Check Point Software Technologies this week moved to shore up its ability to combat advanced forms of malware via the acquisition of Hyperwise, a startup vendor that has developed a method for identifying threats at the processor level.
Alon Kantor, vice president of business development for Check Point Software, says this capability should prove critical because at that stage, the number of vectors that malware can exploit is fairly limited. It’s only when malware moves beyond the processor that the number of exploits starts to multiply and then the complexity of using other forms of threat prevention software becomes overwhelming.
Because the Hyperwise software works at the CPU level, the malware doesn’t get a chance to employ some of the advanced evasion techniques that hackers have used to avoid other forms of malware detection software, says Kantor.
Check Point plans to add support for the Hyperwise threat detection software across its entire product line in fairly short order, which should make the software a standard part of the layers of security that it currently provides between the endpoint and the network perimeter.
There’s no doubt that the attacks being launched by hackers have become more sophisticated. And while there may never be perfect security, advances in providing IT security appear to be getting more sophisticated as well.