Check Point Software Technologies Announces Secure Support for Netscape's CoolTalk

Leading Firewall Vendor Adds Immediate Application Support In Tandem With Release of Netscape Navigator 3.0

Redwood City, CA —

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., a market share leader in network security software, today announced that Check Point FireWall-1 is the first firewall to provide integrated, secure support for Netscape Communications Corporation's CoolTalk conferencing software. CoolTalk is an Internet telephone tool included with Netscape Navigator 3.0 Internet client software that provides high-quality audio conferencing, shared whiteboard and text-based communications capabilities. Firewall support for CoolTalk is available by downloading add-on code from Check Point's Web server (http://www.checkpoint.com) at no charge and integrating it into current FireWall-1 installations.

FireWall-1, which today supports more than 120 applications, services and protocols, is designed to allow administrators to easily customize the firewall to incorporate new applications. Most Internet audio and video technology, including CoolTalk, is based on connectionless protocols such as UDP and dynamically allocated channels. This makes it difficult or impossible for most firewalls to support these technologies securely. FireWall-1's Stateful Inspection implementation secures UDP-based applications by maintaining a virtual connection on top of UDP communications. Additionally, FireWall-1's programmable Inspect engine, at the core of the FireWall-1 technology, allows Check Point to add support for new applications such as CoolTalk quickly and easily.

"The growing number of corporations deploying Internet audio and video technologies to conduct business and communicate with their global counterparts are demanding that these communications be secured through corporate firewalls," said Dr. Deborah Triant, CEO and president of Check Point Software Technologies, Inc. "FireWall-1's extensible architecture, which can secure sessionless protocols commonly used for audio and video applications, enables Check Point to add support for new and emerging Internet applications, to allow our customers to leverage new technologies such as Netscape CoolTalk."

"Security is a key concern for many of our customers, many of whom need to share sensitive and confidential information such as business plans and financial data," said Bob Lisbonne, vice president of client product marketing at Netscape. "We are pleased that Check Point FireWall-1 offers protection to users leveraging CoolTalk's collaborative capabilities."

About FireWall-1
Check Point FireWall-1 is a market leading global network security solution providing integrated Internet and Intranet access control as well as authentication and encryption services for secure remote access and virtual private networks. As the first shrinkwrapped firewall package, and the first to employ an easy to-use graphical user interface, FireWall-1 is NCSA-certified and recognized by users and trade publications for its usability, flexibility, extensibility and high-performance. The product is installed at thousands of customer sites worldwide, making it the most widely-tested network security solution on the market.

Based upon Check Point's unique, patent-pending Stateful Inspection architecture, FireWall-1 supports more than 120 pre-defined services, applications and protocols. The product employs a distributed, client/server architecture, providing scalability and centralized management for multiple firewall gateways, and cross-platform support for Windows 95, Windows NT and UNIX.

About CHECK POINT Software Technologies Ltd.
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. is the market leader in global network security software. The company commanded a 40% share of the worldwide firewall market in 1995 according to an IDC study issued in February, 1996. The company's flagship product, Check Point FireWall-1 protects internal and external network communication for thousands of organizations of all sizes. Its products are sold worldwide through numerous OEM partners, distributors, VARs, systems and network integrators and Internet Service Providers. Listed on the NASDAQ under the symbol "CHKPF," the company has U.S. headquarters in Redwood City, California and international headquarters in Ramat-Gan, Israel. For product information, please call (650) 482-4900, e-mail info@checkpoint.com or visit Check Point at http://www.checkpoint.com.

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