Lorna Hardie Appointed to Lead Check Point Technology’s Growth Across Africa
Johannesburg, South Africa – November 20, 2024 – NASDAQ Listed, Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP), a leading cyber security platform provider, today formally announced the appointment of Lorna Hardie as Regional Director for Africa.
In this role, Hardie will be responsible for expanding Check Point’s market share across the continent by strengthening its extensive distribution and partner network and advancing cybersecurity adoption in the region.
Depth Of Experience Highlighted
Hardie joins Check Point from VMware by Broadcom, where she oversaw multi-million dollar operations across 33 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
With over 20 years of experience in the IT industry, including stints at HP and Lenovo, Hardie has held leadership roles spanning Pan-African sales, business unit management, and regional leadership.
Lorna has led multinational organizations, during which she successfully secured several mergers and acquisitions. Her expertise spans critical areas including infrastructure, networking, cloud, virtualization, software, and security.
During her tenure at VMware, Hardie was recognized with prestigious industry accolades, including Broadcom’s Presidents Club Winner awards in 2020 and 2023 for Top Sales Achievement. In 2024, she was also a Top 5 finalist in the ‘IT Business Development Executive’ category at the Wired4Women Awards.
Committed to Growing Women in IT
Business Tech Africa, spoke with Lorna at the launch of Checkpoint’s new 2024 African perspectives on Cyber Security where she spoke about her beginnings in the industry and how it was several great mentors who helped develop and nurture her career.
Hardie is certainly passionate about inclusive team-building and the empowerment of women in IT, that she believes needs more focus and opportunities to be provided for younger women to grow and develop in the IT sector.
At VMware, she established a strong network of women leaders through impactful round tables focused on developing young female talent. “I see great opportunity through my role as Regional Director for Africa at Check Point to encourage more women to pursue careers in cybersecurity,” Hardie notes.
In alignment with this vision, Check Point is actively involved in strengthening Africa’s cybersecurity capabilities through SecureAcademy, which partners with educational institutions to offer free instructor training, courseware, and affordable certification exams. “These initiatives not only aim to close the critical skills gap in Africa but also to create a resilient cybersecurity workforce capable of protecting the continent’s growing digital economy,” Hardie says.
Cyber Security A key Factor in African Growth
As Africa’s economy is projected to grow significantly—from a total GDP of $3 trillion in 2020 to $4 trillion by 2027, according to Statista—the continent also faces high cybersecurity risks, with an average of 3,370 cyber attacks per week across sectors, a 90% year-over-year increase according to Check Point’s Q3 2024 report.
“We need to recognise how many African countries sit in the top 20 countries targeted by cyber attacks” Hardie comments, It’s quite scary. But it really does talk to how under-threatened, how under-attack we are in the African continent, It’s not just in South Africa” she comments. “I think Ethiopia’s number one, which is a really scary fact, so we as Africa have to do something as a continent”, she says.
“Check Point is an innovative global leader with extensive experience addressing the unique cybersecurity challenges faced by both public and private organizations.
The company is well-positioned to meet Africa’s cybersecurity needs,” Hardie says. “As cyber threats evolve, it is crucial for organizations to partner with a cybersecurity provider like Check Point, whose prevention-first approach and 3Cs framework—comprehensive, collaborative, and consolidated security—reflect a deep commitment to innovation and trust.”
