Harmony Email & Collaboration (Avanan)

I have been using Check Point Harmony  Email & Collaboration for about a year and a half and I don't have plans to switch it out for something else. I'm not as enthused about Check Point as Unitrends . There are a couple of things that haven't gone exactly the way I expected them to, but overall the product is pretty good. I don't expect to move away from them.

Check Point has made my threat prevention better. It has helped me avoid having to redo machines and has helped protect our data by not letting unauthorized items through. The items it does let through that people are worried about are usually real things that appear unusual. It blocks and notifies me about other concerning items, then I can investigate and determine if it's legitimate mail from someone we want. It has significantly fewer false positives than my old solution did. I remember constantly releasing mails with my old solution, being in there four or five times a week releasing emails that got blocked even after I had whitelisted some portion of them. Once I whitelist something with Check Point Harmony  Email & Collaboration, I haven't had to think about it again.

I appreciate having one login to deal with multiple different security products. My favorite feature is the ease of finding a piece of mail that got lost somewhere or was blocked for any reason. Their Mail Explorer is simple to use while also offering complex capabilities. I've always been able to find the problematic email and resolve whatever issue exists, whether it requires quarantine or appropriate release.

The AI-powered threat intelligence is built into this system. I haven't had any users accidentally click on something problematic since implementing the product, which speaks to its efficacy.

Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration has enhanced our threat prevention. It has prevented machine redos and protected our data by blocking unauthorized items. When items are flagged as concerning, they're typically legitimate but appear unusual. The system blocks and notifies about suspicious items, allowing me to verify if they're legitimate communications we want to receive. It produces significantly fewer false positives than my previous solution.

One aspect of Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration that differs from my old solution, Proofpoint, involves mail delivery. With Proofpoint at the MX level, mail would be processed first before being sent to our Microsoft tenant, preventing users from seeing problematic emails. The current setup with Check Point routes mail into the mailbox and then removes it if an issue is detected. During the East Coast  server outage with Amazon service this week, mail was delivered and then pulled back because Harmony wasn't working properly and needed to scan it. I prefer the approach where mail gets blocked before reaching the mailbox. However, there haven't been any issues with the current method.

One advantage of the current system is the user creation process. With Proofpoint, I had to wait up to 45 minutes for new email accounts to start working due to sync requirements. The current system, being tied directly to the mailbox instead of requiring MX record verification, allows new mailboxes to function immediately after Microsoft activation.

I have been using Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration for about a year and a half.

I haven't had any users encounter issues with accidentally clicked emails since implementing the product.

My experience with Check Point's customer service and tech support has been positive. I maintain a relationship with them despite my sales representative changing once. I have access to a dedicated sales engineer for technical guidance and best practice recommendations. Their technical support is proficient at resolving issues within their scope, providing excellent problem-solving assistance and guidance.

Positive

The initial setup with Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration is super simple. Check Point provides comprehensive technical documentation for all their products if you're willing to read it. Though I had a sales engineer on the phone during setup, their assistance wasn't necessary. The Harmony implementation was straightforward - requiring only a few clicks to add the tenant and activate the system. After the initial configuration, no additional setup was required.

Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration handles mail delivery differently than my previous solution, Proofpoint. At the MX level, Proofpoint would process all mail before sending it to our Microsoft tenant.

Before using Check Point, some issues would get through and people would inquire about them, demonstrating appropriate caution. However, we had instances where users clicked on suspicious items, requiring computer removal from the network and complete system wipes for security purposes.

Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration has been very competitive with their pricing. Compared to previous security products, I was able to add a physical firewall and software licensing for the same price as the endpoint and email security. While my overall bill increased after adding more products, they offered significantly better pricing than competitors.

I would rate Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration a nine out of ten.

Mostly my use case is to secure all emails, whether it is inbound and outbound traffic. All emails must be scanned by Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, and then it should go to the user end or as outbound traffic to the SMTP servers. This is the main use case from our side. Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration works as a mediator or protector for all emails in the network.

If one of the outbound emails comes via the email inbox and contains malicious codes or vulnerability, and the email directly goes to the users without protection, the user or organization may get impacted. As an email security solution, it acts as a mediator or protector between the outside and inside traffic, inside infra or outside infra.

When traffic comes from outbound to inbound, email security as a mediator or protector scans the entire email, which includes phishing mail, steganography email, and OCR, and gives the verdict if the mail is clean. If the mail is clean, then it is passed to the user. If the mail is not clean, it will remove the attachment or isolate the entire mail and generate an alert that this mail is in quarantine. Based on that, we categorize all emails. We have configured all policies in the Infinity Portal to handle this scanning process.

It helped our team by improving security on the email layer. An additional feature that has helped significantly is its connection with Microsoft Teams. All chats, files, and communication via Teams are scanned by the solution.

The best features of Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration are the phishing mail detection and QR code-based mail scanning. The QR code blocking capability is particularly important. When an email arrives containing a QR code promising surprise prizes, non-IT users might scan these codes, which could contain malicious files or vulnerabilities. Many security solutions don't have the ability to block or scan QR codes, but Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration can scan these codes and quarantine them if they lack authenticity, providing an additional layer of security against QR code-based attacks.

Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration currently integrates with only a few email domains, such as Google, Gmail, Outlook, and Zimbra. In the future, it would be beneficial if Check Point offered more options to integrate with several other email domains. The solution should also be available as an on-premises option, as some organizations have restrictions over the internet.

After implementing Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, unwanted emails, malicious emails, phishing emails, and other types of threatening emails have declined by about 50 to 60%. Our goal is to achieve 100% protection over time. This improvement in security allows our IT team to focus on other security-related problems in the network.

I have been using Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration for more than six to seven months.

It is stable.

Scalability is good.

Best customer support from Check Point side is available anytime, anywhere.

Positive

We were not using any kind of email security solution previously.

The deployment was pretty good with simple one-step integration. The setup, licensing, and pricing are all favorable.

If systems are compromised, it may impact our entire organization through financial loss or asset loss. After installing Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration, there has been significant ROI. Our organization has experienced substantial savings. Assets are now in a stable state with no loss of IT or financial assets, as no outside mails come without scanning. The solution has decreased expenses while providing excellent ROI.

We initially checked the email security solution from Check Point only. While we were aware of alternatives from Palo Alto and Sophos, we did not evaluate them.

Go with security, not pricing. I rate Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration a ten out of ten.

For my company case, I need to protect from phishing and malware using Check Point Harmony  Email & Collaboration.

In the past, a coworker opened an email and clicked a hyperlink or URL site, and this was a vulnerability in his email, which Check Point Harmony  Email & Collaboration helped protect against.

Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration offers zero-day protection as one of its best features.

The Zero-Day Protection feature of Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration has made a noticeable difference for us. It uses AI and threat emulation to detect and block unknown attacks before they reach users.

Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration has had a strong positive impact on my company as it has significantly reduced phishing and malware. The case from the past when a coworker opened an email with phishing demonstrates this real benefit, making it a great feature for the company.

Pricing for Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration could be more flexible, especially for smaller teams or organizations with limited budgets. In my case, I need to use the feature for other characteristics that are flexible and scalable.

The reason I give an eight instead of a higher or lower score is that the pricing could be more competitive, and additional documentation would help make setup and troubleshooting easier.

It's a solid solution, and Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration just needs better pricing and clearer documentation to be even more user-friendly.

I have been using Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration for two or three years.

Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration is very stable.

Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration is very scalable. In my case, I deployed the Infinity  Portal, and it is the best option to use.

The customer support for Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration is great.

Positive

I didn't use different solutions previously. I have seen a clear return on investment with Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration as it has reduced the number of phishing incidents and manual investigations.

In the past, I didn't know about the pricing, setup cost, and licensing, but when I deployed it in the company, I was able to gain more experience with these characteristics.

I have seen a clear return on investment with Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration as it has reduced the number of phishing incidents and manual investigations. I don't need more people in IT to investigate different phishing incidents.

I didn't evaluate other options before choosing Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration as I prefer the Check Point company.

My advice for others looking into using Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration is to make sure to take full advantage of its AI-driven threat prevention and account takeover protections. I rate this solution an eight out of ten.

We were previously customers of Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration. We currently are not using it but are looking to bring them back in the future if an opportunity arises.

The main use cases with Check Point Harmony  Email & Collaboration involved monitoring user behavior in the Microsoft environment, including login patterns and correspondence. The primary scenario where it was leveraged extensively was during investigations. It has proven particularly valuable whenever incidents or potential incidents have occurred.

The best features of Check Point Harmony  Email & Collaboration involve understanding user behavior and monitoring interactions. It allows applications to send, receive, and process emails, which is particularly useful from an investigative standpoint.

The threat prevention in Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration provides scoring and rating that helps determine threat levels. Based on configured thresholds, it can automatically block or discard threats as needed. 

The automated incident response feature is generally helpful for investigative purposes, though we prefer human intervention for thorough analysis. There are situations where a human analyst needs to evaluate the circumstances, understand the data, and determine whether it is relevant and useful. For instance, they need to assess if it could be an indicator of compromise. In the setups I’ve been involved with, there has always been a blend of automation and human analysis to ensure effective outcomes.

Robust inspection technologies have proven valuable in safeguarding shared files in collaborative environments by analyzing patterns and identifying potential threats.

Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration can continue to improve by curating intelligence from other sources if it doesn't have enough in-house. It needs to be powered with strong threat research and threat intel capabilities. When there are limitations in-house, it should allow collaboration with other entities, whether commercial entities, open-source resources, or researchers in that space. This collaborative setup enriches the threat intel and data, which in turn helps the product determine whether something is a true positive versus a false positive.

I worked with this solution for a couple of years.

I would rate Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration's support a seven out of ten. The package offered 24/7 coverage, and they would generally respond with acknowledgment when contacted. Sometimes junior staff members would ask scripted questions without having enough knowledge to address the core issue immediately. In some cases, issues needed escalation to the customer support manager to find a resource that could resolve the problem quickly.

Positive

The initial setup of Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration was moderate in difficulty. While there were some minor hiccups and it took time to understand, it was ultimately more simple than difficult.

The comparable solutions to Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration are Proofpoint and Mimecast. The main difference is that Check Point traditionally has been a firewall software company, recognized as the first vendor for inspection and firewall concepts. Proofpoint, on the other hand, started as an email filtering and security solution. Proofpoint has maintained its focus on email security, making significant investments in this area. While Check Point has broadened its portfolio to include cloud security and other areas, this expansion can sometimes pose challenges as it may limit the time available for improving individual products.

I haven't encountered many integrations. The only one I have seen is with the ticketing system. It works with certain common ticketing platforms. Those are the only integrations I have utilized.

I would rate Check Point Harmony Email & Collaboration an eight out of ten.