Check Point Acquires FaceTime Database for Application Controls

Check Point Software Technologies has acquired FaceTime Communications' application classification and signature database to "add security controls for over 50,000 Web 2.0 widgets and more than 4,500 Internet applications," Check Point announced Nov. 23.

The acquisition, made for an undisclosed sum, is meant to bring more granular controls over applications into Check Point's product line. The company plans to incorporate the technology into a software blade for its gateways in 2010.

"This will allow us to continue to elevate the level of Internet security and strengthen our market and technology leadership," Gil Shwed, chairman and CEO of Check Point, said in a statement. "As the Internet and its use evolved, Check Point has ensured [that] businesses remain securely connected. This granular application control will enable better use of Web 2.0 technologies safely and securely."

"FaceTime incorporates the database in its recently announced Unified Security Gateway 3.0 ... [which] combines content monitoring, logging, management and security of Web 2.0 applications ... with URL filtering, anti-malware and Web antivirus protection," FaceTime said in a separate news release.

"Acquiring FaceTime's application database allows Check Point to create a solution [that] enables enterprises to monitor, control and diffuse network traffic, including those from Web 2.0 applications," IDC analyst Charles Kolodgy said in Check Point's statement. "This development reinforces Check Point's leading edge in the industry and takes the firewall beyond just providing security."