As promised (CI No 2,620) Israeli software house CheckPoint Software Technologies Ltd, Ramat Gan, announced version 1.2 of its CheckPoint FireWall-1 at Networld+InterOp 95 last week. Version 1.2 supports all Internet services and applications, can be used in conjunction with third party one-time password schemes, such as Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Security Dynamics Technologies Inc’s SecurID, prevents Internet Protocol spoofing and now supports Simple Network Management Protocol 2. FireWall-1’s graphical user interface acts as a kind of multiple choice table for enabling or shutting off access from different communications systems, inspecting data on network entry and exit at each of the six logical layers of the Open Systems Interconnection Seven Layer stack. CheckPoint claims it bridges traditional network security mechanisms that rely on application gateways and proxies, or router and packet filters. In its view, gateways and proxies such as ANS InterLock, NetPartners Janus, Raptor Eagle and TIS Gauntlet provide security but not transparent communications for users. Router and packet filters from the likes of Cisco Systems Inc and Bay Networks Inc on the other hand deliver transparent communications, but are inherently insecure, it says. FireWall works at all layers, at the application level for Telnet and Mosaic where gateways and proxies reside. At the presentation level for, XDR, session and Remote Procedure Call. At the transport layer with Transmission Control Protocol, User Datagram Protocol, and at the network layer for Internet Protocol and datalink where routers and packet filters operate, and hardware. Out in May on SunOS and Solaris Sparc and x86, 1.2 costs from $5,000 for up to 50 nodes, up to $19,000 for larger systems. Upgrades from 1.0 are free of charge with a support contract. Version 1.2 automatically generates router access lists for Bay Networks’ Wellfleet 8 and Cisco Systems versions 9 and 10. Born from an idea handed to a consultancy by one of its clients, the concept of a FireWall product was spun out into CheckPoint with venture capital funding that turned the idea into product within a year. CheckPoint now has 20 staff split across three development groups; systems, enterprise management and security. With network security nailed, it believes, other cookies to crumble across the security spectrum are authentication, data integrity and encryption, data security, and auditing. The company says it is got most other vendors clamouring for its attention, the next FireWall-1 implementation will be on HP-UX, with other Unix versions to follow.