The 2026 Miercom Hybrid Mesh Network Security Competitive Benchmark is an independent industry test that evaluates how well leading vendors protect modern, distributed networks.

It focuses on hybrid mesh network security, which brings together multiple security controls—such as firewalls, SASE (Secure Access Service Edge), and cloud security—into a more unified, flexible architecture.

In this benchmark, Miercom compares vendors on security effectiveness across:

• Firewalls – how well they detect and block threats
• SASE – security for remote users and branch locations
• Cloud environments – protection for applications and workloads in the cloud

The 2026 results show how different providers perform side by side in these areas, giving security and IT leaders data to help them rethink how they design and invest in hybrid network security.

In the 2026 Miercom Hybrid Mesh Network Security Competitive Benchmark, Check Point ranked #1 in security effectiveness for the fourth consecutive year.

According to the benchmark, Check Point:

• Outperformed Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, Cisco, and Zscaler
• Led in all tested categories across firewalls, SASE, and cloud environments

For security and IT teams, this consistency over four years suggests that Check Point can help reimagine a hybrid mesh security strategy with a focus on measurable threat prevention and protection across on-premises, cloud, and remote access use cases.

The 2026 Miercom Hybrid Mesh Network Security Competitive Benchmark compared Check Point with several major security vendors, including:

• Palo Alto Networks
• Fortinet
• Cisco
• Zscaler

These vendors were evaluated across key parts of a hybrid mesh security architecture:

• Firewalls – core network security controls
• SASE – cloud-delivered security for users and branches
• Cloud environments – security for cloud-hosted applications and workloads

The benchmark results highlight how organizations can rethink their approach to securing distributed networks by looking at how each vendor performs across these interconnected layers, rather than evaluating each product category in isolation.