Tech Veteran Weaver Has New Role as Check Point’s Security Engineering Manager

Technologist Rick Weaver, a veteran of both the public and private sectors, has a new role with Check Point Software Technologies, as security engineering manager for state/local/education.

Weaver, based in Ventura, previously managed the company’s West region only. His new role, which he described as “very similar to my old role,” comes as part of the company’s realignment of responsibilities, sectors and regions.

“The difference is now we’re doing this in the Americas – Canada, North America, South America – for the public-sector vertical,” Weaver told Techwire. “My title is security engineering manager for SLED, but I’m covering the West and Central regions at this point.” He said Check Point’s public-sector vertical “now covers our federal teams, our public-sector teams and our education teams, so fed/SLED, essentially.”

He’s managing a team of seven and is recruiting to fill two more positions as the company continues its growth. Beyond building out his team, he has two other priorities coming into the role:

“We’ve got a lot of really, really cool technologies that align really well with government, especially education,” Weaver said. “Top of mind is a recent acquisition by Check Point called Avanan, in September of last year. We want to secure the world; we want to secure the Internet, whether it be phishing, or accessing a malicious website, or accessing a malicious download. We want to prevent (that) and secure our customers and our environments.

“The other really cool offering we have is called Infinity, which, for lack of a better term, it’s a EULA, essentially an end-user license agreement, that gives access to all of our products. You can protect your networks, your workstations, your cloud environments, your SaaS-based applications, your IoT environments.”

Weaver said he’s especially excited to see in-person conferences resume.

“I enjoy the travel. I’m anxious and excited – and I’m especially excited about our CPX event, Check Point Experience, at the beginning of April.”

Weaver said he’s comfortable working in SLED, which he described as “almost a cliché, but it’s like coming home. It’s comfortable, but there’s also a risk-reward factor. I’m really excited.”

Weaver has been with Check Point for almost seven years, holding a series of increasingly responsible positions. Before that, his experience includes almost 14 years working as an analyst and security architect for Ventura County government.

Weaver received his bachelor’s degree in organizational management from the University of La Verne, and he has several professional certifications.