Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. and Illumio Inc. say they have expanded their strategic partnership to address what they describe as a growing risk from “frontier” AI models that could automate cyber attacks at machine speed.
In a press release, the companies said the expanded arrangement combines Check Point’s network perimeter and firewall controls with Illumio’s internal network visibility and microsegmentation, aimed at limiting lateral movement and containing breaches once an attacker gains access.
“Security teams are being asked to defend environments that are moving faster and that are more complex — against attackers who are using AI to do in minutes what used to take weeks,” said Paul Barbosa, VP of Cloud & SASE at Check Point. “Expanding our partnership both in terms of joint product development and go-to-market with Illumio gives our customers something attackers don’t want them to have: a coordinated defence that works on both sides of the perimeter. Check Point prevents threats from getting in. Illumio ensures they can’t run free if they do. Together, we are working to close the gap that every attacker is looking to exploit.”
The companies argued that AI-driven automation is compressing the time between intrusion and impact, shifting the operational focus from preventing every initial compromise to also rapidly detecting and containing activity inside the network.
Check Point said the expanded integration builds on a 2025 integration with Illumio Insight, and now adds deeper integration with Illumio Segmentation. Under the expanded partnership, security teams can align Check Point firewall policy with Illumio’s workload model across hybrid and multi-cloud environments, which the vendors said can reduce unnecessary connectivity and make lateral movement harder.
“AI is compressing the time between intrusion and impact, fundamentally changing the math for defenders,” said Andrew Rubin, CEO and founder of Illumio. “Cyber security now has two jobs: prevent what you can, and for everything else, find it fast and stop it from spreading. That’s exactly why Illumio and Check Point are working together—to help organizations change that math and contain attacks before they become disasters.”
IDC Research Manager Pete Finalle said microsegmentation demand is increasing as organisations shift from evaluation to deployment, but buyers often want integration with SASE, firewalls, and other zero trust technologies. “This partnership directly addresses these concerns, as microsegmentation and the broader network security stack are integrated as a coherent platform that simplifies limiting lateral movement and enforcing zero trust at scale,” Finalle said.
The companies said the expanded integration is available now for joint Check Point and Illumio customers, and they published a joint white paper with technical guidance.
