Malaysian businesses are being squeezed from two sides. Security budgets are flat or shrinking while the amount of AI traffic their networks have to inspect keeps rising. Check Point's answer, announced on 27 October, is Firewall-as-a-Subscription: a way to rent its network security as a monthly or annual plan instead of buying the hardware outright.
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Quick facts
- Check Point Firewall-as-a-Subscription rents its firewalls, AI threat prevention and management as one monthly or annual plan
- No upfront hardware purchase; the term runs three years, with a hardware refresh after 36 months
- On sale from 1 November 2026 through Check Point partners, which operate in Malaysia
- No ringgit pricing published; cost depends on the throughput a business picks
What Check Point Firewall-as-a-Subscription includes
Check Point (NASDAQ: CHKP) is packaging several of its network security products into one plan with no upfront hardware purchase. The subscription covers:
- The AI Network Firewall capabilities from the R82.20 release, which inspect AI traffic, protect AI applications and help govern AI agents at the network layer. We covered that firewall release when it arrived in July.
- Check Point Force Firewalls, sized and priced on the threat prevention throughput a business actually needs.
- AI-powered threat prevention, including SandBlast, which Check Point rates at a 99.9% block rate against zero-day attacks.
- Live Updates, applied without reboots or downtime.
- Smart-1 agentic management, run from the cloud with no extra on-premises infrastructure.
- 24x7 premium support, plus professional services credits that cover migrating policies from another vendor's firewall.
Why rent a firewall
The pitch is built around the budget cycle. According to the IANS Research and Artico Search 2026 Security Budget Benchmark, the median security budget did not grow this year, and 55% of CISOs saw their budgets stay flat or fall. Of the 64% who asked for more, only 45% got it. Rising interest rates make it harder still, Check Point argues, because a single rate increase can wipe out the capital a company had set aside for a planned firewall upgrade.
When money is that tight, a firewall refresh is often one of the first projects to slip, which leaves a company running hardware that was never built for today's rising volume of AI-driven attacks.
"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," said Pete Finalle, Research Manager, Security and Trust at IDC.
Price and availability
Instead of a large one-off purchase, organisations pay one monthly or annual subscription. The term runs three years: throughput can be upgraded at any point, and the hardware can be swapped for newer kit after 36 months. Check Point Firewall-as-a-Subscription goes on sale on 1 November through Check Point partners, which operate in Malaysia, with monthly or annual payment options.
Check Point has not published ringgit pricing, and the cost depends on the throughput each business chooses. For smaller outfits that could never justify a large enterprise firewall in a single purchase, a plan that scales with need is worth a look, as long as the three-year running cost is weighed against buying once. Full details are on Check Point's Firewall-as-a-Subscription page.
