and consumers early detection and protection from new virus, worm and other malware outbreaks.
Even prior to the update in SmartDefense, ZoneAlarm Pro 6.0, ZoneAlarm Antivirus 6.0 and ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 6.0 users all had a new additional layer of fortification called the OSFirewall(TM). The OSFirewall's proprietary advanced behavior-based monitoring system recognized the suspicious actions of the worms and prevented infections before any damage could be wrought-and before any anti-virus updates were available.
"We are committed to advancing Internet security technologies to significantly reduce the potential impact of these types of worms, and this latest attack is proof-positive that our strategies are working," said Gregor Freund, chief technology officer of Check Point. "Customers with proper security no longer need to wait days for anti-virus signatures to be updated before receiving relief. A multi-layer, comprehensive and preventative security solution will provide consumers and businesses alike with the right tools to keep their computer and network resources safe before, during, and after an attack such as Peabot.A."
For more details about Win32.Peabot.A, please visit: http://vic.zonelabs.com/tmpl/body/CA/virusDetails.jsp?VId=43416
For more information about the Microsoft Windows Plug and Play Buffer Overflow Vulnerability, please visit: http://download.zonelabs.com/bin/free/securityAlert/33.html
About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (www.checkpoint.com) is the worldwide leader in securing the Internet. It is the market leader in the worldwide enterprise firewall, personal firewall and VPN markets. Through its NGX platform, the company delivers a unified security architecture for a broad range of perimeter, internal and Web security solutions that protect business communications and resources for corporate networks and applications, remote employees, branch offices and partner extranets. The company's ZoneAlarm product line is one of the most trusted brands in Internet security, creating award-winning endpoint security solutions that protect millions of PCs from hackers, spyware and data theft. Extending the power of the Check Point solution is its Open Platform for Security (OPSEC), the industry's framework and alliance for integration and interoperability with "best-of-breed" solutions from over 350 leading companies. Check Point solutions are sold, integrated and serviced by a network of more than 2,200 Check Point partners in 88 countries.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050817/166094.html?.v=1
Dubi
Zone Labs Wins Prestigious CNET Editors' Choice Award
Tuesday August 16, 8:30 am ET
ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite Named Best Desktop Security Value for Its Firewall, Anti-Spyware, Antivirus, and Antispam Features
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 16, 2005--Zone Labs®, a Check Point company (Nasdaq:CHKP - News), today announced that it received a CNET Editors' Choice award for its new ZoneAlarm® Internet Security Suite 6.0, the most effective multi-layered protection against spyware, malware, viruses and other insidious Internet security threats. The coveted CNET Editors' Choice award recognizes outstanding computing and electronics products that CNET Editors have determined represent the highest quality, design, and service to users, and its logo is a hallmark of good product design, performance, and quality.
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CNET Editors' Choice winners are recognized as top products in their respective technology categories, and contribute to the standard by which all future products are judged. A key selection requirement is the difference it makes in the lives of its users, whether through innovative features, exceptional value for the price, remarkable ease of use, or a demonstrable boost to users' productivity.
ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 6.0 offers a unique new behavior-based strategy to block spyware and malware from ever gaining control of a PC. Rather than intermittently scanning for spyware infections after the damage has been done, ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 6.0 utilizes a new OSFirewall(TM), an advanced defense mechanism that guards the health of a PC at its core. This kernel-level firewall monitors suspicious activity affecting the operating system, programs and files, and disables destructive programs. According to CNET, "No other desktop firewall can claim that."
To complement the prevention technology, ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 6.0 also employs a new intelligent anti-spyware removal solution as well as DefenseNet(TM), a zero-hour system leveraging the community of millions of ZoneAlarm users to proactively protect against emerging attacks. Overall, CNET applauds ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite 6.0 for being the, "best desktop security value on the market today."
"We are very excited about this honor from CNET, as their Editors' Choice award has become a hallmark of technology quality and innovation, and its logo a symbol consumers know and trust," said Gregor Freund, chief technology officer at Check Point Software and founder of Zone Labs. "We believe the ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite offers consumers the most comprehensive advanced protection from cybercriminals available today, a full generation ahead of our competition. We are very proud that CNET has recognized us for our dedication and commitment to producing the highest quality solutions for consumers."
For information on ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite and the CNET Editors' Choice award, please visit http://reviews.cnet.com/ZoneAlarm_Internet_Security_60/4505-3667_7- 31447702.html. (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)
About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (www.checkpoint.com) is the worldwide leader in securing the Internet. It is the market leader in the worldwide enterprise firewall, personal firewall and VPN markets. Through its NGX platform, the company delivers a unified security architecture for a broad range of perimeter, internal and Web security solutions that protect business communications and resources for corporate networks and applications, remote employees, branch offices and partner extranets. The company's ZoneAlarm product line is one of the most trusted brands in Internet security, creating award-winning endpoint security solutions that protect millions of PCs from hackers, spyware and data theft. Extending the power of the Check Point solution is its Open Platform for Security (OPSEC), the industry's framework and alliance for integration and interoperability with "best-of-breed" solutions from over 350 leading companies. Check Point solutions are sold, integrated and serviced by a network of more than 2,200 Check Point partners in 88 countries.
©2003-2005 Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050816/165364.html?.v=1
Dubi
Gil Shwed opens up to "Daily Telegraph"
Normally reticent Check Point CEO Gil Shwed revealed management tips and details of his personal life to the UK paper.
Globes’ correspondent 11 Aug 05 19:37
What does the mother of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:CHKP) CEO Gil Shwed’s partner for the past seven years think about the fact that the couple are not married? “Her mother is comfortable with it,” he replies.
How does being Israel’s richest man affect his life? “Not much,” he says. I can do what I like and what I want. But I was able to do that before anyway, and the things I enjoy in life are still the same things.”
And what, really, are the things that he likes doing the most? Eating good food. Going to the beach. Seeing friends," Shwed replies.
Surprised? That’s the way it is.
These were some of Shwed’s answers to Aaron Patrick of British daily “The Daily Telegraph”, in a “Business profile: Security not size is the priority for shrewd Shwed”. The interview was intended as a personal profile, but anyone who has had a number of informal conversations with Shwed knows that a personal profile means that he relates how he began playing with computers when was ten. A conversation rarely includes details about his current life.
But there is one personal detail that Shwed did not share with “The Telegraph” every Wednesday he takes over as DJ at the prestigious Rafael restaurant, where he DJs with his friend Shrulik Einhorn. “I even bring my own disks to play there,” Shwed told “Globes” a few months ago. When asked where he learned to DJ, since it was unlikely that he learned this at Check Point’s office in Ramat Gan, he replied, “I learned on the job.”
Shwed told “The Telegraph” that he was proud that Check Point is the most profitable software company listed on Nasdaq. Patrick also notes that Shwed owns two BMWs, a four-wheel drive and a sedan, and a north Tel Aviv apartment with panoramic views -- Shwed’s only home -- and that a suicide bomber struck a nightclub not far from it in February. “The Telegraph” also notes that a family friend was killed in Jerusalem by a bomb when they were both teenagers, and that Shwed's grandfather died in the 1948 War of Independence.
As CEO of a successful company, even by international standards, Shwed has his own view of the market. “I have seen so many companies that crashed because the only objective they had was growth at any price," he says. "That led to all the bad things that you can see whether it is fraud or just terrible business mistakes. 90% of the failure was driven by people with egos to be big, as opposed to doing the right thing and be excellent in what they do.”
Shwed also comments on the Israeli mentality through stories. “The Telegraph” relates: A few years ago the company held a conference for its European resellers. Everything went well. The location was lovely, the food was good, and the discussions were interesting and entertaining. The event was considered a big success.
When Check Point's managers returned to their headquarters in Tel Aviv, one of the company's co-founders emailed the head of marketing a list of 20 things that needed improving. Some thought the criticism over the top, but Shwed recounts the story with obvious pleasure.
"When you don't do things that way, two things happen," Shwed says. "The people who are mediocre get an acknowledgement that you can be mediocre. The people who are good sometimes feel that they are beyond everybody else and they don't need to improve."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on August 11, 2005
Dubi
'Conceptualizer' loses case against Check Point, SofaWare founders
10.8.2005 / 12:41
Anat Roeh
At least one of the battles between SofaWare and Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) is over. Yesterday Tel Aviv District Court judge Anat Baron rejected Doron Motts' lawsuit against Check Point, which controls SofaWare, and SofaWare's founders Itai Bogner and Adi Ruppin.
Motts had demanded a third of SofaWare's present and future profits.
Baron ruled that Motts had moved to the U.S. before the project came to fruition, and had thereby forfeited his part of the venture SofaWare developed. He was not entitled to a share of profits, she decided.
Motts filed his suit five years ago, claiming he, Bogner and Ruppin had created the idea of an Internet security company that would develop firewalls for the home user. He claims the three had reached an oral agreement to equally share any profits. But they never wrote out a formal agreement because of their friendly, trusting relationship.
Bogner and Ruppin countered that the trio had conceptualized but not created anything together. They began to turn the dream into reality only after Motts left for the U.S. leaving the venture behind.
Later, in 1999, Bogner and Ruppin commenced a relationship with Check Point, which began by coincidence and had no relationship with the venture conceptualized with Motts. Bogner and Ruppin visited Check Point offices in connection with a specific project. There they ran into Gil Shwed's secretary and asked if they could meet with the great man, who founded and chairs Check Point, and is also its chief executive. They had both known Shwed from army service together.
With no plan in advance, the two men met with Shwed and presented their idea. Shwed proposed a joint subsidiary that would adapt Check Point firewalls to the home user and small businesses, in keeping with their concept. Shortly thereafter, Bogner and Ruppin entered into an agreement with Check Point. At first Bogner and Ruppin controlled the company, but a year ago Check Point took control, converting debt into equity. The takeover valued SofaWare at $10 million.
Motts claimed that while he was in the U.S., he was told Bogner and Ruppin had abandoned the idea, then he discovered Check Point had bought it. At that point, he sued.
But the judge ruled that Motts' passive behavior during his stay in the U.S. did not sit with his claim of partnership in the venture. Motts himself testified that while Bogner and Ruppin labored over product development, including writing a sample software, contracting with Check Point, and starting to work at SofaWare, Motts had been busy pursuing his independent career. He worked at a company developing Internet products and founded and sold several startups.
When moving to the U.S. he essentially forfeited any part he held in the venture and was not entitled to any share of profits, she ruled. He had abandoned the idea in its infancy, took no part or interest in its development and is now beating his breast with hindsight, she said. She ordered Motts to pay Bogner and Ruppin, and each of the other defendants, each NIS 10,000 for legal costs, reaching a total of NIS 50,000.
Incidentally, it is not as though Motts was demanding a share of an idyll. Relations between the SofaWare partners, Bogner and Ruppin vs Check Point, deteriorated to the point of mutual recriminations and lawsuits. At first Ruppin sued Check Point, claiming it had resorted to nefarious means to gain control of SofaWare. Later Bogner sued, asking for permission to file a derivative lawsuit against Check Point totaling NIS 23 million, claiming Check Point was failing to pay fees for technology usage. These lawsuits remain pending.
Dubi
Cisconokia mania
What a possible Cisco-Nokia merger means for Check Point, and Cisco Israel.
Shlomi Cohen 9 Aug 05 14:05
The event that surrounds the publication of Cisco Systems’ (Nasdaq:CSCO) results is accompanied this time by a new/old rumor that it wants to take over Nokia (NYSE; LSE: HEX:NOK) in other words, a merger of the $123 billion giant Cisco with the $71 billion giant Nokia. It sounds fantastic, especially since it is known that Cisco CEO John Chambers has always preferred acquiring small niche companies. Even during the bubble era, now considered a time of insanity that will not recur, Cisco’s largest acquisition was around $7 billion. Both Cisco and Nokia declined to comment on the rumors, which will probably only increase their circulation.
British daily “Business” published the rumor on Sunday. It claims that Cisco wants to take over the world’s largest wireless infrastructure company in view of the convergence of wireless and wireline communications. Nokia is very strong in wireless communications equipment, especially for 3G. The stunning announcement by Nokia’s charismatic chairman and CEO, Jorma Jaakko Ollila, last week that he was leaving to become chairman of Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS; LSE; AEX: RDSA, RDSB) caused the Cisco takeover rumor to emerge just now, because two charismatic leaders Chambers and Ollila could not be in one company, and one would have to go.
A Cisco-Nokia merger, even if limited to the equipment sector, leaving Nokia’s core business of telephony outside the deal, would involve an interesting Israeli angle, arising from Nokia’s close ties with Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:CHKP). Nokia is one of Check Point’s OEM customers, accounting for a third of its IT security sales, which Nokia integrates into products sold to end-users.
Nokia’s equipment competes head-to-head with Cisco’s in the telecommunications market, since Cisco’s products use the company’s own IT security software. Check Point investors ought to very worried by the prospect of the company losing a very large customer should a merger take place. On the other hand, optimistic investors could fantasize that Cisco might replace Nokia as Check Point’s largest customer, and the intense competition between Cisco and Check Point would cease because Cisco would abandon its IT security software. If such a scenario were to occur, it would cause a major problem for Cisco Israel, in view of its managers’ opinion of Check Point.
Check Point’s share has been stuck since publishing good second quarter results, but I’ve recently spotted quite lively action in voice options for the share for the coming months. Options trading last Thursday and Friday exceed 2,000 options for August and September at $22.50 per share. This is a very large turnover for Check Point options, since these are not normally results dates that generate options trading. This trading seems odd to me, since it seems to be related to Check Points’ mergers and acquisitions activity.
As for Cisco and the publication of its financial report, Barney Smith Citigroup is optimistic, predicting that the company will post $6.6 billion in quarterly sales. This is Cisco’s fourth fiscal quarter, and Barney Smith’s forecast is close to the upper limit of Cisco’s guidance of 4-7% growth, compared with the preceding quarter. Smith Barney Citigroup Research analyst Alex Henderson says he spotted at least ten analysts who raised their forecasts for Cisco during June and July, and that the analysts’ average forecast crept upwards as the quarter progressed.
The analysts’ average forecast for Cisco’s earning per share also rose by $0.01 to $0.25. Henderson predicts that Cisco will meet this forecast, but is slightly worried by the over-optimism that has taken analysts in recent weeks about the company’s results will prevent a surprise when the actual results are published, and possibly cause some disappointment in the market. He recommends buying as Cisco’s share falls in the event that the market receives good financials with disappointment and causes the share to fall. He does not expect the share to fall.
In general, Henderson predicts an optimistic conference call, during which Cisco will announce improved gross profits and a slight drop in inventory, and will provide guidance of 0-2% growth in sales for the quarter ending in October, compared with the quarter ending in July, because the quarter ending in October is seasonally weaker.
Cisco’s strongest activity for the present quarter will probably again be sales to communications service providers. Intense competition between cable and telephone companies is driving heavy investment in Internet Protocol (IP) equipment for advanced services. The beneficiaries of this investment are the two largest vendors of this equipment Cisco and Juniper Networks (Nasdaq:JNPR). Large orders from service providers raised Cisco orders-to-delivery ratio to greater than 1 at the end of the quarter ending in April. In other words, it received more orders than it made in deliveries. Henderson predicts that this ratio will persist for the quarter ending in October.
While Henderson is optimistic, Merrill Lynch analyst Tal Liani is rather worried by some trends beneath the surface, although he predicts that Cisco’s results will be in line with its guidance, and he does not expect movement in the share in either direction. Liani thinks that Cisco’s gross profit margin will be affected by weak router sales to large enterprises, and weak sales of large switches, two products with higher than average profit margins.
In contrast to Henderson, Liani thinks that Cisco’s orders-to-delivery ratio will be 1 or less, which will make it harder for the company to provide positive guidance for the next quarter, although he also predicts that Cisco’s management will provide guidance of 0-2% growth in sales. Liani’s model predicts 0.8% growth. He claims that despite the negative trends he identifies for Cisco in the current quarter, the company will meet its targets, by cutting current costs, and, as always, thanks to its aggressive share buy-back program.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on August 9, 2005
The above recommendations were made by a person/s working in the investment industry who may hold positions in securities mentioned in the column. This column should not be taken as advice to buy, sell or continue to hold any securities, and anyone acting on the advice of this column does so at his or her own risk.
Dubi
ProactiveNet 6.5 Achieves OPSEC Certification From Check Point Software
Tuesday August 9, 9:50 am ET
SANTA CLARA, CA--(MARKET WIRE)--Aug 9, 2005 -- ProactiveNet, Inc., the time-to-value leader in Business Services Management (BSM), today announced that its flagship solution has again achieved OPSEC(TM) (Open Platform for Security) certification from Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NasdaqNM:CHKP - News), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet. Through OPSEC certification, ProactiveNet versions 6.0 and 6.5 seamlessly integrate with Check Point's market-leading Internet security solutions.
"Continuous, real-time monitoring of the end-to-end infrastructure provides enterprise IT organizations the visibility they need to find and fix IT problems before the business is impacted," said Paul Weinstein, vice president, business development for Check Point Software. "OPSEC certification of ProactiveNet ensures seamless integration with Check Point solutions, and provides customers with event monitoring capabilities and alerting reports or additional insight into developing trends."
ProactiveNet tracks the performance and availability of the end-to-end IT infrastructure, and has the unique ability to link business metrics (such as online dollar sales per minute) with IT services in real-time. OPSEC certification facilitates ProactiveNet's ability to combine performance and availability data from Check Point's enterprise security solution and correlate it with other performance indicators from the IT infrastructure. ProactiveNet can also be customized to collect, correlate and analyze security event information from Check Point as part of its root cause analysis.
"Check Point's OPSEC certification program is trusted for its stringent requirements and alignment with best-of-breed partner solutions," said David Langlais, vice president of marketing at ProactiveNet. "Today's climate of business and IT alignment, coupled with tough regulatory compliance issues, underscore the importance of our OPSEC certification. We're proud to be affiliated with this program."
About Check Point's OPSEC(TM)
OPSEC (Open Platform for Security) is the industry's open, multi-vendor security framework. With over 350 partners, OPSEC guarantees customers the broadest choice of best-of-breed integrated applications and deployment platforms that support Check Point's Secure Virtual Network Architecture. Products that carry the OPSEC Certified seal have been tested to guarantee integration and interoperability. For complete OPSEC Alliance program information, including partner and product listings, the freely available OPSEC SDK (software development kit) and evaluation versions of OPSEC Certified products, visit http://www.opsec.com.
About ProactiveNet
ProactiveNet, Inc. is the "Time-to-Value" leader in Business Services Management software solutions for Global 2000 and leading e-commerce companies. The company's end-to-end solutions deliver unique capabilities to customers with requirements to align IT services to business priorities, seamlessly link business process performance to IT service and infrastructure behaviors, and maximize IT's value to the business. Achieving value within weeks, ProactiveNet customers measurably improve the availability and performance of IT services, reduce SLA non-compliance, and shorten problem resolution time, while streamlining IT operations and reducing costs.
ProactiveNet customers include E*TRADE FINANCIAL, Hoover's Online, MoneyGram, McKesson and Walmart.com. ProactiveNet delivers key capabilities to companies implementing ITIL best practices and has been offering end-to-end business and IT services management solutions since 1997. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California with international offices in India and the UK. For more information about ProactiveNet, visit www.proactivenet.com and download our ROI studies, or call (877) 277-6686.
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/050809/092633.html
Dubi
Wed: Time for dividends?
Did you really think I’d forget to mention Check Point on such an important subject? What are the chances for a company like Tower to succeed?
Shlomo Greenberg
Merrill Lynch semiconductor analyst Joseph Osha recently called on semiconductor companies to increase their dividends or to start distributing them. He claims that the most noteworthy fact among the 17 companies comprising the SOXX in the three years ending in December 2004 is that they were buying back their shares like crazy. Osha says these companies increased their share buy-backs by 5% a year, compared with an average 2% for the 30 companies comprising the Dow Jones Industrial Average. In contrast, semiconductor companies paid out an average yield of 0.4% a year in dividends, compared with 2.3% by the 30 Dow Jones companies.
Osha recommends that semiconductor companies first raise their dividend yields to an annual average of 2%, five times their current level. He also recommends that the companies continue buying back their shares at a rate of 2% a year. “The time has come,” he writes, “to step hearing explanations from the managers of semiconductor companies about why their shares don’t yield the returns expected in recent years. It seems to us that if investors were to receive a greater share of the piles of cash inflating the balance sheets of semiconductor companies, the phenomenon of marching in place would end.” He says it isn’t that these companies lack the money for dividends, “on the contrary, on average, they have a lot more cash than the Dow Jones companies.” In my opinion, this is a mental shift that has to come.
Did you really think I’d forget to mention Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:CHKP) on such an important subject? I considered it, but I couldn’t resist. Check Point, ladies and gentlemen, holds 53.7% of its assets in cash. So what? Shouldn’t it start paying dividends? Of course it should, and I believe that it will ultimately decide to do so.
While on the topic of semiconductors, Camtek Ltd. (Nasdaq:CAMT), Orbotech Ltd. (Nasdaq: ORBK), Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd. (Nasdaq:NVMI), and, of course, Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (Nasdaq: TSEM; TASE:TSEM) come up. I’ve discussed Orbotech, and will do so again, after I’ve digested its excellent quarterly financials. Camtek will publish its financial report next week. Camtek rose yesterday on the assumption that the unexpected flourishing of the semiconductor industry will boost the company’s sales and profits. Nova Measuring Instruments will publish its financial report tomorrow, which leaves Tower, one of my great disappointments in recent years. Nevertheless, I haven’t yet lost hope.
I won’t talk about Tower’s financial reports because there’s nothing to say at the moment. Such financials leave few rays of hope for investors. The story is simpler for the speculators amongst us. If the company’s rights issue succeeds, and if it pays the upcoming partial convertible bond payment, there is still a chance for making a killing on the share. The question isn’t whether Tower will succeed or not, such an option simply doesn’t exist for shareholders. If a company likes this survives, it will also succeed.
What are the chances for a company like Tower to succeed? The probability equals the quality of its technology on one hand and ability to sell its products on the other. I still hear from quite reliable sources that Tower’s products are fine. Not as wonderful as initially dreamed, but quite competitive and there is a demand for them. The problem with demand is that it exists only when buyers feel safe that they’re buying from a going concern and not a dead horse. The ability to sell products to customers (when they have alternatives) depends on the ability of Tower’s new CEO, Russell Ellwanger to lead the company’s sales division.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on August 3, 2005
Dubi
Check Point expands share repurchase program
The company's board has approved a plan to buy up to a further $200 million worth of its own shares.
Globes correspondent 26 Jul 05 17:36
Internet security company Check Point (Nasdaq: CHKP) announced yesterday that its board had authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $200,000,000 of its outstanding common stock in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions. The company's announcement said, "Under the repurchase program, share purchases may be made from time to time depending on market conditions, share price, trading volume and other factors. The repurchase program has no time limit and may be suspended from time to time or discontinued. The share repurchases will be funded from available working capital. As of June 30, 2005, Check Point had approximately 252 million shares of common stock outstanding on a fully diluted basis."
Since its initial share repurchase program commenced in October 2003, Check Point has purchased approximately 18.7 million shares for a total of $397 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on July 26, 2005
Dubi
Check Point has no problems
Apart from one or two analysts that is. And could Nortel's win with BT be good for AudioCodes?
Shlomo Greenberg
Analysts upgraded their recommendations for some Israeli companies yesterday. Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:CHKP) stood out, naturally, when UBS raised its target price for the share from $18 to $26.60. Please note that UBS downgraded its recommendation for Check Point last November. What has happened since then? How should UBS’s customers have felt until yesterday? What happened? Was someone asleep on watch?
Harris Nesbitt Corp. raised its recommendation for Pharmos Corporation (Nasdaq:PARS) yesterday. Harris Nesbitt lowered its forecast for Pharmos’s expected second quarter loss from $0.25 per share to $0.23. It also lowered its forecast for Pharmos’s loss for the third and quarters from $0.25 to $0.24, and from $1 to $0.99 for 2006 as a whole.
Ferris, Baker Watts Inc. yesterday raised its 2006 earnings per share forecast for DSP Group Inc. (Nasdaq: DSPG) from $0.85 to $1.04. On the other hand the investment house cut it earnings per share forecast for Ceragon Networks Ltd. (Nasdaq: CRNT; TASE:CRNT) from $0.20 to $0.17.
Oh my goodness, Check Point’s second quarter sales were only in the middle of its guidance; it’s a wonder that its share didn’t fall. The company had predicted sales of “$142-148 million”, and actual sales were $144.6 million truly a disaster. Comverse Technology Inc.’s (Nasdaq:CMVT) share would have soared on results like these.
It’s now obvious to analysts that Check Point has no problems and is growing. I often wrote last year that Check Point was one the best investments among all large technology companies, not just Israeli ones. The share’s rise yesterday does not change my mind, even though I am a little concerned that some analysts won’t be prepared to ask forgiveness, and will find some new way of explaining that Check Point isn’t really growing and that its market is shrinking. Anything is possible on Wall Street.
I was sure that Check Point had no new products, but, wonder of wonders, its NGX, a unique defense platform in the industry, is proving to be very popular, and it’s a new product, no? So why did analysts complain that the company had no new interesting products? It seems that Check Point is an odd fish that is only loved on Main Street, but not on Wall Street.
I will conclude with AudioCodes Ltd. (Nasdaq: AUDC; TASE:AUDC), which I am told is expected to benefit from a large contract signed yesterday between British Telecom (NYSE:BTY; LSE:BT.A) and Nortel Networks (NYSE; TSX: NT). British Telecom chose Nortel to deploy a nationwide IP communications network that will be used to provide secure managed voice and data services to the UK Ministry of Defence and British Armed Forces. This is a large project, which will boost AudioCodes if it is a participant. But please check, because my sources might be biased.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on July 20, 2005
Dubi
Who said Check Point is not growing?
20.7.2005 / 12:55
Shirley Yom Tov
In early July, as five Israeli companies published earnings warnings one after another for the second quarter, probably some Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) investors were losing sleep as well. The company's unwritten agreement with the capital market is that until the company announces the date it will be publishing its financial statement, the company is free to admit its results may disappoint. And if not, there is always the question about whether or not it's growing satisfactorily.
Its results published yesterday answer the questions. Its second-quarter 2005 sales fell in the middle of its guidance range; cash flow was $85 million and income from new products rose handsomely.
Check Point said second-quarter 2005 revenues were $144.6 million, an increase of 14% compared to $126.9 million in the second quarter of 2004. The company had guided investors to expect sales of $142-148 million, while the Wall Street consensus was $144.3 million.
It netted $78 million or 31 cents per share, up 23% against $63.3 million in the second quarter of 2004.
Pro forma income excluding acquisition-related charges reached $79.8 million, Check Point said, an increase of 21% compared to $65.9 million in the second quarter of 2004.
For the year, Check Point said earlier, it expects $585-600 million revenues, an increase of 14% to 16% from last year.
Wall Street was happy
Profits were above the forecasts: the company had guided investors to expect 29-30 cents per share, while Wall Street had gone for 30 cents, pro forma, while Check Point's actual pro forma showing was 32 cents per share.
Wall Street was happy and Check Point stock climbed 9.5% at the session's start. UBS lifted its investment rating to Buy and set a 12-month price target at $26. In after-hours trade last night its stock reached $23.
One parameter that could be indicative of the company's growth is income from products and licenses, which increased 5% against the parallel quarter and 9% against the previous quarter, to $71.2 million. The importance is that this component includes sales of new products that Check Point launched in the last year.
These new products are supposed to be its growth drivers in the years to come. At the post-release press conference the company's leader, Gil Shwed, commented that the figure had surpassed expectations. "We set ourselves a goal for new product sales by year-end but have already reached that goal," he said.
'Buying Zone Labs: A good move'
As always, Shwed glowed with confidence and professed satisfaction with Check Point's results, including sales of new products, though he admits they could be even better. "The security market has vast potential," he said. "More and more people are connecting to Internet and more enterprises need security solutions. The short run could be volatile, but in the range of three to five years, the potential is promising."
Moving beyond Check Point's own offerings, there is Zone Labs, a company it bought that supplies security solutions for household use, and for small businesses. Yesterday Zone Labs launched a new version of its flagship product: "ZoneAlarm 6.0 will offer consumers the most effective multi-layered protection against spyware, viruses and other insidious Internet security threats," Check Point crowed in its statement. Shwed says 35 million users have downloaded Zone Labs software, mostly for free. But Eyal Desheh, Check Point's chief financial officer, says some 10% are paying and Zone Labs is doing even better than expected.
In the last year Check Point bought back hundreds of millions of dollars worth of stock, reducing its outstanding share capital by 14.5 million shares. The move was designed to please shareholders, who had wondered what the dickens the company would be doing with its ever-inflating kitty (which has reached $1.6 billion). Instead of distributing dividends, Check Point elected to technically boost profit per share, enabling it also to raise its forecasts.
Check Point now expects to achieve $1.23-$1.28 earnings per share in 2005, or $310-323 million profit, on $585-600 sales, an increase of 14% from 2005.
"The second half of 2005 will be better than the first half, the third quarter will be better than the second and the fourth, as always, will be the best," vows Desheh.
Mud-wrestling with Cisco
A month ago Cisco Israel manager Bina Rezinovsky said some things that Check Point had not wanted to hear, including: "Unless Check Point comes out with enterprise-wide products, it won't survive."
Shwed dismissed her comment to Yedioth Ahronoth as being unworthy of rebuttal, but he couldn't resist, snapping that you don't kick a person when s/he's down. Desheh released a few arrows at Cisco in the past but has become more circumspect: "Cisco has been in our market for nine years. It is a distinguished, good company but comments of that sort clearly demonstrate the strong postion Check Point is in," he said.
http://tinyurl.com/clz54
Dubi
Investors cheer Check Point
But the Q2 results still leave some analysts uncertain about growth.
Ben Bezalel 20 Jul 05 17:38
Investors gave Check Point (Nasdaq: CHKP) a strong vote of confidence yesterday after the release of its second quarter results. The share price rose 6.57% to close at $23.04, giving the Internet security company a market cap of $5.64 billion.
The response from the analysts however shows that they are still not uniformly confident about Check Point's long-term growth prospects.
For Citigroup Smith Barney, for example, Christopher DeBiase writes, "The company continues to show the ability to grow EPS. However for the earnings multiple to expand we believe that the company must show the ability to drive the bottom line through top line growth.
"We are more concerned once again with revenue growth as Product revenues remain lackluster in the mid-single digit range for the second straight quarter and Subscription revenues were lighter than expected and had the lowest quarter-on-quarter growth in 4 years."
DeBiase rates Check Point "Hold", with a $25 price target. "We are increasing our 2005 EPS estimates to $1.27 from $1.24 but leaving our 2005 revenue estimate at $590 million. For 2006 and 2007,our new estimates are $642 million/$1.35 and $684 million/$1.45, respectively."
Hernandez lowers his 2005 revenue estimate from $591 million to $588 million, but raises his EPS estimate from $1.24 to $1.27. For 2006, he sees EPS of $1.40 on revenue of $647 million.
Merrill Lynch's Edward Maguire and Garrett Bekker see good short-term prospects for the stock, but say "acceleration in growth is likely to take more time." They rate Check Point "Buy", with a price target of $25.
"While overall revenue growth of 14% is healthy, product growth of 5% year-on-year needs to accelerate to drive multiple expansion. While operating efficiencies and share buybacks benefit earnings growth, we think Check Point may need to be more aggressive to broaden the market opportunity to outpace steady pricing erosion in the core Firewall/VPN market," they write, to a large extent echoing DeBiase's concerns. "Nonetheless," they add, "we think Check Point remains well positioned to benefit from favorable secular trends."
As for their estimates, Maguire and Bekker say, "We are adjusting our model to reflect improved R&D efficiencies and lower share count. We are leaving 2005 revenue estimates essentially unchanged at $591.9 million (versus $591million previously) and raising EPS to $1.27 from $1.23. We are raising 2006 revenue estimates modestly to $644.6 million from $641.5 million and increasing EPS by $0.03 to $1.36."
For Lehman Brothers, Israel Hernandez, who rates Check Point "Overweight" with a price target of $30, focuses more on the Wall Street side of things. "With the stock attractively trading at 17 x 2006 estimated EPS of $1.40, we believe shares should continue to move higher given solid Q2 results, an upward revision to street EPS estimates, on-going share buybacks and expectations of a second half 2005 rally," he writes.
CIBC World Markets analyst Avivit Mannet-Kalil is similarly aggressive on the stock, rating Check Point "Sector Outperformer" with a price target of $30, the same as that of Hernandez. "Check Point's second quarter 2005 results show that the company has the right tools and the right standing to continue presenting growth in sales, profits, and cash," she writes.
"We believe that the current price levels at which the stock is traded, around $23, giving a p/e ratio of 16 on 2006 estimates, do not properly reflect the degree of potential for the future."
In contrast to the worries of other analysts about Check Point's business performance, Mannet-Kalil points out some positive business indications in Check Point's financials. "The proportion of large deals, over $50,000, rose substantially, from 24% in the previous quarter to 30% in the current quarter. This rise indicates high technical capability and preservation of market share among high-end customers.
"30% of total product sales are sales of new products, amounting to some $21 million. Sales of Smart Defense services as a proportion of subscriber revenue also strengthened.
"Excluding recent acquisitions, Juniper's sales of security products rose just 1% in the second quarter of 2005, by about $89 million, which is a good sign for Check Point's business," Mannet-Kalil writes. Her estimates are for $1.28 EPS in 2005, and $1.41 in 2006.
Ehud Eisentein of Oscar Gruss is also upbeat. "An expanding market, robust financial metrics and the ongoing introduction of new products that are garnering solid market acceptance support our continued optimistic view on CHKP," he writes.
"We point to two separate catalysts that we believe could drive CHKP’s shares in the future: (1)accelerated revenues growth, which would indicate that the company can grow outside the Firewall/VPN space, and (2) new acquisitions.
"Currently, we think the odds are more heavily stacked towards the latter scenario materializing, based on the successful acquisition and integration of ZoneLabs that should increase management’s appetite for more M &A activity.
"We reiterate our Buy rating and price target of $28. Our price target is derived by applying a 21.8x multiple to our 2005 EPS estimate of $1.28, which represents a 22.5% discount to the average multiple of CHKP’s security peer group."
Eisentein's 2006 estimate is slightly reduced, to $1.35 EPS on $645.4 million revenue from $1.36 on 650.1 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on July 20, 2005
Dubi
Lehman Brothers repeats Overweight recommendation for Check Point
20.7.2005 / 13:46
TheMarker
Lehman Brothers repeated an Overweight recommendation for Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) today, based on the company's financials for the second quarter of 2005.
Analyst Israel Hernandez set its 12-month price target at $30. Check Point stock is attractively trading at 17 times estimated 2006 earnings per share of $1.40, he points out, and he foresees upward motion based on the company's solid second-quarter results, its repurchase of stock and expectations that the second half of 2005 will be even better.
The company actually fell short of sales estimates by a million dollars, reporting second-quarter revenue of $144 million. But its pro forma earnings were 32 cents per share, versus Lehman Brothers' best estimate of 30 cents.
Though Hernandez left his revenue forecasts unchanged, he lifted his earnings per share forecasts for the third quarter to 31 cents, while Check Point itself is pointing at 30-33 cents. For the year 2005 he raised his forecast to $1.27 from $1.24 per share.
Dubi
Merrill Lynch maintains Check Point at "Buy" after results
"We expect the stock to see modest strength in response to Q2 earnings."
Globes correspondent 19 Jul 05 15:48
In an initial response to the second quarter results rleased by network security company Check Point (Nasdaq: CHKP) this morning, US investment house maintains its "Buy" recommendation for the stock.
"Check Point reported solid 2Q05 results this morning as healthy growth in license sales offset weaker than expected subscriptions. Though total revenues fell slightly below the midpoint of management’s outlook and Street expectations, products grew 8.7% Q/Q and 4.9%Y/Y in the first “apples to apples” quarter since acquiring ZoneLabs. We expect the stock to see modest strength in response to 2Q earnings and reiterate our Buy opinion and $25 target," Merrill Lynch's report says.
"EPS beats by a penny. Revenues of $144.2mm (+13.6%) were slightly below our estimated $145mm (+13.8%) but in line with the consensus $144.3 million and within expectation of $142-148 million. Pro Forma EPS of $0.32 beat the Street’s and our $0.31 forecasts and the guided range of $0.30-0.31 as the company repurchased 4.7 million shares.
"Operating margin of 57.1% exceeded our 56.8% forecast.
"License revenues of $71.2 million (+4.9%Y/Y) were in line with our estimate of $71.2 million and increased 8.7% from the March quarter. Subscriptions of $58.9 million (+21%) fell short of our $60.4 million estimate and grew 1% sequentially.
"Services of $14.4 million were slightly higher than our $14 million expectation.
"Total cash and investments declined a slight $5.3 million to $1.63 billion. The company generated $85 million in operating cash flow and repurchased $10 6 million (equating to 4.7 million shares).
"Deferred revenue increased $4.7 million or 3.5% sequentially to $137.6 million.
"DSOs increased 4 days to 56.
"Current September consensus is revenues of $144 million and $0.30 versus our estimate of $146 million and $0.30. We think management could guide revenues in line with current forecasts. While the solid license performance reinforces our belief that the company saw strong activity in June, the flat growth in subscriptions is a bit of a surprise given reports of solid renewal activity ahead of the NGX product cycle.
"Check Point holds a conference call at 8:30am EDT today. We are leaving our model unchanged pending insights from the call.
"At first look,2Q05 results are solid and our thesis remains intact. We reiterate our Buy opinion and $25 target."
Dubi
Check Point reports Q2 sales in middle of guidance range
19.7.2005 / 11:49
Shirley Yom Tov
No surprises: Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) today reported its results for the second quarter of 2005, in which revenues fell in the middle of its guidance range. Profits were above the forecasts, though. Check Point said second-quarter 2005 revenues were $144.6 million, an increase of 14% compared to $126.9 million in the second quarter of 2004. The company had guided investors to expect sales of $142-148 million, whie the Wall Street consensus was $144.3 million.
It netted $78 million or 31 cents per share, up 23% against $63.3 million in the second quarter of 2004. The company had guided investors to expect 29-30 cents per share, while Wall Street had gone for 30 cents.
Pro forma income excluding acquisition-related charges reached $79.8 million, Check Point said, an increase of 21% compared to $65.9 million in the second quarter of 2004.
Check Point will be delivering its third-quarter guidance in a conference call later today.
For the year, Check Point said earlier, it expects $585-600 million revenues, an increase of 14% to 16% from last year.
Dubi
Check Point check up
Short term worries have given way to concern about the company's long-term future.
Gitit Pincas 18 Jul 05 20:58
Three months have passed since Check Point (Nasdaq: CHKP) published its first quarter financials, and, on the face of it, the company has been standing still. It is perhaps symbolic that on the eve of publication of the company's second quarter results, the share is at $21.40, exactly the price at which it stood in April just before the first quarter results were released.
In fact, it would not be quite right to look at the share price like that, since during the quarter it has been above $22 and below $20, but nevertheless, if numbers can be translated into words, Check Point's share has been marking time. True, most investment houses recommend, "Buy" for the stock and believe that the company is traded at a discount to its competitors, but investors are not rushing to follow the recommendations.
Tomorrow, before the start of trading on Nasdaq, Internet security giant Check Point will release its quarterly results. It arrives at this event with wall-to-wall backing from the analysts, who say that the second quarter passed off without a hitch. What the analysts are not prepared to talk about with confidence is the long term. In the past, the fears of investment houses and the market were localized. As far as the medium-to-long-term future was concerned, everyone was convinced that Check Point would continue to enjoy market leadership and growth. Now, it's hard to find a single investment house prepared to bet that everything will turn out well in the long term.
The new products dilemma
What bothers the market? 35-40 investment houses cover Check Point, and there are 35-40 different opinions about it. The first point is the company's rate of growth. Check Point is supposed to have sales of $142-148 million in the second quarter, and $585-600 million in 2005 as a whole. Sales are expected to grow annually by 13.5-16%, which is a fair growth rate, but not necessarily enough to satisfy the market. Check Point's guidance for its bottom line is earnings per share of $30-31 in the second quarter (a net profit of $76.8-79.4 million) excluding one-time expenses, or $0.01 less including them.
For 2005 as a whole, earnings per share will be $1.18-1.24, or a profit of $303-318 million. The company continued buying back its shares in the second quarter, so that earnings per share should improve.
The second point is Check Point’s new products. At the end of 2003, Check Point was a company with two products: firewalls and virtual private networks (VPN). It was clear that the company had to expand its offering. It added three new product lines: internal protection, web protection, and end user protection, in addition to its original specialty of perimeter protection. The main bone of contention was whether the company’s new products were gaining enough recognition and generating revenue at the right pace, or whether sales were lagging. Every analyst spoke with different distributors, and reached different conclusions on this point.
A third point concerns the share price. Most analysts agree that the share is traded at a discount, and that this is justified for the moment; the only point of disagreement is about the discount’s size. Recently, a number of investment houses, such as Merrill Lynch, have cut their target price for the share (from $30 to $25), and today the average target price is $26, 21.5% higher than the current market price.
Munster vs. Friar
A fourth point is the long term. For example, take Piper Jaffray analysts Gene Munster and Jonathan Labs. Ten days ago, they downgraded their recommendation for Check Point to “Market perform”, and cut their target price from $29 to $25. Why? Because they say that the long-term risk is rising, and despite Check Point’s aggressive campaign, there is a risk that adoption of its new products will be slower than expected.
Goldman Sachs analyst Sarah Friar is more optimistic. In a review last week, she noted that Check Point would meet its upgraded $146 million revenue forecast, compared with the market forecast of $144 million. She said that Check Point’s sales would include $71 million in licensing revenue, $62 million in subscriber fees, and $14 million in support fees. Friar explained that she found that Check Point’s business was headed in the right direction, and the new products would gather momentum in the second half of the year.
Here is where the qualifier comes in. Goldman Sachs stresses the increasing difficulty of competing in the market, and the great interest in the network security products of Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO), the market leader. Friar says that at present, customers are comparing products sold separately by Cisco to those of Check Point, which is a difference in concept, compared with last year. “It will be difficult to fuel further growth, because Cisco, Juniper Networks, and Microsoft also to some degree are focusing on security,” Friar writes. She predicts profit of $0.31 per share on revenue of $148 million in the third quarter.
One analyst who sounds less optimistic than in the past is Ehud Eisenstein of Oscar Gruss. "We believe Check Point can meet our current second quarter 2005 revenues estimate of $145 million, which is the mid range of management’s guidance, but do not see a significant upside to our numbers. On the EPS line, we believe Check Point can possibly exceed our $0.31 estimate for the quarter due to a lower share count and positive Forex influence on Opex.Shares," Eisenstein writes.
"In general, we did not receive any negative indication that might put our 2005 estimates at risk, albeit in some areas, (i.e. East Coast US) the channels were less enthusiastic than before. However, the general picture is still very positive with more weight into the second half of the year, as in the general Enterprise Software space."
And what could boost the share in the future? "We believe two separate catalysts could drive Check Point's stock in the future," says Eisenstein, "(1) higher revenues growth, which would indicate that the company can grow outside the Firewall/VPN space, and (2) a new acquisition. Currently, we think there is a greater chance that the latter scenario will come to fruition, as the successful Zone acquisition is integrated into the company’s product line. This should increase management’s appetite for more M&A activity."
It can be fairly safely assumed that Check Point management's response to the usual question about acquisitions at tomorrow's conference call will be the usual answer, "We are always examining possibilities, it's something that interests us, but there's nothing concrete on the agenda."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on July 18, 2005
Dubi
Zone Labs Cracks Spyware Prevention Barrier -- New OSFirewall Thwarts Cybercriminals With Behavior-Based PC Protection
Monday July 18, 8:00 am ET
ZoneAlarm 6.0 to Debut a Radical New OSFirewall and Anti-Spyware Solution to Block the Most Dangerous Internet Threats Including Spyware, Rootkits, Viruses, and More From Invading PCs
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 18, 2005-- Zone Labs®, a Check Point® company (Nasdaq:CHKP - News), today announced ZoneAlarm® 6.0, the much-anticipated update to its award-winning Internet security product family. ZoneAlarm 6.0 will offer consumers the most effective multi-layered protection against spyware, viruses and other insidious Internet security threats.
ZoneAlarm 6.0 utilizes a unique new behavior-based strategy to block malware and spyware from ever gaining a foothold on a PC. Rather than intermittently scanning for spyware infections after the damage has been done, ZoneAlarm 6.0 offers the first new defense mechanism, called the OSFirewall(TM), to guard the health of a PC at the core. This kernel-level firewall monitors suspicious activity affecting the operating system, programs and files, and disables destructive programs. To complement the prevention technology, ZoneAlarm 6.0 also employs a new intelligent anti-spyware removal solution as well as DefenseNet(TM), a dynamic zero-hour system leveraging the community of millions of ZoneAlarm users to proactively protect against emerging attacks.
"Unlike the adolescent pranksters of the past, today's cybercriminals are motivated by financial gain and are often highly-organized. They want to steal your identity, track what you do on the Internet, or even hijack your bandwidth to create zombie botnets," said Gregor Freund, chief technology officer of Check Point Software. "And they are using the trust of an unassuming public to dupe people into inviting malware through traditional firewalls and antivirus programs. Current anti-spyware solutions can clean up the mess after the fact, but people now must deploy preventative, proactive measures to protect themselves from these criminals."
Protection at the PC's Core
ZoneAlarm 6.0 continues Zone Lab's legacy of innovation by creating the industry's first OSFirewall, adding a completely new layer of protection to complement the company's powerful network and program firewalls.
The ground-breaking OSFirewall is specifically designed to guard against kernel-level threats such as spyware, hackers, Trojans, keyloggers, and rootkits by closely monitoring internal computing resources like vital files, registry keys and start-up processes at the core of the PC. It goes beyond the user level to inspect activity between computer applications and prevent the reading of memory and loading of malicious drivers and services.
The OSFirewall also achieves a new level of granularity by shielding legitimate programs and preventing program sabotage or hijacking. It not only blocks traditional attacks, the OSFirewall guards against devious programs that may hide within a legitimate download from performing damaging actions that steal personal information or slow computer performance.
The new OSFirewall combined with the existing award-winning firewall technologies create the Zone Labs "Triple Defense Firewall(TM)," a multi-faceted protection system with inbound, outbound and now internal filtering for zero-hour defense and seamless integration -- making ZoneAlarm 6.0 the most effective Internet security solution for everyday consumers.
"The spyware threat is a recent phenomenon that the security market is still struggling with. Much of the focus has been on the development of spyware signature databases, but signatures only treat spyware once it has infected a computer," said Charles Kolodgy, research director at IDC. "The ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite has taken a proactive approach that addresses the spyware threat using several layers of protection through its new OS firewall and outbound traffic blocking capability packaged with antivirus and antispam protection. With Zone Labs monitoring how programs are using the operating system, the rest of the industry will need to evaluate how they are addressing this problem."
New Anti-Spyware Security
Building on the foundation of the Triple Defense Firewall, the new ZoneAlarm 6.0 Anti-Spyware solution is tightly integrated into the ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite and ZoneAlarm Pro products to remove existing malware on a PC. It boasts a targeted database of signatures to delete the most pervasive spyware applications on the Internet today. ZoneAlarm's anti-spyware technology also targets particularly invasive adware programs that sap computer performance, interfere with legitimate programs, create new security holes, hijack homepages, deluge users with pop-up ads, and track personal Web usage and private information.
ZoneAlarm 6.0 Anti-Spyware and the OSFirewall together provide automatic prevention, detection and treatment capabilities making it the most effective integrated solution on the market -- right out of the box.
SmartDefense
The SmartDefense service utilizes the expertise of Check Point and Zone Labs' security research departments and leverages DefenseNet -- a community of front-line users -- to provide real-time alerts and actionable information on the latest threats. At work for over a year, DefenseNet enables millions of active users to share security knowledge and provide instant feedback to help Zone Labs' security experts discover new malware programs.
Through the SmartDefense process, over 95% of policy decisions are automated -- significantly reducing the amount of "noise" and sparing the end user from having to constantly manually accept or deny application activities.
Once a threat has been identified and validated, Zone Labs in turn sends customized policies back to the users through a SmartDefense Advisor service for proactive protection. In addition, SmartDefense Advisor provides ZoneAlarm users with periodic distribution of anti-virus, anti-spyware and product updates. The SmartDefense service is included with all licenses of ZoneAlarm.
Building on the Basics
Over 35 million Internet users have downloaded the original ZoneAlarm firewall and its premium versions since the company's launch in 1998. Now, the ZoneAlarm family includes the ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite (for all-in-one protection including anti-spyware, antivirus, antispam, IM protection and more), ZoneAlarm Pro (a firewall for users seeking advanced functionality), ZoneAlarm Antivirus, and ZoneAlarm Wireless. ZoneAlarm Internet security solutions have received the industry's highest accolades, and with the added security features in ZoneAlarm 6.0, the company has extended its commitment to delivering the most advanced Internet security available to consumers.
Pricing and Availability
ZoneAlarm Security Suite, ZoneAlarm Pro 6.0, ZoneAlarm with Antivirus and ZoneAlarm will be available on Monday, July 25th, on the Zone Labs web site at www.zonelabs.com. ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite costs $69.95 for a single user, ZoneAlarm Pro 6.0 costs $49.95 for a single user and ZoneAlarm with Antivirus costs $29.95 for a single user. Existing customers can update to version 6.0 for free if their subscription is current, and will receive a notification within two weeks of availability. ZoneAlarm continues to be free for personal and non-profit use.
The ZoneAlarm family of products supports Windows® 98SE, ME, 2000 Pro and XP.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050718/185378.html?.v=1
Dubi
Merrill Lynch lowers Check Point price objective
"We think further acquisitions may be necessary to reinforce market footing."
Globes correspondent 13 Jul 05 15:43
With quarterly results from network security company Check Point (Nasdaq: CHKP) due next week, US investment house Merrill Lynch has lowered its 12-month price objective for the company.
"We are lowering our Price Objective to $25 from $30 to reflect more conservative longer term growth assumptions from newer products," Merrill Lynch's report says.
"We have trimmed product forecasts and reduced our Long-Term EPS growth forecast to 10% from 12% as sporadic progress from product expansion does not appear to fully offset intensified competition in core markets. While we continue to like the stock near-term and anticipate a solid 2Q05, our new target reflects what we believe to be more realistic growth expectations.
"We continue to like Check Point's market position, improving channel management and robust, integration product portfolio. However, traction from ancillary offerings is not yet broad based. We think further acquisitions may be necessary to reinforce market footing and generate sales acceleration as Cisco and Juniper increasingly broaden their competitive footprint.
"We expect Check Point to meet or beat our 2Q05 forecast of $145 million in revenue and EPS of $0.31, which is in line with the consensus of $144 million and $0.30. The company's guided range was $142-148 million with EPS of $0.30-0.31.
"3Q05 consensus is $147mm in sales and $0.31 versus our $146mm and $0.30. We think management could guide earnings in line with expectations, and maintain the prior full year outlook of $585-600mm in revenues and EPS of $1.18-1.24.
"Our checks suggest Check Point saw healthy activity in the Express and VPN-1 Edge products, while uptake of InterSpect and Connectra more scattered. We also heard of strong subscription renewals benefiting from the EBS program and pending NGX product cycle."
Check Point shares closed at $21.35 yesterday, giving the company a market cap of $5.3 billion. The stock is slightly down in today's pre-market trading.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on July 13, 2005
Dubi
CIBC: Check Point will meet forecasts
The investment house reports rising demand for Check Point's new product line.
Globes correspondent 12 Jul 05 14:43
CIBC World Market has released a note on Check Point (Nasdaq: CHKP) in advance of the company's quarterly results, due to be announced next week.
CIBC retains an "Outperform" rating for the network security company, with a price target of $30, 39% above the price at which Check Point shares closed in New York yesterday - $21.64. At that price, Check Point has a market cap of $5.37 billion.
CIBC's analysts say they believe Check Point will meet their estimate of $0.31 per share profit on $145.9 million revenue for the second quarter. They expect the company to report a 6-8% improvement in revenue from licenses.
CIBC also predicts that Check Point will meet its forecast for 2005 as a whole, and sees no reason for the recent fall in its share price, which it estimates stems from investors' fears arising from the weakening of the euro.
The market has shown indifference to Check Point's new product line, but, according to CIBC, vendors report rising interest in these products, alongside steady demand for the company's previous product lines.
CIBC sees further share buybacks by Check Point, on a similar scale to the $200 million worth of its own shares that the company bought in the second quarter of this year.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on July 12, 2005
Dubi
Mixed on Check Point: Piper Jaffray downgrades, Unterberg names it top stock pick
10.7.2005 / 11:34
TheMarker
Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) will be publishing its second-quarter results in about a week. Nobody expects the company to surprise investors on the downside, but Piper Jaffray feels the risk to the data security company's future growth is higher, and downgraded its investment recommendation for the stock to Market Perform.
Meanwhile, CE Unterberg Towbin analyst Vikram Kaura does not agree. He named Check Point his top pick heading into the third quarter, citing four reasons, the first being robust macro demand for information security products due to escalating threats.
The other three are that Unterberg Towbin feels second-quarter sales were on track with expectations; and sales of new products are mounting despite the absence of incentives, it adds. If anything, it's looking at a positive revenue surprise and good third-quarter guidance, the investment bank says. Third, the strong euro played in Check Point's hands, and fourth of all, the risk/ reward at current valuation remains highly favorable, it concludes.
Piper Jaffray evidently feels differently, and also lowered its 12-month price target for Check Point from $29 to $25.
The Piper Jaffray analysts argue that while the data security market continued to transit from firewalls to a range of solutions, Check Point moved slowly, and actually they feel the take-up of the company's new products has been slow, rendering the company's future growth a riskier prospect.
An aggressive campaign could help Check Point grab the opportunity of still having a broad pool of clients; but for the nonce Piper Jaffray is on the fence, it says.
Piper Jaffray thinks Check Point will meet second-quarter forecasts of 30 earnings per share on revenues of $144.3 million, but they aren't expecting a surprise on the upside. Not one of the eight distributors with whom they talked mentioned any special notice of the new product line, and software sales seem to have fallen 5% quarter over quarter, the investment bank says, while the market had expected a 3% increase.
Chime in Unterberg Towbin, which expects Check Point to report 30-cent earnings per share on revenue of $145.9 million, a somewhat more upbeat projection.
Moreover, it thinks the company's valuation is attractive, and that it's stock repredents a 24% discount against peer companies. "At yesterday’s closing price of $21, CHKP traded at 16 times estimated 2006 price/earnings versus the sector at 21x, a 24% discount," Unterberg explains. Its 12-month price target of $26 is based on about a 5% discount to the sector multiple, based on its 2006 earnings per share estimate.
Dubi
7:40am 07/08/05 Piper cuts Check Point Software's price target to $25 - MarketWatch.com
7:39am 07/08/05 Check Point Software cut to mkt perform by Piper - MarketWatch.com
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CRYPTOCard Awarded Prestigious ''Best Deployment Scenario'' By Info Security Products Guide; CRYPTOCard's Highly Successful Customer Deployments in Europe and the U.S. Earn High Praise from Renowned Security Experts
7/7/2005 6:30:01 AM
OTTAWA, Jul 07, 2005 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- CRYPTOCard (www.cryptocard.com), a leader in authentication technology for LANs, WANs, and web servers, today announced that its CRYPTO-Server authentication solution deployments for Rotherham Council in the U.K. and Lower Colorado River Authority in the U.S. have received the prestigious "Best Deployment Scenario 2005," award from Info Security Products Guide. The Info Security Product Guide Awards honor technologies that are shaping today's security industry, and the "Best Deployment Scenario," award winners were selected based on real-world solution deployments that had the most positive impact on customer security.
"By providing user-friendly ATM-style authentication technology that makes it simple for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux users to gain secure LAN, WAN, and web-based system access, CRYPTOCard is making simple, secure, and cost-effective identity management a reality for all users," said Judy Shelton, group editor at Silicon Valley Communications, the publishers of Info Security Products Guide. "The judges were not only impressed with the simplicity and versatility of CRYPTOCard's solution, but also the clear business case for its technology made by its customers."
Info Security Product Guide's judges selected winners after evaluating and researching solutions from more than 500 info security vendors globally. CRYPTOCard was selected based on two separate customer implementations: Rotherham Council in the U.K. and Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) in the U.S.
Rotherham Council wanted to improve productivity and work/life balance for its employees by enabling them to work from home, or other locations outside the office, and tasked RBT (Rotherham Brought Together), a joint venture between British Telecom & Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council to provide IT Services to Rotherham Council, to find a secure and cost-effective solution that could be up and running within six months. RBT worked together with Oxygen Secure Systems, a CRYPTOCard reseller based in the U.K., to meet this goal.
"Now, smaller offices with three-to-five people can work from home, which is more convenient for the staff and more cost effective - enabling Rotherham Council to reallocate funds to other needed services," said James Clifford Senior Network Specialist. "Also, as everybody from IT staff to social workers can now access the system at any time from any location, the authentication solution has not only saved time and bettered service, but has also enabled Rotherham Council to improve productivity and work/life balance for its employees."
With the installation of CRYPTOCard's authentication technology, Pegasus Technologies, a CRYPTOCard reseller in the U.S., has enabled LCRA to make the critical Lockout/Tagout procedure (that ensures that equipment at the Fayette Power Project's three coal-fired generating units near La Grange, Texas, are safely shut down to make it safe for their maintenance staff to begin working on equipment), far more efficient.
"(By making it simple for maintenance staff to positively identify themselves without having to travel back to the clearance centre,) CRYPTOCard's authentication technology has enabled LCRA to save 60 percent of the time that was previously required to manually sign off/on the Lockout/Tagout process," said Douglas Plummer, Business Process Improvement Manager at Lower Colorado River Authority. "With an average of 15 minutes travel time to the clearance station, and over 3000 Red Tag clearances a year, LCRA estimates that it has saved 450 worker hours per year, which translates into a payback time of approximately seven months," Plummer continued. "And that is pretty impressive when you consider that LCRA's payback threshold for our investment projects is five years."
Already a recipient of such awards as "Best Security Product," at Comdex, "Best of Show," at Macworld, and SC Magazine's "Best Buy," rating in its annual two-factor authentication comparative test in this year's February issue, CRYPTOCard is excited about receiving an award that recognizes two of its numerous real-world deployments.
"These two awards recognize CRYPTOCard and its resellers' success in satisfying the authentication requirements of its global customer base, and also underscores CRYPTOCard's commitment to provide organizations with highly-secure, user-friendly authentication technology that is actually self funding," said Malcolm MacTaggart, President & CEO, CRYPTOCard Corporation.
About Info Security Products Guide Awards 2005
The Info Security Products Guide plays a vital role in keeping end-users informed of the choices they can make when it comes to protecting their digital resources. It is written expressly for those who are adamant on staying informed of security threats and the preventive measure they can take. This guide includes award winning case studies and deployment scenarios, people and technologies shaping info security and the best selling products. The Info Security Products Guide Awards 2005 recognizes and honors excellence in all areas of information security.
Dubi
Unterberg Towbin: Check Point results will be in range of forecasts
07.7.2005 / 16:14
Omri Cohen
Four Israeli companies have warned of disappointing second-quarter results, but Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) isn't likely to join them. Before the bell today the company said it would be releasing its second-quarter 2005 results on July 19 and reassured investors that it would not be releasing an earnings warning.
Fears that it might cost Check Point 9% of its value in the second half of June, but since then the stock regained 7.6% in just over a week.
At that point CE Unterberg Towbin chimed in, repeating a Buy rating for the stock and 12-month price target of $26.
The investment bank concurs that Check Point should meet expectations for the second quarter, of 30-cent earnings per share on turnover of $145.9 million.
The average forecast is for 39 cents per share on revenues of $142-148 million, so Unterberg is mid-range.
Dubi
Multiple Industry Groups Join Together to Urge Senate Ratification of the Cyber Crime Treaty
Wednesday June 29, 12:48 pm ET
WASHINGTON, June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, a coalition of industry groups and individual companies representing different sectors of the economy issued a letter to the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urging ratification of the Convention on Cybercrime adopted through the Council of Europe. In the letter, the coalition asks that the Senate review this treaty and focus on the importance of global cooperation in fighting the growing problem of computer network based crimes, including fraud, identity theft, hacking and other crimes.
The coalition includes the Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA), the Business Software Alliance (BSA), the American Bankers Association (ABA), the American Chemistry Council (ACC), ASIS International, the Association for Competitive Technology (ACT), the Bankers' Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT), the Business Roundtable, The Dow Chemical Company, the Financial Services/Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FSISAC), The Financial Services Roundtable, The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), InfraGard, the Internet Commerce Coalition and Verisign, Inc.
Signed by the United States in November 2001, the Convention on Cybercrime is the first and only international, multilateral treaty specifically addressing the need for cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of computer network crimes. It requires global cooperation and law enforcement with respect to searches and seizures and provides timely extradition for computer network based crimes covered under the treaty. Ratification of the Convention on Cybercrime would minimize obstacles to international cooperation that currently impede U.S. investigations and prosecutions of computer-related crimes.
"The Convention will provide a much-needed international framework to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of cyber crimes," said CSIA Executive Director Paul Kurtz. "We believe the convention will become a critical component of international law enforcement efforts and ratification will strengthen the confidence of the security and safety of online transactions."
"The premise of the Cybercrime Treaty is quite simple: to participate in the community of trading nations and benefit from global e-commerce, one should adhere to international standards, agreed upon legal frameworks and enforcement mechanisms," said Robert Holleyman, President and CEO of the Business Software Alliance (BSA). "Senate ratification of this treaty is an important and necessary step to address the international law enforcement of cybercrimes and the much needed sanctions against cyber criminals."
"International cyber crime recognizes no borders and threatens the privacy and security of individuals and businesses around the world," said Cory N. Strupp, General Counsel for the Bankers' Association for Finance and Trade. "The Convention on Cybercrime is an important step in modernizing international standards to help prevent these crimes and track down the international criminals who perpetrate them."
The treaty serves as an important tool in the global fight against those who seek to disrupt computer networks, misuse private or sensitive information, or simply commit more traditional crimes by utilizing Internet- enabled technologies. To date, eight of the 42 countries that have signed the treaty have completed their ratification process.
"The InfraGard National Members Alliance supports the Convention on Cybercrime as a step toward enhancing global cyber security," noted Dr. Phyllis A, Schneck, Chairman and President, Board of Directors, InfraGard National Members Alliance.
"The 33,000 security professionals who belong to ASIS International, many of whom are responsible for protecting lives, property and information in critical infrastructures around the world, recognize the importance of cooperation between industries and nations in aggressively fighting crime," said Dan Consalvo, President of ASIS International. "In order to protect vital information, they need the significant investigative and enforcement capabilities that will be provided by the Convention on Cybercrime. ASIS urges the U.S. Senate to ratify it as quickly as possible."
Kurtz added, "With the ratification of the Convention, the United States would signal to the world that it was serious in its efforts to curtail the scourge of Internet-based crimes. Ratification would encourage other signatory countries to more rapidly ratify and lead to a larger number of nations becoming party to the Convention. The U.S. has the opportunity to strengthen international cybercrime laws by preventing criminals from hiding beyond the reach of those authorities protecting the rights of the world's law-abiding citizens."
To view a copy of today's letter that was sent to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, please visit: https://www.csialliance.org/resources/pdfs/Letter_to_SFRC_on_Co170ABD.pdf or http://www.bsa.org/usa/policy/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm& pageid=25785.
About the Cyber Security Industry Alliance
CSIA is the only advocacy group dedicated exclusively to enhancing global cyber security through public policy, education, awareness and technology. The organization is led by CEOs from the world's top security providers, who offer the technical expertise, depth and focus to encourage a better understanding of cyber security issues. It is the belief of the CSIA that a comprehensive approach to ensuring the security, integrity and availability of global information systems is fundamental to national and economic stability. To learn more about the CSIA, please visit our Web site at http://www.csialliance.org or call +1-703-894-2742.
Members of the CSIA include BindView Corp. (Nasdaq: BVEW - News); Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP - News); Citadel Security Software Inc. (Nasdaq: CDSS - News); Citrix Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: CTXS - News); Computer Associates International, Inc. (NYSE: CA - News); Entrust, Inc. (Nasdaq: ENTU - News); Internet Security Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: ISSX - News); iPass Inc. (Nasdaq: IPAS - News); Juniper Networks, Inc. (Nasdaq: JNPR - News); McAfee, Inc. (NYSE: MFE - News); PGP Corporation; Qualys, Inc.; RSA Security Inc. (Nasdaq: RSAS - News); Secure Computing Corporation (Nasdaq: SCUR - News), Surety, Inc.; Symantec Corporation (Nasdaq: SYMC - News) and TechGuard Security, LLC.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050629/dcw031.html?.v=16
Dubi
5:25am 06/23/05
Goldman cuts revenue estimates for software group (BOBJ, BMC, CHKP, ORCL, MSFT, VRTS, SYMC) By Aude Lagorce
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Goldman Sachs lowered its revenue estimate in the software group to reflect the currency impact of the stronger U.S. dollar. The broker said the currency's renewed strength implies a 1% to 3% reduction to reported revenue growth rates over the next year for most software vendors. Goldman said it has cut its revenue estimate by 1% to 2% for BMC Software, Inc. (BMC) , Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) , Oracle Corp. (ORCL) , Symantec Corp. (SYMC) and Veritas Software Corp. (VRTS) .
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?siteid=mktw&dist=nbs&guid={839D25EA-...
Dubi
National Survey Finds Voters Near Unanimous in Their Concern About Cyber Security and Looking to Congress for Better Protection
Wednesday June 15, 7:00 am ET
More Than 90 Percent of Voters See Identity Theft and Spyware as Serious Problems with 71 Percent Believing New Laws from Congress are Required to Protect Consumer Security
ARLINGTON, Va., June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA), the only public policy and advocacy group dedicated exclusively to cyber security, today released the results of a nationwide survey of voters dedicated to Internet safety issues. The survey of 1,003 likely voters (3% margin of error) conducted on behalf of CSIA by Pineda Consulting, reveals that voters are becoming increasingly insecure about using the Internet and are looking for Congress, industry and consumer groups to do more to keep them safe online. It also revealed little difference between Republicans and Democrats on cyber security policy issues.
The survey found voters -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- are nearly unanimous in their fear of identity theft and spyware. Specifically, 97 percent of voters rate identity theft as a serious problem, while 93 percent find spyware a serious problem. In addition, the fear of identity theft is keeping many consumers from doing business online, with 48 percent indicating that they avoid making purchases on the Internet because they are afraid their financial information may be stolen. Overall, 71 percent of voters believe new laws are needed to protect consumer privacy on the Internet.
"Clearly voters are concerned about the security of their personal information on the Internet, and that fear is inhibiting the full potential of e-commerce. Keeping the Internet a place where consumers feel confident doing business can only be achieved through a coordinated, comprehensive approach that includes tough punishment through better laws, high security standards from companies, partnership with consumer groups, and protection for consumers nationwide," said Paul Kurtz, executive director of CSIA. "We must be careful about the public policy course we chart in the next few years as it will have long-term consequences for innovation and economic growth. When legislation is deemed necessary, such as in the case of securing sensitive personal information, Congress should not duplicate requirements already set forth under existing Federal law, but should address 'gaps' in existing law and encourage the adoption of widely accepted cyber security standards."
Other survey findings of note include:
Emerging Concerns
-- The majority of Internet users (83%) have heard of spyware, although
the level of awareness is not as ubiquitous as spam (93%). Of those
not familiar with the term, 81 percent have experienced at least one of
its symptoms, such as pop-up ads or decreased computer performance.
-- The more voters learn about spyware, the more it scares them. Without
the benefit of a statement describing spyware, two-thirds of voters
rated it a serious problem. When fully informed of the nature of
spyware, nearly all voters (93%) considered it a serious problem.
-- Not all software that operates in the background is perceived as
harmful by Internet users. For example, 67 percent of Internet users
think the benefits of automatic security updates outweigh the possible
risks.
-- More Internet users think small-time con artists and delinquent
teenagers are the biggest threats to the safety of the Internet (45%)
than enemy nations, organized crime and terrorist organizations (36%).
Policy Preferences
-- Only 28 percent of voters think government is placing the right
emphasis on protecting our information systems and networks, as opposed
to 64 percent who think that government needs to make protecting our
information systems a higher priority.
-- Voters are much more likely to believe that privacy protection should
be left to the U.S. Congress (60%) than to state legislatures (35%).
-- Despite the call for a legislative solution, only 32 percent of voters
trust the Congress to do what's right for the Internet. On the other
hand, 63 percent trust consumer groups like the Better Business Bureau.
"Voters are looking to government for more leadership and accountability on cyber security issues, and politicians are starting to respond," said Kurtz. "There are currently more than 18 pieces of federal legislation written to address cyber security, ranging from spyware to identity theft, and hundreds of similar bills on the state level. We need to address these key issues at a national level in a thoughtful, measured way."
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050615/nyw048.html?.v=12
Dubi
Forum Systems Achieves Application Oriented Networking Milestone with OPSEC Certification from Check Point Software
via COMTEX
June 14, 2005
Forum Systems' Market-Leading Web Services and SOA Security Solutions
Fully Integrates with Industry's Most Recognized
Open Security Framework
SALT LAKE CITY, Jun 14, 2005 (BUSINESS WIRE) --
Forum Systems, the leader in Web Services Security for threat protection and trust management, announced that both the Forum XWall 5.0 Web Services Firewall and Sentry 5.0 Web Services Security Gateway have earned OPSEC(TM) (Open Platform for Security) certification from Check Point(R) Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:CHKP). This certification validates that Forum's products seamlessly interoperate with Check Point's NGX next-generation platform through Check Point's Event Logging Application Programming Interface (ELA). Forum products with OPSEC certification can be monitored using Check Point centralized policy management products for detailed reporting and analysis of XML-related events with incident response mechanisms.
"Web Services Firewalls and Gateways add a layer of protection that boosts perimeter defenses to create a more confident security posture. OPSEC certification for Forum Systems products translates into improved security and lower operational costs. By leveraging Check Point's SmartCenter for enterprise-wide policy management a single administrative interface can be used for both application-oriented as well as network-centric threats," said Paul Weinstein, vice president, business development for Check Point Software.
"The success of SOAs are increasingly dependent on the deployment of application-aware infrastructure. We see Check Point's OPSEC certification as an important step in the maturation of Application Oriented Networking (AON)," said Mamoon Yunus, chief technology officer for Forum Systems. "As the web-centric Extensible Markup Language (XML) specification is adopted for information sharing and e-commerce, Forum Systems looks to support well-established network management standards. Forum AON Security products that are OPSEC certified are able to trigger meaningful alerts to state of the art Check Point VPN 1/FireWall-1 products in the face of novel XML-related threats."
Forum OPSEC certified products leverage the Check Point Management Console as a central repository for network as well as application-oriented traffic events. Forum products use the ELA to ensure that activity is tracked and properly logged by Check Point's SmartCenter(TM) and will interoperate with OPSEC partner security offerings. Through this integration customers can rest assured that their networks will remain protected from today's dynamic Web services attacks.
Check Point Experience (CPX) 2005 is series of annual partner and customer conferences. The events will focus on education and training on the new Check Point NGX platform. Forum will demonstrate the Forum XWall 5.0 Web Services Firewall and Sentry 5.0 Web Services Security Gateway at applicable conferences.
About Check Point's OPSEC
OPSEC (Open Platform for Security) is the industry's open, multi-vendor security framework. With over 350 partners, OPSEC guarantees customers the broadest choice of best-of-breed integrated applications and deployment platforms that support Check Point's Perimeter, Internal and Web security solutions. Products that carry the OPSEC Certified seal have been tested to guarantee integration and interoperability, ensuring maximum protection for business communications and resources for corporate networks and applications, remote employees, branch offices and partner extranets. For complete OPSEC Alliance program information, including partner and product listings, the freely available OPSEC SDK (software development kit) and evaluation versions of OPSEC Certified products, visit http://www.opsec.com.
About Forum Systems
Trustworthy, ubiquitous and robust Web services can only be achieved by combining security controls that are proactive, always on and systematic. Forum Seamless Security Solutions Architecture (Forum S3A(TM)) is an adaptive approach to building security minded service-oriented applications and data-level networks using life-cycle solutions including vulnerability management, testing systems, firewalls and gateways. Forum products are available as software, PCI-card and appliance options and comply with government requirements including FIPS Certification, Common Criteria EAL 4+ and JITC DoD PKI Certification. Forum Systems is an active a member of OASIS and WS-I helping mature standards such as WS-I Basic Profiles, SAML and WS-Security. Customers can immediately benefit from Forum technology that is bundled with market-leading products including Microsoft ISA Server 2004, NetContinuum NC-1000 WSE, Network Engines NS6300X, and Oblix COREid and COREsv. For more information on adaptive solutions for Web services security visit http://vulcon.forumsys.com.
Forum Systems, Inc. is the Leader in Web Services Security(TM) with a comprehensive suite of trust management, threat protection and information assurance solutions for the automated Web. Forum Systems' flexible hardware, software and embedded products make vibrant business communications possible by actively protecting XML data and Web services across networks and business boundaries. Forum's products have been chosen by over 80 Fortune 1000 industry leaders and are winners of Network Computing Magazine's Well-Connected 2004 Award and Product of the Year 2004 Award, Network Computing Magazine's Editor's Choice 2003 Award, Network Magazine's Product of the Year 2003 Award and DEMO 2004 Invitation. Forum XWall Web Services Firewall is the industry's only XML Firewall selected by InfoWorld LEADERBOARD 2004. Visit Forum at http://www.forumsys.com/.
SOURCE: Forum Systems
Kesselring Communications, LLC Leslie Kesselring, 503-656-2847 leslie@kesselring.net
Copyright Business Wire 2005
Dubi
Zone Labs to Support U3 Smart Drive Computing Platform
Tuesday June 7, 12:05 pm ET
ZoneAlarm Security Suite on a U3-Powered USB Smart Drive Will Protect Consumers from a Wide Range of Internet Threats Posed by Hackers, Viruses, Spam and More
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 7, 2005--U3(TM) LLC, creator of the U3 smart drive computing platform, and Zone Labs®, a Check Point® company (NASDAQ:CHKP - News), today announced that Zone Labs is developing a mobile version of its award-winning ZoneAlarm® Security Suite to protect consumers utilizing a U3-powered USB smart drive from dangerous Internet threats.
ADVERTISEMENT
The customized ZoneAlarm Security Suite solution for the U3 platform will offer people the ability to proactively protect their USB smart drives and host PCs from infected files such as viruses and malware, and malicious hacker attacks. Zone Labs will demonstrate an early pre-release version of the suite running on a U3-powered USB smart drive at the first annual U3 Global Developer Summit, which begins today at the San Jose Marriott.
U3 powered smart drives transform the USB flash drive into a private, portable and protected workspace that simply plugs into any PC running Windows 2000 or Windows XP. Users access their personal applications and data from the smart drive through a user-friendly interface, called the U3 Launchpad, making computing more mobile and secure. The U3 smart drive computing platform is designed to leave the host computer unaltered when the U3-powered smart drive is removed, and the user has full confidence that no personal information has been left behind.
ZoneAlarm Security Suite provides comprehensive security through Zone Labs' award-winning firewall with integrated antivirus, Web site filtering, privacy protection, instant messaging security, anti-phishing and spam filtering. ZoneAlarm Security Suite running on a U3-powered USB smart drive will offer mobile users complete protection from malware residing on a host PC as well as Internet-borne attacks while the smart drive is plugged into a PC; and data integrity and confidentiality is ensured once the smart drive is removed.
"U3's smart drive computing platform is a testament to the growing mobile computing trend, and provides consumers unparalleled flexibility and mobility by allowing them to take trusted applications and resources wherever they go," said Gregor Freund, chief technology officer of Check Point Software Technologies and general manager of Zone Labs. "We are pleased to take part in this innovative industry initiative and serve as a technology partner to ensure that users are always protected against all forms of malware."
"ZoneAlarm Security Suite is a trusted and recognized brand in Internet security," said Kate Purmal, chief executive officer of U3. "Zone Labs saw the importance of locking down valuables at the end-user's level at a time when industry-wide security applications were more concerned with backend infrastructure. Their foresight makes them a good match for U3. Together, we're redefining portable security."
The ZoneAlarm Security Suite will be available for all U3 powered USB smart drives this fall.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050607/75930.html?.v=1
Dubi
Check Point Advances Connectra SSL VPN Solution with New NGX Version
Tuesday June 7, 8:31 am ET
Diverse Range of Enterprises Already Use Connectra for Secure Anywhere Access to Confidential, Mission Critical Data
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 7, 2005--Check Point® Software Technologies (Nasdaq:CHKP - News), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced Connectra NGX(TM), an enhanced version of its SSL VPN solution. Connectra NGX takes advantage of the recently announced NGX platform with new connectivity features and SmartCenter integration for centralized security monitoring and maintenance. Connectra NGX highlights include:
Unified Security Management providing administrators and management the smartest view into their security environment using SmartCenter NGX integration
Enhanced Application Support including Citrix® and Lotus® iNotes, Web single sign-on
Enhanced Connectivity Support with SSL Network Extender supporting non-admin rights, more browsers and Linux OS
Connectra is a complete Web security gateway with integrated endpoint security to defend against insecure endpoints and integrated application security to provide protection against malicious activities and attacks over SSL VPN. Hailed as having "the most comprehensive security feature set in an SSL VPN product to date," Connectra is already the remote access solution of choice for a variety of industries requiring secure anywhere access.
Helping Doctors Monitor Patients Anytime, Anywhere
The healthcare field is under tremendous scrutiny to provide an ever-increasing level of patient care at an affordable cost, while ensuring patient information remains confidential. These objectives have the capacity to be at odds with each other if the right IT security implementation is not in place. Saint Vincent Health System (SVHS) is one of the largest medical networks in the state of Pennsylvania with 25 health care facilities spanning the Northwest region of the state and parts of New York. With an increasingly dispersed and overburdened staff, SVHS required a remote access solution that could be trusted to comply with HIPAA regulations, as well as budget constraints. Check Point Connectra addressed these issues by providing secure, cost-effective remote access to Web applications, resources, shared files, and email on the corporate network.
"Connectra is helping Saint Vincent's improve medical care by providing our physicians secure 'anywhere access' to patient vital signs, x-rays and other critical information," said Steve Smith, Network Coordinator, SVHS. "When a doctor receives a page, they can log on to any web enabled PC in the world to monitor patient status and take necessary steps to ensure the patient's well-being. In this sense, it's possible that the information access Connectra provides could help Saint Vincent's save lives."
In addition to industry leading secure remote access, Connectra provides assured endpoint security with integrated Integrity(TM) clientless security. This feature scans each client computer for viruses, Trojans, spyware, adware and other malware and only allows "clean" computers to establish network access.
Connectra Goes Wall Street
Connectra's appeal translates across industries and resides anywhere IT departments need to simplify secure remote access. Hedgetec is an IT outsourcing organization that offers IT services tailored for financial hedge funds. As part of the Hedgetec service, customers are able to use Connectra to access individual hedge fund information from any web browser. Hedgetec chose Connectra because it is a complete Web Security Gateway with integrated endpoint and application security that ensures this information will be accessed securely.
"Connectra allows me to enhance the services provided to my clients while maintaining the strong security controls they demand," said Ryan Barnds Chief Technology Officer, Hedgetec. "Only Check Point provides the industry's most proven Internet security and I wouldn't trust my customers' transactions to anything less."
New Connectra NGX
Worldwide shipping container company, Zim Integrated Shipping Services LTD is a longstanding Connectra customer, using it in the main regional sites located in Israel, Hong Kong and the U.S. "With our deployment of multiple Connectra appliances around the world, Check Point centralized management was a key consideration for helping us manage a large scale SSL VPN deployment," said Carmi Levi, Network & Communication Team Manager for Zim Integrated Shipping Services.
Connectra NGX will be generally available on June 30, 2005. For more information, please visit: www.checkpoint.com/connectra.com.
About Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (www.checkpoint.com) is the worldwide leader in securing the Internet. It is the market leader in the worldwide enterprise firewall, personal firewall and VPN markets. Through its Next Generation product line, the company delivers a broad range of intelligent Perimeter, Internal and Web security solutions that protect business communications and resources for corporate networks and applications, remote employees, branch offices and partner extranets. The company's ZoneAlarm product line is one of the most trusted brands in Internet security, creating award-winning endpoint security solutions that protect millions of PCs from hackers, spyware and data theft. Extending the power of the Check Point solution is its Open Platform for Security (OPSEC), the industry's framework and alliance for integration and interoperability with best-of-breed solutions from over 350 leading companies. Check Point solutions are sold, integrated and serviced by a network of more than 2,200 Check Point partners in 88 countries.
©2003-2005 Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.
Check Point, Application Intelligence, Check Point Express, the Check Point logo, AlertAdvisor, ClusterXL, Cooperative Enforcement, ConnectControl, Connectra, CoSa, Cooperative Security Alliance, Eventia, Eventia Analyzer, Eventia Reporter, FireWall-1, FireWall-1 GX, FireWall-1 SecureServer, FloodGate-1, Hacker ID, IMsecure, INSPECT, INSPECT XL, Integrity, InterSpect, IQ Engine, NGX, Open Security Extension, OPSEC, Policy Lifecycle Management, Provider-1, Safe@Home, Safe@Office, SecureClient, SecureKnowledge, SecurePlatform, SecuRemote, SecureXL Turbocard, SecureServer, SecureUpdate, SecureXL, SiteManager-1, SmartCenter, SmartCenter Pro, Smarter Security, SmartDashboard, SmartDefense, SmartLSM, SmartMap, SmartUpdate, SmartView, SmartView Monitor, SmartView Reporter, SmartView Status, SmartViewTracker, SofaWare, SSL Network Extender, Stateful Clustering, TrueVector, Turbocard, UAM, User-to-Address Mapping, UserAuthority, VPN-1, VPN-1 Accelerator Card, VPN-1 Edge, VPN-1 Pro, VPN-1 SecureClient, VPN-1 SecuRemote, VPN-1 SecureServer, VPN-1 VSX, VPN-1 XL, Web Intelligence, ZoneAlarm, ZoneAlarm Pro, Zone Labs, and the Zone Labs logo, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. or its affiliates. All other product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The products described in this document are protected by U.S. Patent No. 5,606,668, 5,835,726, 6,496,935, 6,873,988 and 6,850,943 and may be protected by other U.S. Patents, foreign patents, or pending applications.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050607/75614.html?.v=1
Dubi
CHKP: Kayote Networks Joins Check Point's Partner Alliance
Program;
Check Point Expands Renowned OPSEC Partner Program to
Address
Evolving VoIP Security and Interconnectivity Issues
- May 31 2005 9:01AM (BusinessWire)
-
http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=49522415
CHKP: Britestream Achieves Check Point OPSEC Certification;
Integration
With Check Point Integrity Provides Superior Endpoint
Security
Management and Performance
- May 31 2005 8:00AM (BusinessWire)
-
http://finance.lycos.com/home/news/story.asp?story=49519915
Midas
Shwed: Trojan horse was preventable
By Shirley Yom Tov
The case of the Trojan horse is a stellar example of damage that could have been prevented with the appropriate data security software, says Check Point Software Technologies CEO Gil Shwed.
Speaking at a conference in Eilat for customers and distributors, Shwed said the Trojan horse had managed to infiltrate highly sophisticated networks at some of Israel's leading companies, and to download astonishing amounts of data. The police have also been taken aback by the sheer amount of confidential information obtained.
"It could all have been prevented," Shwed rebuked corporate Israel, which presumably either scorned the danger or balked at the cost of buying protection. "Even a home user with Zone Alarm software, or an enterprise with appropriate software, could have detected the Trojan horse," Shwed went on to explain. "My guess is that within weeks, we'll find customers in Europe who were infected by the [alleged] hacker [Michael] Haefrati, because it transpires that he'd been in Germany and moved to London."
Shwed warned that the world was changing. "Let me bring the example of my personal PC," he said. "In October, I received 20,000 warnings of security events. Since then, the figure has risen to 60,000."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/582910.html
Midas
Microsoft's Shadow Looms in Antivirus Market
By Bill Snyder
TheStreet.com Staff Reporter
5/31/2005 2:26 PM EDT
Microsoft (MSFT:Nasdaq - commentary - research) is likely to grab a substantial share of the consumer antivirus market, but probably won't have much success in the race to sell security products to large businesses, according to a survey of security professionals by PiperJaffray.
The giant software company, says analyst Gene Munster, will use its muscle to undercut consumer products by rivals, including Symantec (SYMC:Nasdaq - commentary - research) and McAfee (MFT:NYSE - commentary - research), by as much as 20%. As a result, the security pros believe that Microsoft will capture one-third of the consumer security market within a year of its entry.
In mid-May, Microsoft unveiled Windows OneCare, a consumer product that will provide automatically updated antivirus, antispyware and two-way firewall protection as well as a broader range of tools to maintain personal computers. The product is currently undergoing internal testing and is expected to be available around the end of the year.
But the security pros -- and Munster himself -- are not sanguine about Microsoft's chances in enterprise security. Indeed, it's unclear how committed Microsoft is to entering that market, he said.
Interestingly, the surveyed professionals were a bit inconsistent in their opinions. A majority of them believed that Microsoft will gain 5% to 15% of the market in its first year of competition. But only 10% said they thought the Microsoft solution would be good enough for their companies. Munster figures Microsoft won't be a force in that market until 2008 -- if then.
PiperJaffray surveyed and interviewed 20 members of the Information Systems Security Association.
Asked which vendors' products they trusted in the enterprise sector, the pros gave Cisco (CSCO:Nasdaq - commentary - research) the top billing, followed by Symantec and Check Point (CHKP:Nasdaq - commentary - research), which were tied.
The companies most likely to benefit from ongoing trends in the enterprise market this year, Munster said, are Internet Security (ISSX:Nasdaq - commentary - research), Check Point, Secure Computing (SCUR:Nasdaq - commentary - research) and SonicWall (SNWL:Nasdaq - commentary - research). McAfee and Symantec will also benefit, but whether or not these gains offset loses to Microsoft in the consumer market is unclear.
PiperJaffray does not have an investment banking relationship with any of the companies mentioned in this story.
http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/tech/software/10225860.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=...
Midas
Rumors propel Orckit -- again
Why Orckit has been surging recently, what other companies are potential customers for Corrigent, plus, which Israeli companies will appear in conferences this week.
Shlomi Cohen 31 May 05 13:01
If the media fuss about industrial espionage in Israel in the past two days had occurred in the US for even one day, the Check Point (Nasdaq: CHKP) share would have soared into the stratosphere, together with all the other data security shares. Check Point always says that its solutions are designed to protect against outside attacks on an enterprise’s communications network, its internal network, i.e. preventing penetration of every computer in the enterprise, and what an enterprise has put on the Internet.
With perfect timing, Check Point’s annual event for its customers from all over the world, called Check Point Experience 2005, starts today in Eilat. They will speak mostly about the advantages of the next generation of Check Point products, NGX, which was launched a week ago. Nothing could better highlight the importance of Check Point’s products to those attending the conference than the juicy industrial espionage scandals proclaimed in Sunday’s newspaper headlines in Israel.
It will be interesting to see whether the scandal will also lead to an investigation by the Israel Securities Authority, because it’s reasonable to assume that internal information about both contracts and results of public companies was extracted. Someone may have used this information to make quick profits on the stock exchange.
The shortened trading week that begins today will be loaded with investor conferences, at which many Israeli companies will appear. Smith Barney is holding a conference of semiconductor companies in California on Wednesday and Thursday. M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers (Nasdaq: FLSH) VP business development and marketing Noam Kedem and PowerDsine (Nasdaq: PDSN) CFO Geri Katz will make presentations on Thursday. M-Systems and Zoran Microelectronics (Nasdaq: ZRAN) will make presentations at a conference of digital meeting companies organized by Credit Suisse First Boston.
On Friday, Radvision CEO Gadi Tamari will make a presentation at Lehman Brothers’ conference of wireline and wireless communications companies in New York, as will a representative of Partner Communications (Nasdaq: PTNR; TASE: PTNR; LSE: PCCD). AudioCodes (Nasdaq: AUDC; TASE: AUDC) VP marketing & sales North America Ben Rabinowitz will have his turn at the same conference on Thursday. Lehman Brothers recently recommended “Buy” for the AudioCodes share. A representative of Comverse Technology (Nasdaq: CMVT), which will publish on Wednesday its results for the quarter ending April 30, will make a presentation today that the Lehman Brothers conference, and ECI Telecom (Nasdaq: ECIL) will present tomorrow.
Orckit Communications (Nasdaq: ORCT; TASE: ORCT) announces almost nothing in public. Rumor about the company are constantly flying, however, ranging from an acquisition by Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) to huge new contracts. The company will make presentations this week at two important conferences, which I expect will arouse great interest, because since the bubble days, and its abandonment of the ADSL field, Orckit has stayed away from international investor conferences. On Thursday, Orckit will make presentations at the SG Cowen technology conference in New York, and the next day at the FBR growth companies conference, also in New York. Inviting Orckit to these conferences, plus its appearance at a CIBC conference in Tel Aviv two weeks ago, hints at the potential for coverage of the company share by these investment houses.
At the CIBC conference in Tel Aviv, Orckit CFO Aviv Boim expounded in detail technological questions of great importance in understanding the advantages of Orckit subsidiary Corrigent Systems’ systems. He avoided spelling out the potential of these systems, beyond the huge contract in hand from Japanese company KDDI Corp. (TSE: 9433). One interesting thing that Boim said in his presentation was that all the company’s equipment is actually installed on infrastructure of giant telephone company NTT, which is apparently leased at the demand of Japanese regulators to KDDI. This means that NTT is a potential customer, which will soon be able to see first hand all the advantages of Corrigent’s systems. This may avoid the long process of testing currently underway at many potential Corrigent customers all over the world.
Another reason for the surge in the Orckit share is the fact that, besides these investor conferences, Corrigent is appearing on a professional panel about voice, video, television broadcasting, and high-speed Internet over IP networks at the SUPERCOMM communications conference next week in Chicago. A briefing about the panel said that it would present the results of nationwide deployment of these advanced services for five million subscribers in seventeen cities. This refers to KDDI’s successful deployment in Japan, which includes Corrigent’s equipment, among other things. In my opinion, the fact that a senior manager responsible for similar tests in laboratories of US telephone giant SBC Communications (NYSE: SBC) is also on the panel indicates that Corrigent is also at some stage of testing with SBC.
One thing clearly shown by Boim’s presentation is that that the potential in the field is enormous, and that we’re only at the beginning of deployment in Japan, not to mention deployment of these services in other Asian countries. The services are also making inroads in Western Europe, and the US will probably make up the gap with Japan within a year or two, parallel to the development of digital television services there, and President Bush’s request that broadband be made available to everyone by 2007.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on May 31, 2005
The above recommendations were made by a person/s working in the investment industry who may hold positions in securities mentioned in the column. This column should not be taken as advice to buy, sell or continue to hold any securities, and anyone acting on the advice of this column does so at his or her own risk.
Midas
Appropriate security could have blocked the Trojan horse, says Shwed
31.5.2005 / 11:17
Shirley Yom Tov
The case of the Trojan horse is a stellar example of damage that could have been prevented with the appropriate data security software, says Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) chief executive Gil Shwed.
Speaking at a conference in Eilat for customers and distributors, Shwed said the Trojan horse had managed to infiltrate highly sophisticated computer networks at some of Israel's leading companies, and to download astonishing amounts of data. The police have also expressed awe at the sheer amount of secret information the spyware had collected for rival companies.
"It could all have been prevented," Shwed rebuked corporate Israel, which presumably either scorned the danger or chintzed at the cost of buying protection. "Even a home user with Zone Alarm software or an enterprise with appropriate software could have detected the Trojan horse," Shwed went on to explain: "My guess is that within weeks, we'll find customers in Europe who were infected by the hacker (Michael) Haefrati, because it transpires that he'd been in Germany and moved to London."
"Every enterprise has to ask itself a number of questions about its strategy for securing the enterprise computer system," the CEO advised. "No enterprise can settle for installing a single solution that protects only part of the network."
What companies need is a clear plan for their security strategy, which need not involve five years of installations, Shwed clarified: systems integration can be done gradually, say over a year.
"Ten years ago a firewall and a VPN were enough to protect computer systems," Shwed explained, referring to two veteran Check Point products. But the world has changed.
"Let me bring the example of my personal PC," he said. "In October I received 20,000 warnings of security events. Since then the figure has risen to 60,000."
The list of companies spied on grew today, after the cigarette maker and marketer Dubek complained to police that it had been spied upon using Trojan horse spyware. Other leading companies that found themselves at the wrong end of the Internet included Strauss-Elite Industries (TASE: ELEI1 ), Globes, Mayanot Eden (TASE: MEYD ) and Partner Communications (LSE, TASE, Nasdaq: PTNR).
http://tinyurl.com/aqtf8
Midas
Over 1,500 Check Point Partners and Customers Order New NGX Upgrade Pack in First 10 Days of Availability
Thursday May 26, 9:47 am ET
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 26, 2005--Check Point® Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP - News), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced the NGX(TM) platform is being met with high interest as early data shows more than 1,500 orders for the major upgrade to the core technology underlying Check Point VPN, firewall and management solutions. Brisk orders for the upgrade pack from partners and existing customers confirm the company's unique market position as the only vendor to offer a truly unified security architecture and management capabilities across product lines. NGX is a highly evolved release of the company's security platform which will deliver extended functionality to more than twenty Check Point products and couple deeper, broader and smarter Internet security with an underlying unified architecture.
"The NGX platform was borne of customer feedback and requirements as well as Check Point's vision of where we're going to lead the security market," said Kevin Maloney vice president, worldwide sales for Check Point. "The influx of initial orders underscores the market demand for real unified security solutions. Many vendors are making claims, but only Check Point delivers the cost savings, reduced complexity and deployment adaptability that our NGX platform can bring."
Check Point's NGX platform will take center stage at the "Check Point Experience 2005" series of annual partner and customer conferences. The events will focus on education and training on the NGX platform. These events will take place around the globe and begin on May 31 in Eilat, Israel. Orlando, Florida will be the host city of the U.S. based event taking place June 7 and 8. For a complete calendar of Check Point Experience 2005 events, please visit: http://www.checkpoint.com/experience/index.html.
Architecting a Secure Future with NGX
Some of the most notable enhancements of the Check Point NGX platform include:
Unified perimeter, internal and Web security management that reduces the cost of security management by allowing administrators to centrally define and manage perimeter, internal and Web security policies - all from a single console.
Expanded intelligent inspection technologies that secure more network and application types from more threats than any other solution to ensure the confidentiality of business data. It also includes enhanced capabilities for ensuring the confidentiality and availability of voice communications.
Advanced VPN capabilities such as dynamic routing, which allows enterprises to manage large and complex networks more efficiently with fewer resources.
Check Point NGX is currently available for new and existing customers. Existing customers with a valid Check Point software subscription can upgrade without an additional charge. For more information, please visit: http://www.checkpoint.com/ngx.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050526/265376.html?.v=1
Midas
Check Point and SofaWare Unveil Expanded Distributed Security Management Platform for Service Providers
Thursday May 26, 8:57 am ET
Security Management Portal (SMP) 5.0 for Safe@Office Integrates Advanced Monitoring and Management Capabilities with Built-in Antivirus and Antispam Security Features
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 26, 2005-- Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq:CHKP - News), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, and SofaWare® Technologies Ltd., a Check Point company, today announced a major upgrade to the Security Management Portal (SMP), a network security management system designed for service providers deploying the company's award-winning Safe@Office and VPN-1 Edge unified threat management (UTM) Internet security gateways.
The new SMP 5.0 offers service and solution providers an unprecedented ability to deliver scalable value-added services to networks of thousands of appliances to meet ever-changing customer needs. The application integrates a wide array of managed services into a single turnkey solution: network and firewall management, VPN management, firmware updates, email antivirus and antispam, Web content filtering, logging and reporting and dynamic DNS.
"Check Point's Safe@Office UTM solutions were created on the premise that businesses need an adaptable network security infrastructure to ensure growth," said Gregor Freund, chief technology officer, Check Point Software Technologies. "The new SMP 5.0 management system makes it easier than ever for service providers to leverage our affordable, advanced Safe@Office UTM appliances and offer their customers a robust security solution to keep their businesses operating smoothly."
Key additions to the software include:
A choice of built-in royalty-free antivirus and antispam scanners, and leading third party OPSEC certified content scanning solutions.
A 'Virtual Portal' feature for running multiple skins, or instances, of the SMP on a single server, allowing solution providers to host multiple management instances for different customers on a single infrastructure.
Fully customizable reporting features, including automated emailing of reports directly to customers.
Powerful VPN management capabilities, including quick deployment of hierarchical hub and spoke and mesh VPNs with full dynamic IP support.
"The new SMP solution offers Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) a powerful solution for deploying, provisioning and managing small business and distributed networks," said Liran Eshel, managing director, SofaWare Technologies. "This update is important because it creates a platform for MSSPs to deliver these value-added services with more revenue potential for them than ever before."
"Check Point's Security Management Portal has allowed AllStream to build a highly scaleable infrastructure for offering security services to small and medium-sized businesses," said Laura Willems, director at AllStream, one of Canada's leading national business communication solutions providers. "The SMP's new central management features now position Allstream to easily and efficiently manage thousands of small office networks."
Check Point's Safe@Office line is designed to meet the security needs of small businesses, providing ease of use and simple management. The unified threat management gateways include secure Internet connectivity, local networking, secure remote and site-to-site access and browser-based management. Organizations can also benefit from services including antivirus, antispam and content filtering functionalities. A wireless version is also available.
Pricing and Availability
SMP 5.0 is available immediately and is priced from $10 USD per gateway (in large deployments). For more information, please visit: http://www.sofaware.com/smp or http://www.checkpoint.com/products/smp/index.html.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050526/265344.html?.v=1
Midas
Check Point Incorporates CA's eTrust Antivirus Into New Integrated Security Gateway
Tuesday May 24, 9:00 am ET
Check Point Express CI Customers Gain Continually Updated Protection From Today's Wide Range of Malicious Code Threats
ISLANDIA, N.Y, and REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Computer Associates International, Inc. (NYSE: CA - News) and Check Point Software Technologies (Nasdaq: CHKP - News) today announced that Check Point has incorporated CA's eTrust Antivirus into the latest version of Check Point Express CI, Check Point's integrated multi-function security solution for mid-sized businesses. The combination of eTrust Antivirus and Check Point integrated intrusion prevention is providing its customers with continually updated protection from the full range of malicious code that threatens business computing environments today.
Check Point Express CI delivers one of the most reliable security solutions available with integrated firewall, VPN, intrusion prevention and antivirus in a single easy-to-deploy and manage package. The addition of eTrust Antivirus to Check Point's solution enhances its ability to ensure that inbound and outbound email traffic is free of viruses and other forms of malware. This includes the real-time scanning of email (SMTP), Web (HTTP) and FTP traffic for possible threats disguised within ostensibly legitimate content.
"CA's eTrust technology offered Check Point the complete, scalable, high-performance and automatically updated antivirus protection we required to make Check Point Express CI the optimal integrated security solution for today's mid-sized businesses," said Paul Weinstein, vice president of Business Development for Check Point. "By providing eTrust Antivirus as part of this complete solution, Check Point is enabling mid-sized customers to more effectively protect their critical computing infrastructure without over-burdening their resource-constrained IT organizations."
eTrust Antivirus is backed by the CA Security Advisory Team, a global threat management resource staffed by industry-leading researchers and skilled support professionals that provides 24 x 7 threat research.
"To optimally safeguard their computing environments and reduce their security technology costs, mid-sized businesses need to implement best-of-breed solutions in a highly integrated manner," said Sam Curry, vice president of eTrust security management at CA. "Check Point Express CI achieves this objective by integrating CA's eTrust Antivirus with their market leading Check Point Express security solution to deliver a single, easy-to-administer package."
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20021111/CALOGO )
About CA
Computer Associates International, Inc. (NYSE: CA - News), one of the world's largest management software companies, delivers software and services across operations, security, storage, life cycle and service management to optimize the performance, reliability and efficiency of enterprise IT environments. Founded in 1976, CA is headquartered in Islandia, N.Y. and serves customers in more than 140 countries. For more information, please visit http://ca.com.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050524/nytu065.html?.v=10
Midas
Merrill Lynch: NGX gives Check Point edge
The new network security platform will start to be shipped on May 30.
Globes correspondent 23 May 05 15:06
In a review of the prospects of Check Point's (Nasdaq: CHKP) new network security platform NGX, Merrill Lynch analysts Edward Maguire and Garrett Bekker say that the product could give the company an advantage over its main competitors. "We met with Check Point's Head of Competitive Intelligence Andrew Singer at the company's Redwood City offices. The company ships its new NGX platform May 30, with partner appliance offerings slated for release beginning in June and July. NGX is a major release -the most significant since 2001 in the company's view," Maguire and Bekker write.
"We think Check Point's exclusive security focus and bottoms-up approach to integrated product architecture represent key advantages in competitive engagements against NetScreen/Juniper and Cisco. If successful, NGX could be a potential catalyst for upside in 4Q and beyond.
"NGX will offer a number of key capabilities, including unified management capabilities, dynamic routing features, expanded inspection capabilities and support for new protocols (VOIP in particular). The new SmartPortal feature will extend Web-Based management so that administrators will be able to update Check Point's core perimeter security products as well as InterSpect and Connectra. Dynamic Routing capabilities will improve the ability to provision and deploy secure private networks.
"NGX looks to be a feature-rich release that could provide a catalyst for regenerating reseller and customer enthusiasm around the core product line.
"The NGX release unifies architecture and capabilities into a single platform that will provide a common architectural framework for both management and ongoing feature enhancement. Management indicates that development has been ongoing for several years but actual re-writes of code were minimal.
"We think the common framework represents a technological advantage for Check Point, which has made only one significant acquisition (ZoneLabs) in contrast to NetScreen/Juniper (both OneSecure and Neoteris) and Cisco's many acquisitions. While time to market is typically takes longer with internal development, we think Check Point's organic approach improves product consistency and interoperability and minimizes the execution risk that comes from having to integrate disparate technologies after the fact.
"As is typical with new product cycles, the education process among resellers and customers is likely to take several quarters. While pending User Conferences should generate initial awareness around the release, we think it will take at least until 4Q05 to gauge the potential accelerative impact from NGX."
Maguire and Bekker reiterate their "Buy" recommendation for Check Point, with a target price of $30. Check Point shares closed at $22.86 on Friday, giving the company a market cap of $5.67 billion.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on May 23, 2005
Midas
Tue: Nothing wrong with Check Point
According to Wall Street, that means something must be wrong. As with Alvarion, the progress in Ceragon’s results is having no discernable effect on the company share.
Shlomo Greenberg
C.E. Unterberg, Towbin VP and analyst Vikram Kaura has selected Check Point (Nasdaq: CHKP) as his best short-term pick among information security stocks. By the way, CE Unterberg, Towbin is rapidly taking the lead in the number of Israeli shares that it covers. Check Point yesterday unveiled a combination of dynamic routing technology with perimeter security solutions for software. Check Point is cooperating with California-based software solutions company NextHop Technologies in this product. I read Kaura’s review carefully. It was the second time that I have read his review, which I would summarize like this: at the current price, it will be very hard to find a share of a similar company, or one of similar size, as Check Point. This has been my opinion for a long time, but that doesn’t matter, because important analysts are still suffering from the heebie-jeebies, fearing that something must be wrong with Check Point. Why? I’ve got no explanation, except that if everything looks good now, something must be wrong. Isn’t that so?
Kaura didn’t actually write what I just said, which is my interpretation of his review. In my opinion, however, he expressed no opposition to my summary of what he said. What’s interesting is that, judging by its trading turnover yesterday, Check Point is of no interest to investors, almost all of whom are day traders or hedge funds. This will probably enable normal investors to continue accumulating the share cheaply. Incidentally, if Check Point is recommended for the short term, why not for the long term? It seems that even Kaura isn’t sure of himself.
C.E. Unterberg, Towbin also recommends wireless equipment manufacturer Ceragon Networks (Nasdaq: CRNT). Oscar Gruss & Son also likes Ceragon, which has been sliding since early 2004, when it reached a peak of $8.70. The share fell below $3.70 in August 2004, from where it rose to almost $7 in December 2004. The share resumed its fall this year, and C.E. Unterberg, Towbin’s recommendation had no appreciable effect on it.
As far as Main Street is concerned, Ceragon is making fine progress, in line with analysts’ expectations, but Wall Street remains unconvinced.
The behavior of Ceragon’s share brings to mind that of Alvarion (Nasdaq: ALVR; TASE: ALVR), whose improving results are in no way reflected by its situation on Wall Street. As with Alvarion, I regard the Ceragon share’s behavior as nothing other than an opportunity to accumulate it; I agree with both C.E. Unterberg, Towbin and Oscar Gruss & Son.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on May 17, 2005
The above recommendations were made by a person/s working in the investment industry who may hold positions in securities mentioned in the column. This column should not be taken as advice to buy, sell or continue to hold any securities, and anyone acting on the advice of this column does so at his or her own risk.
Midas
Ceragon named Unterberg's top near-term stock pick
17.5.2005 / 10:30
Omri Cohen
None other than Ceragon (Nasdaq:CRNT) is CE Unterberg Towbin's top stock pick for the near term. Among data security stocks, Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) won the honor.
Ceragon's first-quarter results beat the projection, inspiring the bank to predict 30% revenue growth for the year 2005. Revenues were $16.8 million, up 48% from $11.4 million for the first quarter of 2004 and 5% from $15.9 million for the fourth quarter of 2004. It netted $834,000, or 3 cents per share, versus netting $39,000 in the parallel quarter, or zero cents per share.
Given the company's strong status in wireless networks, Unterberg concluded, it is well positioned to achieve its growth targets.
This year Ceragon stock has fallen 28% to $4.80, despite its relatively strong financial results. The analysts postulate that investors may be worried that the company's shift to bigger deals may force Ceragon to extend its credit to customers. But in the investment bank's opinion, their fears are overblown. It finds the company's involvement in bigger deals to be encouraging, Unterberg writes, demonstrating that the market is noticing the Israeli company.
Minus the company's cash, Ceragon today trades at 19 times estimated 2005 profits, and 10 times estimated 2006 profits. Unterberg feels that $8 per share would reflect an appropriate 22 times 2006 estimated 2006 earnings, and repeated a Buy rating for the stock.
As for Check Point, the investment bank's thesis remains unchanged: heavy demand for security products persists, and the company is drawing attention to its new product lines.
http://tinyurl.com/8l8y2
Midas
Shwed: Cisco competes with Check Point's old products
Check Point has unveiled its next generation platform, NGX, developed at a cost of $35-50 million.
Ofer Levi 16 May 05 14:36
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP) today unveiled its next generation platform, NGX, developed over the past 18 months by 350 engineers at a cost of $35-50 million.
NGX, an upgrade of Check Point's NG platform, includes a range of products launched by the company over the past year, including InterSpect and Connectra, as well as upgrades of existing products.
Check Point CEO Gil Shwed said the three main improvements in the NGX platform were unified management of the company's products, which will greatly cut costs; advanced virtual private network (VPN) capability, such as dynamic analysis, which enables enterprises to manage large complex networks more efficiently; and improved inspection technologies. Shwed said the platform would be available from late May, and said the new product would not change the company's revenue guidance.
Shwed added that although the current NG platform provide a broad answer for network security, there was still room for niche companies to provide added value with specialized solutions. "We welcome the fact that Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) is providing improved security capabilities, but it should be borne in mind that systems are still needed to manage an enterprise's gateway."
Shwed said the products that Cisco Systems (Nasdaq:CSCO) recently launched were trying to compete against products Check Point produced several years ago.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on May 16, 2005
Midas
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