Check Point has acquired Israeli security firm Dome9 to boost the company’s cloud security portfolio, helping its customers secure their Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud multi-cloud environments.

Although Check Point already offers a range of cloud security solutions, taking on Dome9’s tech as well means it can bolster its Infinity architecture, designed for public cloud environments. The exact financial details of the deal have not been disclosed, although Times of Israel reports that $175 million was paid in a mix of cash, stocks and options.

Dome9’s multi-cloud security provides visualisation so businesses can view the weak spots in their deployment, automate their compliance and governance, offer privileged identity protection and analyse cloud traffic and events to see where they need to implement stronger safeguards.

“Dome9 and Check Point’s CloudGuard together provide the best cloud security solution in the industry,” Gil Shwed, Check Point CEO said. “Dome9’s platform will add rich cloud management and active policy enforcement capabilities to Check Point’s Infinity Architecture, particularly complementing the CloudGuard security product family and make our broad solution even more differentiated in the rapidly moving Cyber Security environment.”

He added that adding Dome9’s tools to its own cyber security platform means it’s addressing the changing needs of organisations as criminals are increasingly targeting enterprise cloud environments. It means the company can boost the networks, endpoints and data centres associated with the cloud, offering even those customers using multi-cloud environments enhanced protection.

“Joining the Check Point family will make Dome9’s unique technologies an integral part of the industry’s most comprehensive Gen V cyber security solution, Check Point Infinity,” said Zohar Alon, Dome9 co-founder and CEO. “Combining forces allows us to offer the most comprehensive platform to protect customer cloud deployments as they grow and evolve.”

Check Point has become a notable name in the security industry, credited with discovering a number of exploits in some of the world’s most popular platforms, including WhatsApp.

Check Point has acquired Israeli security firm Dome9 to boost the company’s cloud security portfolio, helping its customers secure their Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud multi-cloud environments.

Although Check Point already offers a range of cloud security solutions, taking on Dome9’s tech as well means it can bolster its Infinity architecture, designed for public cloud environments. The exact financial details of the deal have not been disclosed, although Times of Israel reports that $175 million was paid in a mix of cash, stocks and options.

Dome9’s multi-cloud security provides visualisation so businesses can view the weak spots in their deployment, automate their compliance and governance, offer privileged identity protection and analyse cloud traffic and events to see where they need to implement stronger safeguards.

“Dome9 and Check Point’s CloudGuard together provide the best cloud security solution in the industry,” Gil Shwed, Check Point CEO said. “Dome9’s platform will add rich cloud management and active policy enforcement capabilities to Check Point’s Infinity Architecture, particularly complementing the CloudGuard security product family and make our broad solution even more differentiated in the rapidly moving Cyber Security environment.”

He added that adding Dome9’s tools to its own cyber security platform means it’s addressing the changing needs of organisations as criminals are increasingly targeting enterprise cloud environments. It means the company can boost the networks, endpoints and data centres associated with the cloud, offering even those customers using multi-cloud environments enhanced protection.

“Joining the Check Point family will make Dome9’s unique technologies an integral part of the industry’s most comprehensive Gen V cyber security solution, Check Point Infinity,” said Zohar Alon, Dome9 co-founder and CEO. “Combining forces allows us to offer the most comprehensive platform to protect customer cloud deployments as they grow and evolve.”

Check Point has become a notable name in the security industry, credited with discovering a number of exploits in some of the world’s most popular platforms, including WhatsApp.

In order to prevent your data from being stolen and misused, it’s essential that internet users take the steps to protect their browsers from the latest net nasties.

Given the variety of threats out there, users need to be prepared to thwart attackers from all directions, whether that be malicious ads, hidden software, unwanted cookies, phishing scams, and even rouge extensions masquerading as legitimate tools.

In order to make things easier, we’ve pulled together some of the best tools available to help you immunise your browser from the most common threats.

Avoid phishing scams and malware

Even with antivirus software running in the background, it’s still wise to create an additional layer of browser security by installing Windows Defender Browser Protection or Avast Browser Security, which are available for all the major browsers. Like their antivirus counterparts, these ‘all-in-one’ extensions constantly scan for malicious code, suspect links and phishing attacks, and check threats against continually updated lists.

Avast Online Security helps you steer clear of dodgy websites

You’ll find more settings in Avast – Windows Defender only features an on-off button – and it also adds a traffic light system to Google search results, so you can check a website’s reputation before you click the link. This red-amber-green display is similar to BitDefender’s anti-phishing, anti-malware extension TrafficLight – a tool that also reveals when you’re being tracked and analysed by a website.

Each tool clearly communicates potential hazards. Hostile sites are locked behind unmissable warning signs, and you can opt to run to the safety of your homepage, rather than risk infection or stolen data.

Block online trackers and spying ads

Every site you visit and link you click creates information that a website or third-party can use to identify and analyse you. At best, this means your data is flogged to marketers who target you with ‘relevant adverts’. In the worst case scenario, it leaves you wide open to identity theft. And either way, you’re likely to suffer a slow-down when too many ads follow you around the web.

Popular multi-browser ad-blockers Ghostery and uBlock Origin both let you mask your digital footprint. Constantly running in the background, these check for advertising and analytic trackers on every web page you visit, before blocking them.

Ghostery helps you become an untraceable shadow online

Ghostery is the more user-friendly of the two. It’s available for most browsers, has its own Android and iOS apps, and provides useful at-a-glance info. However, uBlock Origin’s standout feature, Element Picker, lets you permanently block all sorts of sluggish or suspect website elements – including sidebars and comment sections.

Alternatively, try Privacy Badger. Created by the same folks behind HTTPS Everywhere, this ‘smart’ tool learns to recognise and block new trackers as you browse – so, unlike rivals, there’s no need to create whitelists and blacklists.

Defend your browser against CDN threats

One of the chief reasons why a website may be deemed risky is because of its Content Delivery Networks (CDN) – a system that populates web pages with content like adverts and images from multiple background sites; sites vulnerable to hackers.

Decentraleyes – available for Firefox, Chrome, and Opera – dodges these centralised networks. And by cutting out the highly exploitable middle-man, the extension is able to protect you from malicious software hidden within background content.

Use Decentraleyes to dodge risky content

Given their widespread popularity, most attempts to circumvent CDNs cause a web page to break, but Decentraleyes sneaks past this problem, tricking sites into displaying the extension’s own bundled local files that ‘plug the gap’. The tool is also designed to play nice with other privacy-enhancing extensions, including uBlock Origin, uMatrix, and Cookie AutoDelete.

Evade dodgy scripts on websites

Executed scripts is another reason why so many websites are at risk. Security experts revealed that hackers use “scripting capabilities for iframe redirects and malvertising links to compromise web browsers”.

You can protect yourself from this threat by using an extension such as uMatrix, which grants you the power to instantly stop sites running media, CSS, scripts, and frames.

uMatrix gives you full control over shady scripts and malign media

The matrix-based interface appears advanced, but it’s deceptively simple: open up uMatrix on a specific website to see a detailed grid of running HTML elements, then click the lower-half of a box to block an element, or permit a process by clicking the top-half. You can implement global settings across all sites is activated by clicking the asterisk symbol (*), then selecting preferences.

By controlling individual elements, you can tighten security and still ensure every site works. For example, blocking certain scripts on the Google Play Store removes the See More buttons, making navigation a nightmare, so a blanket ban on all scripts would make the site unusable.

Banish unwanted cookies

Cookies aren’t all bad – they’re the reason you don’t have to type out your favourite web addresses or remember all your passwords, after all – but they still help advertisers doggedly track you around the web.

Although we understand the popularity of browser extensions that remove irritating cookie notices – such as the excellent I Don’t Care About Cookies – these are ‘out of sight, out of mind’ tools that won’t protect you while browsing the web. For greater control over cookies on your machine, first check your built-in browser settings – all major players feature the ability to clear cookies at the end of your session, when you exit the browser.

Ditch the cookies to stop being tracked around the web

Chromium-based browsers like Chrome, Opera and Brave keep this option in Settings, Advanced, Content Settings, Cookies, where you can toggle the switch marked ‘Keep local data only until you quit your browser’. For Edge users, click Settings, and under ‘Clear browsing data’, select ‘Choose what to clear’ and turn on ‘Always clear this when I close the browser.’ In Firefox, visit the Privacy & Security settings, locate ‘Cookies and Site Data’, then use the drop-down menu to keep cookies until ‘Firefox is closed’.

The Cookies AutoDelete extension for Chrome and Firefox streamlines the process further. One click lets you automatically clean up your cookies; whitelist or greylist specific sites; and select preferences that clean out cookies when, for instance, you visit new domains or open the browser.

How to tell if you’re running a rogue extension

Browser tools gone bad are capable of stealing all sorts of private data from you – and most extensions have near-unlimited access to your personal data and browsing habits. No wonder Google are tightening up extension development.

The easy way to place unsafe extensions under lock and key

Extension Police checks your extensions are safe by auditing every add-on for potential security threats. Install it in Chrome or Vivaldi and the tool checks what each extension can do – and how it affects your online health. Each permission you’ve granted is given a traffic light score: red for hazardous, amber for suspicious, and green for safe. You’re then prompted to take action based on threat level.

Firefox has unveiled its latest browser update, which includes its “enhanced tracking protection” – essentially, stopping and websites being able to track your activity and therefore snooping on your purchase and search behaviour. Although it’s not switched on by default yet, the company expects to release this addition next year.

Although Firefox has pretty much always included the ability to stop cookies recording some personal data, this is the first time it’s allowed users to block tracking cookies.

“Maybe this seems like no big deal, but we think that you should have a say in how this data is used,” Mozilla said in a blog post. “After all, it’s more than just an annoying pair of shoes following you around, its data that can be used to subtly shape the content you consume or even influence your opinions.”

But, cookies can also be used to make some important parts of a website work and as such, some sites may appear broken if tracking cookies are switched off. Luckily, it’s easy to turn cookie tracking off on a case-by-case basis.

“You might see some odd behaviour on websites, so if something doesn’t look or work right, you can always disable the protection on a per-site basis by clicking on the Shield Icon in the address bar, and then clicking “Disable Blocking For This Site”, “ Mozilla continued.

Other features rolling out to Firefox users in the Firefox 63 update include search shortcuts with Amazon and Google now a permanent fixture on the new tabs page, an adaptable design that will change to dark or light depending on which theme you have activated in Windows and Siri shortcuts for iOS users.

Firefox has unveiled its latest browser update, which includes its “enhanced tracking protection” – essentially, stopping and websites being able to track your activity and therefore snooping on your purchase and search behaviour. Although it’s not switched on by default yet, the company expects to release this addition next year.

Although Firefox has pretty much always included the ability to stop cookies recording some personal data, this is the first time it’s allowed users to block tracking cookies.

“Maybe this seems like no big deal, but we think that you should have a say in how this data is used,” Mozilla said in a blog post. “After all, it’s more than just an annoying pair of shoes following you around, its data that can be used to subtly shape the content you consume or even influence your opinions.”

But, cookies can also be used to make some important parts of a website work and as such, some sites may appear broken if tracking cookies are switched off. Luckily, it’s easy to turn cookie tracking off on a case-by-case basis.

“You might see some odd behaviour on websites, so if something doesn’t look or work right, you can always disable the protection on a per-site basis by clicking on the Shield Icon in the address bar, and then clicking “Disable Blocking For This Site”, “ Mozilla continued.

Other features rolling out to Firefox users in the Firefox 63 update include search shortcuts with Amazon and Google now a permanent fixture on the new tabs page, an adaptable design that will change to dark or light depending on which theme you have activated in Windows and Siri shortcuts for iOS users.

It’s long been acknowledged that information is power, but the cloud combined with AI offers organisations – in particular the enterprise – more opportunity than before to really extract value and drive success.

Indeed, by 2025 all cloud apps will incorporate AI in one form or another.

So claims Oracle CEO Mark Hurd who used his keynote session at the firm’s OpenWorld conference in San Francisco this week to highlight myriad of benefits on offer when the two are combined.

Proclaiming that “Cyber teams are the new future,” Hurd added “As cloud and integrated technologies like AI [evolve] information becomes incrementally more valuable.”

Hurd stressed to delegates that cloud was now a foundational aspect of business; something “irrefutable.” What’s more, Hurd also believes spicing up the cloud mix with additional ingredients such as AI will only serve to help accelerate the pace at which organisations embrace what cloud has to offer.

“The cloud market is accelerating, it’s moving faster than predicted. Just last year alone 15% of US corporate owned data centres shut down. If you run that out and it was linear, the prediction I made of [it happening by] 2025, would be off by three or four years,” Hurd said.

“Cloud is accelerating and those datacentres are shifting from companies to core cloud providers. [But] we don’t see AI as an individual solution. There are many vendors that do. We see AI as a core feature that will get embedded into every solution, every application.”

Hurd added that the advent of AI brought with it enhanced productivity and innovation potential, reducing the time it takes humans to do certain tasks today or simply being able to do things humans just cannot fathom.

“Customers are [already] using cloud and now you’re going to see a new era as we integrate AI,” Hurd added.