> Source: [sk181974](https://support.checkpoint.com/results/sk/sk181974)

# sk181974 - "Communication error: could not connect to cloud" error when using Threat Emulation on the Cloud

| Property | Value |
|----------|-------|
| Solution ID | sk181974 |
| Date Created | 2024-02-02 |
| Last Modified | 2024-09-16 |
| Technical Level | Advanced |
| Products | Security Gateway |
| Versions | R81.20, R81.10 (EOS) |

## Symptoms

- * The `cpstat threat-emulation` command shows `"Communication error: could not connect to cloud"` error when using Threat Emulation on the Cloud.
* From SmartConsole, intermittently shows `"Error: Failed to authenticate gateway. Verify the gateway license/contract"`. However the license/Contract on the Security Gateway is up to date.

## Cause

Threat Emulation updates from the Security Gateway after initiating connection with threat-emulation.checkpoint.com, starts connecting through IP address instead of FQDN.  

This can be seen in the output of the tecli debug:  

`te_is::CurlSender::Send: <request> url: https://<IP address>:443/tecloud/gw/v1/file/quota, data`

This creates connectivity issues if not whitelisting the IP addresses when using proxy.

## Solution

This solution requires authentication. Please log in to view the full solution.

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