Check Point Software and Nokia dominate VPN market

29 November 1999 - Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.(NASDAQ: CHKP) and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) today announced that their jointly developed solution for the dedicated Virtual Private Network (VPN) appliance market has captured the lead in worldwide market share for the third consecutive quarter.

According to independent data by Infonetics Research, Inc. of San Jose, Calif., the Check Point/Nokia solution, known as Check Point's VPN-1 Appliance product line, has once again been named the industry leader with 51 percent market share in high-end VPN appliances ­ over three times the worldwide market share of the next closest competitor. The Infonetics market data also showed that the Check Point/Nokia solution continued to gain VPN market share quarter over quarter. Infonetics forecasts this market to continue to experience explosive growth.

"Once again we see the Check Point Software/Nokia solution earn strong market leadership position in the dedicated VPN hardware market," said Jeff Wilson, director of access programs, Infonetics, Inc. "This market has tremendous growth potential, and the VPN-1 Appliance family is uniquely positioned to continue to capitalize on this growth."

"We are pleased to again be recognized by Infonetics as the worldwide market leader," said Asheem Chandna, vice president of marketing and business development for Check Point Software Technologies. "The VPN-1 Appliance product line provides an ideal solution for customer appliance needs across all major market segments including service providers, large enterprises, and small to medium businesses."

"Tightly integrating Check Point's market-leading software with the Nokia flexible IP network appliance provides customers with the industry's best VPN/security appliance solution," said John Carosella, vice president of marketing and business development, Nokia Internet Communications. "We view our partnership with Check Point Software as very strategic and continue to invest to jointly develop the industry's most comprehensive VPN/security appliance product line."

The VPN-1 Appliance integrates Check Point Software's market-leading VPN-1/FireWall-1 software with Nokia's comprehensive IP networking functions on specially designed hardware to deliver the industry's most powerful and secure Internet connectivity solutions. Designed for both corporate and remote office deployments, Check Point's VPN-1 Appliance is the ideal solution for offices that need Internet access, but lack the on-site expertise to administer and manage a comprehensive security policy.

The Check Point VPN-1 Appliance is an important component of the company's Secure Virtual Network (SVN) architecture, which incorporates all of the critical elements for a secure Internet environment. This environment provides seamless Internet connectivity between networks, systems, applications and users and ensures secure communications across the Internet, intranets and extranets.