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Independent Study: Check Point Beats Cisco and Netscreen Performance by a 5x Factor In Real World VPN Tests

Check Point's $16,000 Solutions Outperformed $65,000 and $35,000 Solutions From Cisco and NetScreen

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Oct. 10, 2002 - Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced that recent tests conducted by The Tolly Group support Check Point's position as the VPN and firewall performance leader by outperforming competing enterprise-class solutions from Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) and NetScreen Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: NSCN) in real-world environments. The complete test can be found at http://www.checkpoint.com/products/downloads/tollyreport.pdf

The tests included Check Point's market-leading VPN-1 ProT running on an industry-standard Intel architecture server, the Cisco PIXT 535 and the NetScreen 500T. Each product was tested to determine maximum firewall and VPN performance under a variety of traffic conditions. Unlike previous industry tests, this Tolly Group report looks at real-world traffic in addition to lab benchmarks.

Test results concluded:

  • Check Point VPN-1 Pro delivered the highest overall real-world VPN throughput of 260 Mbps, outperforming NetScreen's and Cisco's best results by 277 percent and 294 percent, respectively
  • Check Point VPN-1 Pro outperformed NetScreen by 57 percent for real-world firewall traffic
  • Check Point VPN-1 Pro is 400 percent faster than Cisco and NetScreen under heavy traffic scenarios with small packet VPN traffic conditions

Unsurpassed Price Performance
The Tolly Group Test Summary went beyond performance analysis to examine the cost-of-ownership of the tested devices. Just as the Check Point VPN-1 Pro emerged as the performance leader on the test side, the device out-distanced the Cisco and NetScreen solutions in economic analysis as well. The Tolly Group calculated a cost-per-megabit of firewall throughput for the three devices tested, and the VPN-1 Pro's cost-per-megabit of throughput is $21.37 versus more than $73 for the NetScreen 500 and more than $90 for the Cisco PIX 535. The retail price of the tested solutions as configured is $16,000 for Check Point VPN-1 Pro, $35,000 for NetScreen 500 and $66,000 for the Cisco PIX 535.

"When evaluating a VPN/firewall solution, customers need to understand how these solutions hold up in real-world deployments," said Kevin Tolly, president of The Tolly Group and Tolly Research. "For this industry analysis of enterprise-class VPN and firewalls, we designed a test that matched real-world environments, not just ideal conditions. Check Point VPN-1 Pro outperformed solutions from competitors Cisco and NetScreen."

"The Tolly Group study demonstrates Check Point's commitment to deliver the best results for our customers - world-class security, manageability, unsurpassed performance, all at the best price," said Carol Stone, vice president of marketing for Check Point Software. "With Check Point solutions, customers don't have to sacrifice their security level for performance - they can get the highest level of security with the best performance and cost/performance."

About Check Point Software Technologies
Check Point Software Technologies is the worldwide leader in securing the Internet. It is the confirmed market leader of both the worldwide VPN and firewall markets. The company's Secure Virtual Network (SVN) architecture provides the VPN and security infrastructure that uniquely enables secure and reliable Internet communications. SVN solutions, as delivered in the company's Next Generation product family, secure business communications and resources for corporate networks, remote employees, branch offices and partner extranets. Extending the power of SVN is Check Point's Open Platform for Security (OPSEC), the industry's framework and alliance for integration and interoperability with "best-of-breed" solutions from over 325 leading companies. Check Point solutions are sold, integrated and serviced by a network of 2,500 certified partners in 149 countries. For more information, please call us at (800) 429-4391 or (650) 628-2000 or visit us on the Web at http://www.checkpoint.com or at http://www.opsec.com.

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©2002 Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
All rights reserved. Check Point, the Check Point logo, SmartLSM, ClusterXL, ConnectControl, FireWall-1, FireWall-1 SecureServer, FireWall-1 SmallOffice, FireWall-1 XL, FloodGate-1, INSPECT, INSPECT XL, IQ Engine, Meta IP, Open Security Extension, OPSEC, Provider-1, SecureKnowledge, SecureUpdate, SiteManager-1, SmartDefense, SVN, UAM, User-to-Address Mapping, UserAuthority, Visual Policy Editor, VPN-1, VPN-1 Accelerator Card, VPN-1 Net, VPN-1 Pro, VPN SecureClient, VPN-1 SecuRemote, VPN-1 SecureServer, VPN-1 SmallOffice, and are trademarks or registered trademarks of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. or its affiliates. All other product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The products described in this document are protected by U.S. Patent No. 5,606,668 and 5,835,726 and may be protected by other U.S. Patents, foreign patents, or pending applications.