1. The AU data residency is available for newly created tenants.
2. Application Access will be supported per business need.
3. China POP will be supported per business need.
4. Reports at Logs and Events will be available soon.

1. Configure UserCheck - Configure the UserCheck page to deliver customized multi-language interaction with users when communication is blocked by the policy
2. Use Updateable Objects – allow access rules that update dynamically – e.g. enforce access to dynamic cloud services such as AWS 
3. Use Domain objects - define applications in the policy by their domain
4. Gain full control over threat prevention settings
5. Control blade settings - e.g. enforce Safe Search for Google
6. Define access rules with a time-limit
7. Define new data-types for content awareness
8. Define custom SmartView views and reports with custom widgets
9. And much more…

• Select Settings > Management Mode
• Select “Manage your policy using Smart Console”
• Follow the instructions on the configuration page and in the Admin Guide

• It’s a hybrid management experience
  

• We do not yet support unified management with Quantum gateways
  Managing Harmony Connect requires a specific SmartConsole release that connects to a dedicated cloud management, that is separate from the customer Smart-1/Quantum GW management
  
• Not all SmartConsole features are available
  Customers may encounter some SmartConsole features that have been disabled (e.g. gateway object, NAT rules, …)
  This is mostly because some features are not applicable to Harmony Connect’s cloud gateways
  Harmony Connect logs continue to be stored in the cloud.

• No check is made if antivirus is installed for Mac users
• In some cases, can be a conflict with Endpoint or other OpenVPN products

China POP is officially available for all customers.

The POP enables traffic from roaming users and branch offices to data centers and the internet.

The traffic that goes through the POP is subject to the great firewall of China regulation. We’re working on a premium solution with a 3rd party provider to allow international traffic going out of China, which complies with the Chinese regulation.

There are two locations in China based on AWS solution:
China North
China North-West
 
SK177806: “Harmony Connect - Cloud PoP locations, current and planned” was updated with the above.

• Switzerland
• Norway
• Netherlands
• US Central
• US South
• Canada - North-East
• UAE
• South Korea – South
• Australia - Central
• Australia – South
• India – Central
• India – South 

Connector Monitoring

Connector Monitoring is now GA.
You can monitor the status of Connectors installed for Network-Level and Application-Level access to identify disconnected Connectors and resolve the connection issue.

The status includes connection state of a site, live Connectors, traffic, throughput and more.

For more information, see Connector Monitoring Documentation.

Network-Level Access

(VPN-as-a-Service)

Network-Level Remote Access is now GA.
The new Network-Level Access extends Harmony Connect’s Remote Access with new and powerful layer-3 VPN-as-a-Service.
This provides client-based network-level access to corporate resources, controlled by your organization’s Zero-Trust access policy.
Access to corporate resources is secured by Check Points market-leading threat prevention, protecting corporate applications from the attacks and exploits

This feature is currently only available to customers with new Harmony Connect tenants (created after Feb 12th 2022) . We plan to make the feature available to all tenants by end of Q1 -2022.

For more information, see sk174504.

Device Posture Validation

Device Posture Validation is now GA.

To reduce risk for sensitive environments accessed remotely, the new device posture validation feature checks devices are managed (domain membership) and the presence of up-to-date anti-virus software.

This feature is currently only available to customers with new Harmony Connect tenants (created after Feb 12th 2022) . We are working to make the feature available to all tenants.

Cloud PoPs in 14 new regions

We are extending Harmony Connect’s global cloud network by adding 13 points of presence (PoPs), with new locations launched in Switzerland, Norway, Netherlands, US Central, US South, Canada - North-East, UAE, South Korea - South, Australia - Central, Australia - South, India - Central, India - South., Indonesia.
We are plan to add addional locations in the coming months, including China - North, China - North-West, , Austria, Israel, and more.

The new PoPs are currently only available to customers with new Harmony Connect tenants (created after Feb 12th 2022) . We are working to make the feature available to all tenants.
Indonesia PoP is available to all tenants.

For full information on PoP locations, please refer to sk177806

Native RDP connectivity for clientless access

Offering a better user experience than the webified RDP option, Harmony Connect Application-Level Access now offers a new option to connect to remote desktops and servers via the user’s native RDP software (clientless layer 7 access), with no VPN client required. 

New ‘Getting Started’ admin page

We’ve improved the experience to be more intuitive, accurate and clean - to help streamline first-time deployments of the product.

Enhanced log visibility

We added visibility to “Site Name” in traffic log to enable analyzing traffic based on the site which initiated it. And added more VPN-related logs

Mac client - public EA

Supporting network level access (VPN-as-a-service) and internet access for remote users, Harmony Connect client now supports Mac systems - Mac OS 10 (Big Sur) or later. Mac support is currently in public EA, and is planned for release as GA by the end of Q1.

Connector monitoring dashboard (EA)

New dashboard  for monitoring the connectivity and health status for each of the organization's data-center Connectors, to enhance visibility provide more granular control over operations, including connector connectivity status, throughput and CPU load per service component.

• Network Level Access – formerly known as “VPNaaS”, “Back Home”. Full L3 VPN tunnel to the corporate network. Feature is in private EA, and we are gradually adding customers. To join the program, fill out this form.
• Application Level Access – formerly known as “Remote Access”, “Clientless access”, Odo product. Clientless access to selected application in the corporate network.

• Assets
  • “Sites” will be changed to “Branches and Data centers”
  • “Data Center & Cloud” will be changed to “Application Sites”
• Policy
  • “Trusted applications” will be changed to “Application Access”
• Logs
  • “Internet Access” will be changed to “Internet & Network Access”
  • “Trusted applications” will be changed to “Application Access”
• Settings
  • “Trusted applications” will be changed to “Application Access”

• Windows 8.1 support GA - for internet access 
• Mac client EA - feature is in EA for internet access.
  • We welcome more customers who would like to join this EA program. Please fill in this form to join.
• Added Firewall Session logs - added to all tenants 
• MaaS Migration EA - 
  • Harmony Connect platform gradually migrates to be MaaS. New accounts are already created with the new platform, and by GA time we will provide seamless migration for existing accounts. 
  • Added features: policy revisions, rule number is logs, unified logging with other Infinity portal services. 
• New policy exceptions EA 
• Ability to create an exception consisting of a full blade (Anti Bot, IPS)  

• When setting up a new Harmony Connect account, Application-Level Access (i.e. clientless access) will be available automatically.
• Existing accounts (set up last week or prior) that don’t already have clientless access should contact support to have the feature enabled.

• Admins are now able to change their account name at Settings > Application Access > Access tab.
• To allow this flexibility, portal URLs have been changed to a new format - https://REGION.connect.checkpoint.com/ACCOUNT. This change is backwards compatible so that the old format (https://ACCOUNT.connect.checkpoint.com) is still supported.

• Admins are now able to generate API key for read-only access for Harmony Connect Application Level.

• Client posture check (EA) - ability to check devices with Harmony Connect clients for AV and domain membership
• RDP Native (EA) - Remote Desktop in a clientless way using the existing RDP software rather than the browser
• Network Level Access (EA) - Public EA, ability to turn off internet access while using NLA.

• You can now verify your identity provider integration configuration from Settings > Identity Provider

• Watch our webinar on CheckMates.
• New connectivity sounds when the app connects and disconnects.

• Connecting data centers for clientless corporate access is now self-service!
  • Add a data center or cloud network and get the instructions to deploy the Check Point Connector.
  • Please make sure to store these instructions, because they cannot be retrieved later.
  • In case your Infinity Portal account does not have secure clientless corporate access, fill out this form.
• Branch Sites now show status per tunnel: up, not set (or “undefined”), or down.
  • Tunnel can be down if the branch device no longer responds, if the IPsec initiation has failed, or if no traffic was sent in the last hour including no IPsec renegotiations.

• Managing the Access Control policy of Harmony Connect from SmartConsole now supports updatable objects and wildcard objects.
• Adding Harmony Connect from Azure AD is now simpler by selecting the Harmony Connect template from Azure gallery! Get it from this page.

• Harmony Connect App is available in Japanese.
• Improved zero-touch deployment for end users with an identity provider, by automatically collecting the corporate domain name from the end user's managed device. See sk172550.

• The Access Control overview page now includes the total source IP addresses for the selected time period.

• Fixed an issue where new deployments with Full SSL Inspection enabled may get several valid websites appear as untrusted at the web browser.
• Improved the search functionality for users at Internet Access Policy for customers with Azure AD, Okta or PingID as their identity provider.

• Create custom service objects and use them at the Internet Access Policy.
• All users are automatically synchronized with Harmony Connect and available for selection as source objects at the Internet Access Policy.
  • The feature is available for Azure AD, Okta and PingID identity providers. An alternative option is creating New User Object at the Access Control policy and specifying the user's email address.

• Administrators can choose to automatically turn off Harmony Connect App when at corporate offices using ICMP requests or HTTP requests to resources that are only available at the office (in addition to custom TCP services).

• Harmony Connect API Version 1.4 has been published. The API to get locations has changed from /regions to /locations.
  Note: The previous commands for /regions continue to work in this version but will be deprecated by July 28, 2021.

• Our cloud service location selection in Japan is now split between Japan-East and Japan-West.

• Import URL lists from .csv and .txt files and use them at the Access Control and SSL Inspection policies.

• Stability fixes when configuring bypass destination and deactivation codes at Harmony Connect App.

• Harmony Connect App is now available in French and Italian.

• Getting Started now consists of 3 flows: secure Internet access for remote users, and secure Internet access for branch offices, and the new secure access to corporate applications.
• Connect your data center or cloud infrastructure at Assets > Data Center & Cloud.
• Assets > Users & Devices now enables users to get secure Internet access, secure corporate access, or both.
• Access Control Policy now consists of 2 sub-pages: Internet Access, and the new Trusted Applications. Use the new Trusted Applications page to define your corporate applications and apply the security policy.
• Manage your user groups (in case you do not use an identity provider), your remote server keys (for secure client-less SSH and RDP based access) or define security policies based on tags of applications from Policy > Access Control > Trusted Applications.
• The new Settings > Trusted Applications provides additional control of the end-user portal, automatic discovery of cloud assets, and logging options.

• Improved user experience when adding branch sites. The default site address is automatically calculated from the external IP address of the device or from the admin’s machine location. The default location of the cloud service is automatically set as the optimal location fit for the site address.

• Significant network performance improvements when using Harmony Connect App for secure Internet access.

• Secure your users' Internet Access with Harmony Connect App for Windows 10.
• Follow the steps at Getting Started to add your users, define the policy, and configure app-specific settings.
• Manage your remote users with the new Assets > Users & Devices page.
• The new Trust column at Policy > Access Control allows access conditions for all users compared to only users running Harmony Connect App.
• The new Settings > Harmony Connect App page contains important restrictions for remote users such as domains and IP addresses that should be accessed outside of Check Point's cloud, behavior of the app when users are at corporate offices, and restrictions to deactivate or uninstall the app for the end users.

• The new Getting Started page enables a step-by-step onboarding for securing branch offices and remote users.

• Infinity Portal now reflects Check Point's product re-organization as new families: Quantum, CloudGuard, Harmony, and Infinity Vision. Previously named CloudGuard Connect, now Harmony Connect, is Check Point's solution for up to date Access Control and Threat Prevention for branch offices and remote users delivered as a service.

• Creation of access control policy rules based on users and user groups is now available.

• The Identity Provider settings now include an option to set automatic sync of user groups. Administrators can see all user groups and select them at the Access Control Policy.
  This feature is available for Azure AD, Okta and PingID identity providers. An alternative option is creating New User Group object at the Access Control Policy and specifying the Group Identifier as appearing at the identity provider.

• Harmony Connect API Version 1.3 has been published. The changes are renaming the solution from CloudGuard Connect to Harmony Connect. There are no breaking changes at this version.

• New objects: Office365 Domains of type URL List and Office365 Address Ranges of type Network List are now available to select at Access Control and SSL Inspection.
  • Both objects are automatically periodically updated.
  • A common use case is selecting both of these objects at SSL Inspection under Do not inspect the following.
• Administrators can release locks from objects and rules by navigating to Policy > Policy Revisions and selecting the new Discard Policy Revision button for revisions that are in progress.
  • Discarding in-progress revisions is available for administrators that have the new role Manage Admin Sessions. Assign this new role to one or more administrators at Global Settings > Users.

• Threat Prevention configuration is now available. Exclude IPS protections, set reminders for reviewing your exceptions as well as automatic expiration dates.

• New URL List object HTTPS Inspection - Recommended Bypass is now part of the default exclusion list at the HTTPS Inspection Policy. An additional URL List object HTTPS Inspection – Optional Bypass is available for selection. Both objects are automatically periodically updated. Contents of the objects are available at sk163595.

• Navigate to Global Settings - Users and assign the new Support Contact Point role for one or more administrators that should be contacted over email in case of emergency, proactive support, planned or unplanned service maintenance. In case none of the administrators at your Infinity Portal account have the Support Contact Point role, all administrators will be contacted. This is a service-specific role for Harmony Connect.

• Added support for PingID as Identity Provider.

• New options for creating sites with branch device type set to Aryaka, Nuage, Oracle (Talari), Versa and Asavie. Available at the Sites page and at the REST API.

• The new Cloud Applications tab provides an overview of cloud applications and file sharing use for your connected users.
• The Logs tab has reordered columns, emphasizing users going to applications.
• Search for Login and Logout operation logs and find your connected users.

• Added support for OneLogin as Identity Provider.

• Harmony Connect API Version 1.2 (appearing as CloudGuard Connect API) has been published. The changes include additional options for Device Type when creating, updating or viewing a Site. There are no breaking changes at this version.

• Visibility for your contract is now available. Navigate to Global Settings > Contracts, associate your User Center account, and your Harmony Connect SKUs will be associated to your Infinity Portal account, impacting the expiration date, threat prevention package and number of seats.

• After enabling Harmony Connect, the creation time of the first site has been reduced to 25 minutes. Creation of other sites is now between 5 to 18 minutes.

• New automatic integration with Microsoft Azure Virtual WAN. Check Point automatically creates sites and secures traffic for each resource marked as secured at your Azure portal. See this CheckMates topic for detailed steps.

• Harmony Connect API Version 1.1 (appearing as CloudGuard Connect API) has been published. The changes include additional options for Device Type when creating, updating or viewing a Site. There are no breaking changes at this version. A Postman collection is now available and will be available in all future API versions.   

• New cloud service locations in Italy and South Africa.

• The new Partner Settings page allows partners and MSSPs to create child-accounts for their customers and manage them centrally.

  Partner Mode allows customers to become a partner in either one of two modes:

  • Distributor/Reseller Partner - can create child accounts, but cannot access their security
  • MSSP Partner - can create child accounts, log into the accounts and manage their security

  Enable Partner Mode by navigating to Global Settings -> Account Settings.

• Sites with dynamic IP addresses and multiple ISP's are now supported. You can now create Sites, assign them with a pair of FQDN and pre-shared key for every network interface, and set up tunnels between each of your dynamic network interfaces to the two destination endpoints provided by Check Point's Harmony Connect.

• DLP is now available!
  • Enable it from the Access Control policy by clicking the column headers and selecting the new Content column.
  • You can now allow or block traffic based on file types, such as source control files, or contents, such as certificates or insurance records. Combined with application-aware rules you can create more granular access rules.

• Stability improvements when creating large number of sites, for example when using Harmony Connect API.

• Identity Awareness is now available! Connect your identity provider with Harmony Connect and get your end user names shown up at the logs.

• Silver Peak, a leading SD-WAN vendor, now has a Check Point Harmony Connect page, allowing you to get Check Point security as a service without leaving the SD-WAN management dashboard. See this CheckMates topic for detailed steps.

• You can now create sites with a dynamic IP address.
• New cloud service locations in France, Sweden, Hong Kong and Bahrain.

• Stability improvements for Full HTTPS Inspection.

• Additional fields at threat prevention log cards: referrer URL, user agent, HTTP method.
• Improved readability of logs for HTTPS traffic.

• Harmony Connect API is now publicly available. The API page appears as CloudGuard Connect API version 1.0.
• Automatic emails are now sent to each customer, explaining the next steps, at the events of: Harmony Connect dashboard is ready; the first site was created successfully; and traffic was passed through the first site.
• Harmony Connect Admin Guide and integration guide with Cisco SD-WAN are now publicly available.

• Customers that have more than one Infinity Portal account can switch between their accounts at the top-level navigation.

• Administrators can now have a read-only or read-write role.

• Review your changes before installing them with a new changes panel.
• Undo and redo each change.

• View which changes are currently in-progress by other administrators and which changes were previously installed with a new Revisions page.
  Note: The new change management features refer to changes made at the Policy: access control and HTTPS Inspection rules and objects. These changes need to be installed after you make them. Changes made to Sites or Global Settings don’t require a policy install and are activated right away. For a full list of all changes across Infinity Portal, refer to Global Settings > Audits

• We added new optional fields, Estimated Number of Users and Device Type, in order to operate our cloud service towards specific usage patterns.

• The new SmartConsole page lets you choose to manage your security policy from SmartConsole. For more, see sk156632.

• Introducing rule and object locks.
  • Previously, any change made by one person was immediately visible for editing by another.
  • From now on, objects and rules that are modified by one administrator appear as locked for editing to other administrators.
  • Only after the administrator completes an Install, other administrators can edit the newly-changed rules and objects.
• You can now discard changes that you made but that were not yet installed.

• Improved user experience for the global settings pages: Administrators, Audits, API Keys, Account Settings, as well as the product menu

• Added support for ISP Redundancy. You can now create Sites with multiple external IPs, and set up tunnels between each of your external IPs to the two destination endpoints provided by Check Point's Harmony Connect.

• Administrators can receive a weekly Security Report by email. Unsubscribe by visiting Settings > Reports & Logs.

• Fixed an issue where in some circumstances, end users browsing to a malicious website receive a browser error instead of the page blocked by company policy page.
• All configuration changes are logged at the Audits page.

• You can now receive policy installation alerts from the new notification menu. Test Check Point's advanced threat prevention immediately after receiving the Policy Installation Completed alert.

• The new API Keys page, available in Global Settings, lets users automate creation of sites. Contact us if you are interested in the API for Harmony Connect.

• Fixed issues occurring when administrators upload their organization's certificate in order to have Full HTTPS Inspection.
• Stability improvements with policy installation process.

• Improved our Security Report, showing prevented attacks as well as application visibility in a format available for PDF Export. 

• Stability improvements when adding sites.

• Not inspecting HTTPS traffic exposes you to 70% of the Internet and the majority of cyberattacks.
• Use the web management to switch from Basic HTTPS Inspection to Full HTTPS Inspection and manage the exceptions. The regulatory-dependent categories are excluded by default.

• Onboarding is now easier. Newly-created sites now appear with the status waiting for traffic. Only after a Site receives packets from the branch does the status of the Site change to active.
• We added official instructions for connecting with CloudGenix.

• Improved our Cyber-Attack View, highlighting prevented attacks that relate to Internet traffic.

• Japanese user interface is now available.
• Fixed issues with browser compatibility for Safari on Mac.

• Added official instructions for connecting with Citrix SD-WAN, Aruba, and Check Point Gateways. We fixed the instructions for VeloCloud. Email us for information about about integration with other vendors. 
• In addition to managing your sites in Card Mode and Table Mode, you can now manage them over a world map.

• Traffic logs now show the name of the application for accepted traffic.