PS - one of my coworkers did run into a minor little configuration problem with the Checkpoint client -- but between him and the IT guy, they got it worked out. The guy's a tech writer, so he wrote up a small ≤1-pager about what he had to do to get the Checkpoint client to work. This is what he wrote up:
his email to me:
Maybe this has happened to you. I was stumped as to why my MacBook was not visible/pingable/accessible by other computers at (our work), or in my home network.
It turns out the problem was with the VPN client, Check Point SecureClient, which (our IT guy) is installing on Mac laptops these days.
The resolution turned out to be simple. I've attached a couple of paragraphs with graphics about how to work around the problem.
the attached document without the graphics:
Check Point comes with a firewall that by default is active even when you are not connected via VPN or knowingly running Secure Client. But actually, you are running Secure Client in the background as soon as you boot up. You can tell by its colorful little icon of teal padlock, gold key, and red "X" icon that appears in the menu bar.
{picture of his menubar was here}
You can access other machines from your laptop with Check Point running, but other machines cannot see or access your laptop. Unless, you turn off the Check Point firewall.
1. Click the Check Point icon.
2. Select Tools > Disable Security Policy.
The teal padlock part of the Check Point icon disappears.
{picture of his menubar with different-looking Checkpoint icon was here}
It looks like the security policy (firewall) stays turned off if you reboot. However, I haven't tested what happens when you actually try to connect to VPN. Connecting might re-activate the firewall.
So there you have it.