CPX 360: Gen V Cyberattacks Everywhere, Better Security Needed

Just a few years ago, Gen V or fifth-generation cyberattacks sounded futuristic; now, they’re happening everywhere.

That’s according to Gil Shwed, founder and CEO of Check Point Software Technologies. He gave the opening keynote at this week’s CPX 360 2022 Americas summit.

This week, Check Point unveiled its new logo and tagline, “you deserve the best security.”

Check Point’s Gil Shwed

“We are in the business of cybersecurity, so it’s obvious for us, but we want the best,” Shwed said. “It’s obvious for all of us. I think it’s synonymous to Check Point that we deliver the best security. But still, that tagline … is not trivial … the best security is something that we should all aim at and something I think we can achieve together.”

Two years ago, 60% of everything was connected and now it’s 90%, he said.

“It’s very, very important to understand that if any one of these elements in our infrastructure gets attacked if it’s not secure, we are not going to be able to keep carrying on our life the way we want,” Shwed said. “We really need to keep it secure. The hackers know that. The level of sophistication of attacks is just going up.”

Gen V Attacks Experienced Every Day

Gen V attacks are now something “we experience every day,” Shwed said. Supply chain attacks involving ransomware can take down an entire hospital or an entire oil pipeline.

“When we look back at 2021, it was one of the most challenging years in terms of cyberattacks starting with the SolarWinds attack, one of the most sophisticated Gen V attacks, and ending with log4j, which we still have to take care about for many, many more months,” he said. “It’s one of the most exploited vulnerabilities ever seen in cyberspace.”

Cybercriminals are conducting sophisticated, multivector Gen V cyberattacks, Shwed said.

“And we need to be ready for that, and we need to be ready for whatever comes next,” he said.

A few years ago, cybercriminals targeted small businesses and individual computers, Shwed said.

“Now we target the entire infrastructure,” he said. “And companies were thinking that by investing more and deploying more security products, their infrastructure is more secure or maybe security is good enough. No, it wasn’t. And I think that’s what we’ve seen last year. When it comes to security, second-best security is not enough.”

Second-best security will get you breached, Shwed said.

Partners’ Role in Best Security

Shwed said partners educate customers about how they can achieve the best security. And Check Point’s employees are providing the support they need.

“Our task is to get to our organizations, to our internal and external customers and provide them with the best security, the one that will keep the attacks out,” he said. “And we believe that there is an answer for that. I think there is one vendor and only one vendor that can actually provide the best security that protects against the Gen V attacks, security that prevents these attacks, that keeps these hackers out.”

The basis of Check Point’s security is its Infinity infrastructure, Schwed said. It includes Quantum, which secures network, CloudGuard, which secures cloud, and Harmony, which secures users and access.

“The Infinity Vision Management Software …  is the secret sauce that connects all the elements and makes sure that every attack in real time is protected across all these three factors,” he said.

Harmony Connect SASE

Also during CPX 360, Check Point unveiled its enhanced Harmony Connect secure access service edge (SASE). Harmony Connect delivers core network security services such as secure web gateway, zero-trust network access (ZTNA), branch firewall as a service, intrusion prevention and data loss prevention (DLP).

The Enhanced Harmony Connect allows:

Itai Greenberg is Check Point’s vice president of product management.

“By extending Check Point’s prevention-first approach to SASE, organizations no longer need to choose between security and performance across their distributed environments,” he said. “Harmony Connect unifies multiple cloud-delivered network security services and makes it simple to secure remote and hybrid workers, as well as globally distributed offices.”

Four hundred customers globally have deployed the service, Greenberg said.

“And with the new enhancements, organizations will enjoy increased connectivity options, enhanced remote device security and an even better user experience,” he said.