Check Point blends VPN software with remote PC scanning tool

Check Point is aiming to establish itself as the protector of the remote access PC with the integration of its SecureClient VPN software with the Integrity tool it acquired when it bought Zone Labs earlier this year.

Integrity scans remote PCs to see whether they have firewalls, updated anti-virus software and the like.

The blended software, called Check Point Integrity SecureClient, acts as a client for remote PCs trying to access VPNs. It also includes a personal firewall and it checks the configuration of the remote machine to make sure it meets corporate security policies.

The last feature, commonly called endpoint security, is important because if the remote endpoint has viruses and Trojans on it, it can infect the network to which it connects. To combat this, the new client can make sure the PC has a firewall turned on and configured properly, include updated and functioning anti-virus software, and is based on a properly patched operating system.

Check Point’s client integrates the firewall and VPN so configuring the VPN also configures the firewall to enable the specified VPN connections, making it simpler to configure the remote PCs.

This is a model other vendors are emulating, many of them by licensing Zone’s software or otherwise partnering with Zone. Other vendors have written their own endpoint security software and Microsoft has proposed an endpoint security scheme to be released next year as part of Windows XP.

The advantage Check Point has is its firewall and VPN software is rolled up with the endpoint security software, making the package a single software installation.

Regardless of whose endpoint security users rely on, if they are running remote access VPNs, they should try to keep these machines clean. Not doing so is pretending that a serious threat doesn’t exist.