Spotlight On: Ray Jimenez, Vice President Sales – LATAM & US South, Check Point Software Technologies

Spotlight On: Ray Jimenez, Vice President Sales – LATAM & US South, Check Point Software Technologies

2023-05-08T16:07:57-04:00May 8th, 2023|Economy, Miami, Professional Services, Spotlight On|

3 min read May 2023 Invest: spoke with Ray Jimenez, vice president sales – LATAM & US South of Check Point Software Technologies, to discuss how a focus on prevention sets the firm apart from many cybersecurity companies. “Our tagline and brand promise is that customers deserve the best security. That way, every client can conduct their business over the internet with the highest level of security, regardless of where and how they are connecting,” he said. 

What have been your key takeaways from the past year?

We live in challenging times where there is a lot of public and private information that needs to be protected. Consistently there are attacks from bad actors who are looking to inflict economic and reputational damage to companies and individuals. To that end, we offer unique solutions that focus on prevention, which we prioritize over detection. Because Check Point is a 30-year-old company, we have the relevant experience to meet these needs and have been recognized as a leader in cybersecurity. Another takeaway for us is that privacy is important, and we need to make sure there is reasonable legislation that addresses end-user privacy. ChatGPT has opened Pandora’s box. While it has tremendous potential to help us become more efficient and answer questions faster, in the wrong hands and used inappropriately it could cause a lot of damage. We will see how this evolves and its potential impact on day-to-day life.

What is your overview of the cybersecurity industry right now?

It’s a fast-growing industry. Attacks are becoming more creative and persistent, and attackers are always finding new ways to get in. It is vital to work with a vendor that understands this reality and continues to innovate. There is a lot of demand for our services across all verticals, particularly finance and healthcare where confidential information is critical. We are also getting a lot more business from education for the same reason. It’s important to stay ahead and have infrastructure, initiatives and architecture that’s focused on prevention because when it comes to detection it may already be too late.

How is Check Point navigating the current economy?

Our differentiating factor is the concept of prevention first. Our tagline and brand promise is that customers deserve the best security. That way, every client can conduct their business over the internet with the highest level of security, regardless of where they are connecting from. We define best security with the three Cs. Firstly, customers need a solution that is comprehensive, which offers secure architecture and is not just a standalone product. Secondly, the system should be consolidated. Clients don’t want 50 monitors in front of them; instead, they want it to be simple and practical when alarms are raised. Our third C is to be collaborative. There are other solutions that complement what we do and we are open to incorporating those.

How is Check Point adapting cybersecurity for hybrid and remote work models?

Our message and architecture are built by multiple facets that protect the perimeter of corporate offices. Those areas are traditionally protected but that is no longer enough with the hybrid remote model. When an employee goes home and logs in, they then become the perimeter, so we need to think about how we make sure that is as secure as it is at office locations. This could even apply to working in a coffee shop. With our architecture, regardless of where you are, what device you use and how you connect, you’re always secure. Remote work has increased over the years and companies had to address the issue to make sure every employee could access their systems in a secure manner.

How should companies improve their cybersecurity practices?

One way to improve is by ensuring senior, C-level suite executives make it a high priority. They often don’t prioritize cybersecurity and operate in a reactive mode, acting only after there has been an attack. It’s difficult to convince them to prepare before there is a breach. Education is very important, as is making sure this is talked about at the top level. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), of the top five security concerns of world leaders, cybersecurity is right up there with war and major climate effects.

Ransomware is also top of mind, which penetrates company systems and holds data hostage. This means it is even more important that companies are prepared before attacks and have the proper policies and procedures in place to back up data and roll out an emergency response. One of the challenges most companies have is a lack of resources. There is a huge demand for cybersecurity experts and most companies don’t have internal resources but have to partner with third-party vendors to help them in times of crisis. We are experts in this. The first thing is to be prepared and react quickly to limit the damage of attacks. No one is 100% protected but having a prevention-first approach minimizes harm when it does happen. 

For more information, visit: 

https://www.checkpoint.com/

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