Check Point launches firewall subscription for AI security

Check Point has launched a Firewall-as-a-Subscription programme for its firewall products, giving customers access to its AI Network Firewall through a recurring payment model.

The programme replaces a large upfront hardware purchase with monthly or annual payments and is aimed at organisations that want to expand firewall capacity over time. Customers can start with the throughput they need, upgrade during a three-year term, and move to new hardware after 36 months.

The package includes Force Firewalls, AI-powered threat prevention, Live Updates, Smart-1 Agentic Management, premium support, and professional services. It is sized and priced according to the threat prevention throughput an organisation requires.

The launch comes as cyber security budgets face pressure from higher borrowing costs and tighter capital spending. Check Point cited research from IANS Research and Artico Search showing that the median security budget did not grow this year and that 55% of Chief Information Security Officers saw budgets stay flat or fall.

The company also argued that AI is increasing the volume and variety of network traffic organisations must inspect. Delayed firewall refreshes can leave companies relying on hardware not designed for AI-related traffic and attacks.

Budget pressure

The subscription model comes as vendors across enterprise technology push financing and consumption options that shift spending from capital budgets to operating budgets. In security, that can appeal to buyers that need to update infrastructure without securing approval for a large one-off purchase.

IDC linked the trend to growing demand for more flexible procurement as AI adoption changes network requirements.

"Organisations of all sizes face the same AI-driven threats, but for many, capital budget cycles often force them to delay firewall refreshes or buy more capacity than they need," said Pete Finalle, Research Manager, Security and Trust at IDC.

"Consumption models that turn on-premises security hardware into a predictable operating expense, and let organizations scale protection as their needs grow, can help close that gap. We expect demand for this kind of flexibility to rise as AI adoption increases the traffic and risk networks must handle," Finalle said.

Check Point tied the new offer to its R82.20 software release, which introduced the AI Network Firewall earlier this year. The release was designed to inspect AI traffic, protect AI applications, and govern AI agents at the network layer.

The subscription package includes those AI Network Firewall functions alongside SandBlast threat prevention, which Check Point said delivers a 99.9% block rate against zero-day attacks. It also includes Live Updates, which apply security updates without reboots or downtime, according to the company.

Channel rollout

The programme will be sold through Check Point partners, with customers able to choose monthly or annual payment terms.

For Check Point, the move broadens how it packages hardware-based network security at a time when many buyers want cloud-style commercial models even for on-premises systems. It also gives the company a way to target smaller organisations that may have found a traditional hardware purchase harder to justify.

Avi Rembaum, President, Global Technical Sales at Check Point, said the aim was to make the vendor's latest protections easier to buy.

"Every organisation is adopting AI, and every organization deserves the same level of protection, whatever its size or budget," Rembaum said.

"With Firewall-as-a-Subscription, we are making our most advanced AI security, threat prevention and agentic management available through one simple subscription, so organizations can secure their AI transformation today," he said.