E-Business
Check Point Software Launches Security Operations Solutions with Prevention-First Approach
Check Point® Software Technologies, a leading provider of cyber security solutions globally, has announced the launch of Check Point Horizon – the industry-leading prevention-focused suite of security operations solutions and services that combines proactive management solutions for Managed Prevention and Response (MDR/MPR), Extended Prevention and Response (XDR/XPR) and Events.
All powered at the click of a button and supported by the industry’s top analysts, research experts and innovative AI technology.
The cyber threat landscape has never been more severe. Check Point’s Mid-Year Report recently revealed a 42% global increase in cyberattacks and ransomware is now the number one threat to businesses.
Attacks are increasing all the time as security teams struggle to shut down breaches before damage spreads due to the distraction of endless alerts and false positives across multiple siloed tools and a narrow attack vector view that lacks context.
The problem is made worse by a lack of cyber experience and the ongoing skills shortage.
Against this backdrop, there is now a critical need for all organizations to have a security operations center (SOC), with 24/7 monitoring, response, and threat hunting capabilities.
However, for the majority, running this kind of operation is too complex and expensive. Also, SOC provision up to now, does not match the scale of the challenge as the industry is only focused on detecting and responding to attacks rather than preventing them.
Craig Robinson, Research Vice President for Security Services at IDC commented: “Many of the existing MDR solutions in the market today simply deal with detection and management of cyber incidents, but actually preventing incidents has largely been missing in the MDR arena, until now.
Check Point Horizon’s strategy of going prevention-first is a game-changing feature addition in the crowded MDR market.”
Dan Wiley, Head of Threat Management and Chief Security Advisor at Check Point Software, said: “The secret sauce to Horizon is in its unique combination of preventative tools, the industry’s top analysts and research experts and innovative AI.
Check Point Horizon is a unified solution across your entire infrastructure that will vastly improve your cyber defenses and prevent attacks from happening, while reducing overheads and TCO.”
He continued: “The strength of any MDR service is in its people, and prevention is in our DNA. With Horizon MDR/MPR, customers benefit from the direct experience of our Incident Response team who handle more than 3,000 incidents per year. If you do not have the resources to run a solid 24/7 SOC, we will do it for you.”
Check Point Horizon brings a prevention-first approach to security operations by providing SOC teams with the tools and services needed to prevent attacks in real-time with fewer resources. It includes:
Check Point Horizon XDR/XPR increases security operations efficiency by quickly detecting, investigating, and automating responses to attacks across the entire IT infrastructure. By leveraging innovative AI technologies and big data threat intelligence, aggregated from hundreds of millions of sensors worldwide, Horizon XDR/XPR identifies threats inside the organization and prevents them from spreading.
Check Point Horizon MDR/MPR is a prevention-first MDR service backed by Check Point´s elite experts who deliver a powerful SOC-as-a-Service.
The Check Point analysts’ monitor the entire security estate 24/7 – no matter the products or solutions in place – utilizing their 25 years’ Incident Response experience to analyze, correlate and understand what’s happening, responding on a customer’s behalf and making recommendations to drive a prevention mindset throughout the entire delivery of the service.
Horizon Events – Horizon Events provides complete event visibility across all Check Point products for efficient monitoring, search, and threat hunting. Designed for security admins and analysts to investigate and troubleshoot all security incidents, with a simple and intuitive SaaS cloud solution, it saves valuable time and eliminates complexity.
Marc Upchurch, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at City and County of San Francisco – Department of Public Health, said: “Being a public health company with limited resources, we must partner with a cybersecurity vendor that has low ongoing costs and good ROI.
Check Point’s commitment to investing in its products and services to provide an integrated prevention-first solution with an easy-to-manage consolidated security platform can be seen in the results we witness in our environment.
“Our small team, combined with Horizon MDR/MPR, allows us to align our cybersecurity goals with patient safety initiatives to provide continuous delivery of services without disruptions 24x7x365 to the people who live in and visit our wonderful city.”
Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB) has been ranked first overall in the 2025 Federal Government Website Performance Scorecard.
This is a landmark achievement for Nigeria’s digital economy.
The ranking, conducted by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), is the definitive benchmark for digital excellence and transparency across all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).
Professor Ibrahim Adepoju Adeyanju, managing director and CEO of Galaxy Backbone, received the award during a ceremony in Abuja.
He described the feat as a validation of the agency’s“Nigeria First”data sovereignty strategy and its relentless pursuit of service excellence.
This recognition comes as the Federal Government intensifies its push to achieve a fully paperless civil service by December 31, 2025.
GBB has been the primary architect of this transition through its 1Gov Enterprise Content Management (ECM) platform, which now hosts the operations of almost all federal MDAs.
The award adds to a growing list of accolades for Galaxy Backbone in 2025, following its recent win of the “International Standard Excellence Award for Best IT Service Provider.”
As the central hub for government shared services, GBB’s performance serves as a blueprint for other agencies currently undergoing digital transformation.
With its expanded fiber-optic backbone now covering over 13 states and its secure cloud solutions, Galaxy Backbone remains the cornerstone of Nigeria’s vision to become a leading digital nation by the end of the decade.
Okitipi Samuel, a Nigerian man, has been taken into custody by the Nigeria Police Force for his alleged role in a global cyberattack on Microsoft 365 users.
Benjamin Hundeyin, Force public relations officer, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja while briefing journalists on the outcome of investigations carried out by the National Cybercrime Centre of the Nigeria Police Force.
Hundeyin said the centre, under the leadership of Ifeanyi Uche, its director and Commissioner of Police, commenced investigations in collaboration with Microsoft, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Secret Service, and the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency.
According to him, investigations revealed that a phishing toolkit known as “Raccoon 0365” was used to create fake Microsoft login portals to harvest user credentials and unlawfully access email accounts belonging to corporate organisations, financial institutions, and educational institutions in several countries.
“This investigation commenced following credible intelligence received from Microsoft USA through the FBI, indicating that a malicious phishing toolkit known as Raccoon0365 was being used to create fake Microsoft login portals, harvest user credentials, and unlawfully access the email accounts of corporate organisations, financial institutions, and educational establishments,” Hundeyin said.
He added that between January and September 2025, several reports of unauthorised access to Microsoft 365 accounts were traced to phishing emails designed to mimic legitimate Microsoft login pages, enabling business email compromise, internal phishing, data breaches, and other cyber-enabled fraud.
Hundeyin said digital forensic analysis and cryptocurrency tracing identified wallets connected to the illegal operation.
He noted that operatives were deployed to Lagos and Edo states, leading to the arrest of three suspects identified as Joshua, James, and Okitipi Samuel between September 20 and October 4, 2025.
“Following extensive digital forensic and technical intelligence analysis, the centre conducted cryptocurrency tracing that identified suspicious wallets connected to cash-out schemes.
“Acting on actionable intelligence, operational teams were deployed to Lagos and Edo states, resulting in the arrest of Joshua, James, and Okitipi Samuel. Searches at their residences led to the recovery of mobile devices, laptops, and other digital exhibits linked to the fraudulent scheme,” he said.
Hundeyin identified Okitipi Samuel, also known as “0365” and Moses Felix as the principal suspect and developer of the phishing infrastructure.
He added that investigations confirmed Samuel unlawfully used the email details of one of the arrested individuals without consent to register some of the accounts used in the operation.
The police spokesperson said further investigations revealed that the identities of Joshua and James were used without their consent.
“There was no evidence linking them to the creation or operation of the phishing scheme. They were victims of identity theft,” Hundeyin said.
He said a prima facie case had been established against Samuel for identity theft, unlawful access to computer systems, creation and distribution of malicious software, unauthorised interference with network data, and aiding and abetting fraud.
Hundeyin added that the suspect would be charged under relevant provisions of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2024.
He said the suspect would be prosecuted in Nigeria, noting that the country has the capacity to enforce its cybercrime laws, although extradition could be considered if formally requested through due process.
Hundeyin assured Nigerians that the police, under the leadership of Kayode Egbetokun, inspector-general of Police, would continue to protect the country’s digital ecosystem and urged citizens to practise good cyber hygiene by being cautious when clicking links and sharing personal information online.
Speaking separately, Ifeanyi Uche, director of the National Cybercrime Centre, urged Nigerians to exercise caution online.
Uche advised members of the public to avoid clicking on links from unknown or unexpected sources, noting that such links often contain malware or phishing tools designed to compromise devices and personal data.
He warned that indiscriminate clicking of links or responding to unsolicited emails could lead to unauthorised access to personal and corporate accounts, urging citizens to “wash their cyber hands” by verifying sources before taking action online.
Nigeria has unveiled a comprehensive, multi-pronged strategy designed to localise WSIS+20 commitments. This roadmap accelerates national transformation by prioritising robust infrastructure, transparent internet governance, and advanced cybersecurity through deep stakeholder collaboration.
Unveiled in New York at the Nigerian high-level side event titled “Re-Imagining Digital Cooperation for Sustainable Development: From WSIS+20 Vision to Local Action,” the strategy cements Nigeria’s position as a primary architect of the world’s digital future.
Speaking at the event, the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE represented by Director, Corporate Planning and Strategy, Dr. Dimie Shively Wariowei said Nigeria’s approach is deliberately aligned with the four core activity areas identified under the ongoing WSIS+20 review process.
According to him, the focus areas provide a practical framework for translating global digital commitments into measurable national outcomes, ensuring that international resolutions drive inclusive growth and sustainable digital development at the country level.
Inuwa identified digital infrastructure as the foundation of effective localisation, noting persistent challenges in extending connectivity to underserved and remote communities. Beyond infrastructure gaps, he highlighted affordability constraints and digital literacy deficits, stressing that addressing these issues remains central to Nigeria’s digital inclusion drive.
He explained that government alone cannot shoulder the burden of nationwide digital infrastructure deployment, given Nigeria’s vast geographical spread, hence the adoption of collaborative Public-Private Partnership (PPP) models. He disclosed that Nigeria, in collaboration with the World Bank, is implementing a major fibre-optic project spanning about 90,000 kilometres nationwide to boost connectivity.
The NITDA DG also revealed that the current National Broadband Plan, which has guided broadband expansion in recent years, is nearing completion, with plans underway to renew and reposition it for the next five years. The renewed plan, he said, will strategically target increased broadband penetration as a catalyst for digital access and economic growth.
On internet governance, Inuwa referenced Nigeria’s active participation in the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), noting that the country successfully hosted its annual national IGF. He said the forum operates on a multi-stakeholder model that brings together government, the private sector, civil society and the technical community to foster cooperation and informed policy dialogue.
Cybersecurity, he added, remains a critical pillar of Nigeria’s localisation efforts. He cited the existing Cybersecurity Act and ongoing efforts to strengthen the legal framework through a reviewed version currently awaiting parliamentary approval. These measures, he said, are designed to mitigate risks associated with increased internet use and to protect users and critical digital infrastructure.
Inuwa further stressed Nigeria’s ambition to play a leadership role in advancing digital cooperation across Africa through inclusive, multi-stakeholder engagement. He underscored the importance of coordinated national data collection, noting that reliable, country-specific data is essential for tracking progress and presenting Africa’s digital development story on the global stage.
He concluded that sustained engagement and follow-up actions arising from the WSIS+20 review would strengthen digital cooperation among African countries and ensure that global digital commitments translate into tangible national and regional impact.
Stakeholders commended Nigeria’s efforts in the digital space, acknowledging the country’s growing role in shaping Africa’s digital future.
Earlier, Ms. Jennifer Chung, Co-Convener of the Informal Multi-Stakeholder Sounding Board (IMSB), praised Nigeria for convening a broad-based, multi-stakeholder delegation and for its commitment to the meaningful implementation of WSIS+20 outcomes.
Chung stressed the growing demand for localised WSIS follow-up mechanisms, noting that platforms such as the annual IGF, National and Regional IGF Initiatives (NRIs), and youth-led forums are vital for tracking progress towards the 2030 Agenda and Africa’s Agenda 2063.
She described the WSIS+20 review as a critical step toward effective monitoring, reliable data collection and evidence-based evaluation, particularly for developing countries in the Global South. According to her, these measures are essential to achieving WSIS targets and ensuring that no region is left behind.
Drawing parallels with the Asia-Pacific region, Chung noted that challenges around affordable and meaningful connectivity remain widespread across developing economies. She emphasised that expanding broadband penetration and reducing the cost of access are crucial to closing digital divides in Africa, Asia-Pacific and other parts of the Global South.
She also highlighted the need to enable active citizen participation in emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and future innovations such as quantum technologies, stressing that inclusive digital access is key to maximising the benefits of digital transformation.
Reflecting on the WSIS+20 review process, Chung praised the innovative and inclusive approach adopted through the informal multi-stakeholder sounding board, describing it as one of the first of its kind in global digital governance. She called for sustained collaboration among governments, the private sector, civil society and the technical community to carry the WSIS vision from global commitments to local action.
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