According to the World Bank, more than 90 percent of registered businesses worldwide are considered small and medium-size (SMB). From the corner store to complex international teams, SMBs are the driving force of a connected, digital economy – focused on staying one step ahead of cyber criminals, who represent a growing threat to their opportunities to invent, to inspire and to drive positive change throughout the world.

Check Point, the largest pure-play security vendor globally, has released the Check Point 700 Series appliances, designed to enable small and medium-sized businesses to innovate and grow without the worry of today’s most sophisticated cyber criminals and zero-day threats.

The new purpose-built hardware features network performance to support faster internet speeds (up to 4 Gbps of firewall throughput traffic; up to 200 Mbps when all threat prevention functions are activated), along with a simple Web-based management platform, all at a price point attractive for small-business budgets.

“Cyber criminals are not only employing increasingly sophisticated means of stealing data – they are also increasingly targeting the entrepreneurial spirit of small-business IT,” said Gabi Reish, vice president of product management, Check Point. “The new Check Point 700 Series appliances provide an enterprise-grade solution that meets the agility and evolving needs of the small business.”

The new 700 Series appliances expand the award-winning Check Point 600 Series appliances, which was named to Network World’s ‘Best Unified Threat Management (UTM) for Small Business Security’ for the last two years. The new Check Point 730 and 750 both deliver enterprise-class security optimised and simplified for small businesses. Pre-loaded features include firewall, VPN, anti-bot, intrusion prevention (IPS), anti-virus, anti-spam, application control, URL filtering and the ability to enable network security monitoring. This ‘big security in a small box’ approach helps support small businesses with:

- Sophisticated protection. Elusive cyberattacks often infiltrate networks in stages and remain dormant, making them harder to detect. The new 700 Series appliances will feature industry-leading firewall protection and advanced intrusion prevention and detection to better protect against cyberattacks.

- Around-the-Clock performance. Check Point’s Security Management Portal and SMB Cloud Management provide complete internet protection, along with automated detection and prevention technology. Businesses can remotely monitor security incidents around-the-clock to ensure their network stays protected, despite a sophisticated and ever-changing threat landscape.

- Security without complexity. Overly complex systems are hard to manage, with features a business might not understand and or ever turn on. The 700 Series appliances are designed for IT teams that benefit from a low-maintenance solution that is easy to configure, provides simple monitoring and reporting, and has options for zero-touch installation.

Pricing and Availability

The Check Point 700 Series appliances are available immediately, suitable for small offices of up to 100 employees. The 700 Series includes two appliance models – the 730 (100 Mbps, US$499) and 750 (200Mbps, US$799). Each model also can be equipped with 802.11ac Wi-Fi as an option. Additionally, a VDSL connectivity option will be available later in the year.