Check Point Software Technologies recently announced an expanded collaboration with VMware to extend comprehensive, best-in-class security to enterprise private cloud environments through a new software-defined data centre offering.
Check Point vSEC virtual network security now integrates with the VMware NSX network virtualisation platform to enable customers to consistently manage and enforce security for all data centre traffic.

Every day, organisations are faced with internal and external threats to their networks. Although recent high profile breaches occurred inside the data centre, security today focuses on perimeter defense. Moving these security controls inside the data centre is complex and costly. Check Point and VMware are addressing this need with a solution that is based on integration between Check Point vSEC virtual network security and VMware NSX.

With VMware NSX, security is delivered as part of the data centre network infrastructure, and micro-segmentation becomes operationally and economically feasible. VMware NSX transparently inserts and orchestrates Check Point vSEC for advanced traffic inspection. Customers can accelerate security service deployment and get the same level of security for traffic inside their data centres as Check Point provides at the perimeter gateway. This becomes especially important in today’s dynamic cloud environments, where applications must be provisioned on-demand, and be highly portable across the infrastructure. The combined solution enables traffic – whether coming in and out of the data centre, or moving within the data centre between applications – to be fully protected against malware, APTs and zero-day attacks.

Customers will benefit from:
* Fully automated advanced threat protection for east-west traffic inside the data centre
* Dynamic deployment and scale out of Check Point vSEC for software-defined data centre environments
* Comprehensive threat visibility across all data centre traffic

“Today’s dynamic data centre environments require fast deployment of applications. This means that security services must keep pace with compute resources,” says Scott Clinton, senior director, partner product management, networking and security business unit at VMware. “VMware NSX with Check Point vSEC enables our mutual customers to simplify, accelerate and orchestrate Check Point’s advanced security services across the software-defined data centre.”

“Businesses around the globe are increasingly looking to virtualise their environments. When they do that, they need to know that they’ll have access to the best cloud and management infrastructure supporting them,” says Doros Hadjizenonos, Country Manager, Check Point South Africa. “Through our relationship with VMware, we’re able to join their industry-leading virtualisation and cloud offerings with our first-class security solutions to empower organisations to operate without fear of data loss or a breach.”

“The integration of Check Point vSEC with VMware NSX allows us to have the best of both worlds. Highest levels of security and consistent policy for all data centre traffic to protect our client data and scalable micro-segmentation and automated security operations to simplify and accelerate service delivery,” says Thomas Wikel, Network Services Supervisor, Physicians Choice Laboratory Services (PCLS).