Firewalls Get A Facelift

Managing dozens of firewalls across a company's wide and local area network isn't a pretty task. Security managers are often forced to flip through multiple screens and windows to keep abreast of complicated firewall configurations and policies. Firewall and virtual private network security company Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq---CHKP) believes that task can be simplified with the security dashboard it unveiled Wednesday.

By creating a visual picture of security operations, security managers can more easily determine what security rules are applied to what firewalls, says Greg Smith, Check Point's director of product marketing.

"The dashboard is completely customizable, so security administrators can look at their entire security landscape and drill down to very specific configuration details," Smith says. Administrators can also conduct queries and analyze network and security policies for security and object rules. One of the most dramatic changes to the Check Point user interface is the Visual Policy Editor, which provides a detailed graphical view of the entire security deployment. "It shows the actual effects security policies will have when enforced, as well as what traffic will be permitted into the network," Smith adds.

The user interface, dubbed the Next Generation User Interface, also boasts a VPN-1 SecureClient policy editor for creating and managing detailed client policies and an Account Management Module for managing user information in LDAP directories. The interface is expected to be available by second quarter this year.

John Pescatore, research director for network security at Gartner, says Check Point has made some positive changes to its product line. "They're doing everything that the industry leader in firewalls should be doing."