Check Point, Cloud Security Vendor, Acquires Dome9 

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Dome9, the public cloud security specialist, has been acquired by another Israel-based cybersecurity vendor, Check Point Software.

Check Point, Tel Aviv, said Wednesday (Oct. 24) its acquisition of Dome9 would bolster its Infinity security architecture by adding multi-cloud security along with security policy tools. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Dome9’s customers used its platform to secure multi-cloud deployments across Amazon Web Services (NASDAQ: AMZN), Google Cloud (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Microsoft Azure (NASDAQ: MSFT). It also specialized in securing cloud-native applications. As more enterprises shift operations to the cloud, vendors like Check Point emphasize that intruders are probing multi-cloud deployments for vulnerabilities.

“This acquisition will enhance our ability to deliver the benefits of cloud with the critical security that must extend from the networks, endpoints and datacenters to the cloud and mobile, enterprise-wide,” said Check Point CEO Gil Shwed.

Check Point (NASDAQ: CHKP) and cloud security vendors warn that companies now face what the vendor calls “5^thgeneration” cyberattacks that increasingly target enterprise cloud deployments, especially multi-cloud infrastructure.

Zohar Alon, Dome9’s CEO, has noted that the shift to hybrid cloud deployments means security administrators will have to transition from datacenter tools and controls to a “new network-centric approach to security.”

Check Point has described so-called Gen V cyberattacks coming from multiple sources, including the cloud, mobile devices and network endpoints. “These attacks are what we call ‘polymorphic’,” Shwed told CNBC in May. “They change their shape every time” they are launched. “In previous generations you could say. ‘This is how I identify an attack, this is what a malicious file looks like, it has a signature.

“Now the hackers are changing the form of the file…so it’s very hard to spot it,” Shwed added.

The new wave of cyberattacks is augmented by what Shwed described as “government-grade level tools.”

Security vendors like Check Point are positioning their wares as an additional layer of security on top of what large public cloud vendors like AWS, Google and Microsoft are deploying internally as enterprises shift to multi-cloud deployments.

Nevertheless, Shwed noted that mobile phones remain the “back door” for attacking cloud assets.

About the author: George Leopold

George Leopold has written about science and technology for more than 30 years, focusing on electronics and aerospace technology. He previously served as executive editor of Electronic Engineering Times. Leopold is the author of "Calculated Risk: The Supersonic Life and Times of Gus Grissom" (Purdue University Press, 2016).