--- Cyber Security as Part of Our Lives. Interview with Mrs. Oana PAVALOIU, Channel Manager, Check Point Romania
Interview made by: LEARSCHI, Bogdan
Issue: Volume 13, Issue 1, Year 2024
With almost two decades of involvement in IT, Oana PAVALOIU achieved a solid experience working in IT Security dealing with different types of solutions. Her main work experience was developing business with strategic partners and in the past 5 years since she joined Check Point Software Technologies, she developed a solid partnership with different channel partners by offering her full support on channel level.
We had the opportunity to discuss about how is Check Point Software positioned in the Cyber Security landscape with Oana PAVALOIU who is working with Romanian Office of the company as a Channel Manager for the last five years.
- How was the cybersecurity landscape changed in the last few years?
I’ve been working for Check Point since 2019 and until now I can tell you that everything changed. Our world since pandemic is completely different. Now we are continually moving, we don’t need to stay 9-18 in the office, we can work from everywhere anytime. That’s why I Think we should be focusing more on what companies and people do to protect their data. This is what Check Point does protect your everything.
- Please tell us how is Check Point positioned in this landscape.
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. is a leading provider of cyber security solutions to corporate enterprises and governments globally. Check Point’s portfolio of solutions protects enterprises and public organizations from advanced cyber-attacks with an industry leading catch rate of malware, ransomware and other threats. Did you know that we were the first to patent ”Stateful firewall” and actually one of the founders has Romanian roots? Until I got here I didn’t knew about it.
- How should organizations prepare, taking into account the increasing diversity of cyber-attacks?
Every day we are informed about data breaches, ransomware or other types of cyber-attacks. What I can tell you is that these are real and we need to understand something. That in our days, data is the most valuable asset and hackers are taking advantage of this. That’s why they are hacking the most important data processors and controllers like hospitals, public sector companies and banks. Because they know that data is valuable and companies will pay to receive back what is stolen.
I think it is important for every company to analyze their infrastructure to see how stable and secure it is in order not to be affected by such attacks. We are here with our security solutions and I can tell you that we can provide the best security in the world. This statement was given by our customers worldwide from different verticals like medical care, public sector, banking etc.
- How do you support the statement that you have the leading cyber security solutions I saw that is mentioned on your website?
You are right, it is mentioned on our website, but this is not just a marketing statement, our customers are saying this. What I can tell you is that our Check Point Infinity platform autonomously predicts and prevents attacks across networks, clouds, endpoints and devices. Our Research team Detects 2,000 attacks daily by unknown threats previously undiscovered and ThreatCloud AI is Check Point’s rich cyber defense database. Its threat intelligence powers Check Point zero-day protection solutions and is implemented in all our solutions.
- What is the hottest topic these days in security?
During my customer and partner discussions I have discovered a complete new interest in SASE solutions.
The world has changed in the last few years, and the old way of securing a standard on-premises network, with its notions of inside and outside the perimeter, is no longer enough. There are many reasons for this change including the rise of public cloud networks for hosting applications and data, and the enhanced workflow agility from software as a service platforms like Salesforce and Office 365. Add to that the increasing trend of remote work and the need for high performance connections, and it’s clear legacy VPNs in a handful of locations can no longer serve a modern workforce.
This is what Harmony SASE is all about: a network security solution designed to protect hybrid work and provide secure anywhere access to cloud and on-prem networks. A solution that acknowledges that while the cloud is now an essential tool requiring new security paradigms, there is still a need for on-prem networking and branch-level connectivity and security.
- Why Check Point Harmony SASE?
The concept of SASE was originally conceived by Gartner identifying the challenges of modern network security and the need for a better way to protect corporate networks.
Harmony SASE improves on the Gartner model by adding a unique solution to the latency problem endemic to many internet security solutions. We use a hybrid approach that combines on-device protection, enabling direct internet access, with cloud-based protection. This results in 2x faster Internet security, when compared with other solutions on the market.
I am speaking about Check Point’s Harmony SASE’s solutions as it has some key features:
- Faster Secure Internet Access: 2x faster internet security performance vs competitors, and secure access for both remote users and branch offices, bolstered by cloud and on-device network protections. This ensures a native, localized browsing experience with tighter security and privacy.
- Zero Trust Access: Efficient and reliable system assuring least privilege access for all, regardless of location or device, facilitated by full mesh connectivity between users, branches, and applications.
- Ease of Deployment: Recognized as the easiest-to-implement SASE solution, Harmony SASE boasts a one-hour rollout and user-friendly administration.
- Optimized SD-WAN Performance: Features include industry-leading AI Threat Prevention combined with smooth internet and network connectivity, with autonomous steering for over 10,000 applications. The solution ensures uninterrupted web conferencing through seamless link failover and a dedicated steering policy.
- Unified Management: Single-vendor SASE with a consolidated console for the entire on-premises and cloud firewall.
Title: Cyber Security as Part of Our Lives. Interview with Mrs. Oana PAVALOIU, Channel Manager, Check Point Romania
Author(s): LEARSCHI, Bogdan
Publication: International Journal of Information Security and Cybercrime
ISSN: 2285-9225, e-ISSN: 2286-0096
Issue: Volume 13, Issue 1, Year 2024
Section: Interviews with experts
Page Range: 71-73
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