This guide walks you through activating / switching from Guardz in-house email protection to Check Point Email Protection (formerly Avanan).
Please note:
Once switched, you cannot go back to the Guardz email protection
The migration needs to be performed for each customer individually
Activation supports only Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.
If activation fails or redirects to the Avanan login page, confirm using one of these browsers. Other browsers (like Firefox, Safari, or Brave) may block session cookies and cause the activation to fail.For Google Workspace environments, ensure that you have one additional free user license available during activation to create a Service User, prior to initiating the activation process. This license cannot be shared with existing users and incurs the standard per-user cost. It should remain active as long as the service is in use. If the required license is missing, an error will appear as follows:
Step 1: Open Email Protection Settings
Log in to Guardz platform
Navigate to ‘Security Controls’ and open the ‘Email Protection’ section
Locate the option for Check Point Email Protection
Step 2: Activate the Service
Click 'Activate' (for customers using the existing Guardz Email Protection service, this button may appear as 'Switch to Check Point')
Please note:
If you previously tried to activate the service and the process got stuck, you can click the 'Retry' button. This will sync the process and move it directly to the same stage described in the next bullet.
Once the button is clicked, this screen appears:
In order to proceed with the activation procedure, click on the 'Send Activation Email' button.
This will initiate the following:
Entities creation on Check Point side:
Creating the MSP account (if does not exist yet)
Creating the tenant for the relevant account
Creating a Check Point portal user for the admin who initiated the process, enabling access to the portal for subsequent required action items
This process may take a few minutes to complete
An email is sent to the admin by Check Point (Avanan) prompting to complete the portal user setup.
Please note:
You may receive several emails; please refer specifically to the email titled “Welcome to the Avanan MSP Portal.”
Step 3: Setup the User for the Check Point Portal
Follow the email instructions to setup the portal user
If a user has already been created for other activation procedures, the admin will not receive the user setup email and will not be required to create a user, since one has already been created
Step 4: Protect (Authorize) the Tenant in Check Point Portal
Access the Check Point (Avanan) portal to proceed with the 'Protect your organization' step
Locate the relevant tenant (you will be able to proceed only once the tenant record appears as 'Active')
Protect (authorize) the tenant using the following user guides:
Step 5: Wait for Activation
After step #4 is successfully completed, the service initiates the enablement process and continues until the activation is fully completed
Admins may track the process also via Guardz platform. The Email Protection status will display as: Initiating → Learning → Active
During 'Learning Mode', the system calibrates its Anti-Phishing engine by analyzing up to 13 months of email metadata to understand communication patterns and detect upstream MTAs. Additional information can be found here
Additionally, during this stage all active Guardz users and shared mailboxes are automatically synced into the new tenant (new users will be added, and deactivated/suspended users will be removed automatically)
Once the status shows 'Active' (this process may take up to 48 hours), your organization is fully protected by Check Point Email Protection
Please note: Guardz email protection (if was enabled) remains fully functional until the Check Point protection service becomes active
Step 6: Review your Onboarded Customers
Select the ‘All Customers’ View
Navigate to ‘Security Controls’ tab and open the ‘Email Protection’ section
Review the status and type of each activated service for every customer
Step 7: Remove the Email Protection App
Once Check Point Email Protection is fully set up, the Guardz Email Protection app must be removed.
For Google:
Go to your Google Admin space > Apps > Google Workspace Marketplace apps > Apps list
Remove the ‘Guardz Email Security’ application
For Microsoft:
Go to your Microsoft Azure account: Azure portal > Enterprise applications > All Applications
Remove the ‘Guardz Email Security’ application
What’s Next?
Proceed to ‘Check Point Email Protection: Management, Configuring & Policies Handling’ article to handle the service settings.