Security firm Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. and mobile phone giant Nokia Corp. are boosting an existing partnership to bring new products to market and more closely align many company operations, they announced Wednesday.
Check Point and Nokia have worked together in the past on a line of security appliances offering virtual private network (VPN) and firewall capabilities. Wednesday's announcement means the companies will further their work on security appliances and moving into securing mobile devices, according to Dan MacDonald, vice president of Nokia Internet Communications.
The partners will offer a new, high performance and reliability VPN device with clustering capabilities using Nokia's CryptoCluster technology in conjunction with Check Point's SecureXL security framework in the first quarter of 2002, MacDonald said. All future Nokia security appliances will use Check Point's VPN-1/Firewall-1 software exclusively, marking a migration of customers using Nokia's existing, in-house VPN products, he said. Nokia had previously offered both its own line of VPN devices and one using Check Point software.
Also forthcoming from the pair is a lower-cost, entry-level security device and initiatives to secure mobile devices and networks, MacDonald said. The companies will especially be focusing on the security needs of 2.5G and 3G (third generation) mobile networks, they said in a statement.
With the agreement, the companies aim to take the best technology from each to blend into new products, said Jerry Ungerman, Check Point's president.
To further this goal, the companies will bring research and development along with marketing and sales departments into closer coordination, MacDonald said.