SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 25, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RSA Conference USA 2013 Booth #1431 -- Qualys Inc. (Nasdaq:QLYS), a pioneer and leading provider of cloud security and compliance management solutions, today announced powerful new vulnerability management capabilities for its customers using Amazon Web Services (AWS), specifically Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) and Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC), using a QualysGuard connector leveraging Amazon APIs. The QualysGuard connector for use with AWS automates the discovery and tracking of assets in Amazon EC2 and Amazon VPC environments, allows them to be automatically scanned for vulnerabilities, and provides reports giving customers visibility and control of security and compliance in their cloud environments.
The QualysGuard connector for use with AWS provides automated discovery and tracking of AWS-hosted assets by detecting and synchronizing changes to customers' virtual machine instance inventories. The instances can be tracked over time, even as their IP addresses change, and are scanned for vulnerabilities using QualysGuard Virtual Scanner Appliances deployed on Amazon EC2 or Amazon VPC. This allows security personnel to automate vulnerability assessments using QualysGuard workflows. For example, assets can be scanned automatically after first discovery, on a regular calendar schedule, at intervals based upon each instance's uptime, selectively based upon particular attributes of each instance, or some combination of factors.
"It is important for customers to have the ability to extend their security and compliance programs into AWS," said Terry Wise, Head of Worldwide Partner Ecosystem, AWS. "We are excited that Qualys has joined the AWS Partner Network and is providing our customers with value added security solutions enabling customers to deploy more workloads on AWS."
This new set of capabilities announced by Qualys includes:
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Native AWS API connectors. These can be configured to connect QualysGuard to one or more AWS accounts to synchronize asset inventories from all AWS Regions and Amazon VPCs. Important instance attributes and contextual metadata are collected and updated as they change over time. Dynamic Asset Tags, which can drive or influence policies and reporting throughout QualysGuard, may be automatically assigned to assets as part of the import process. Attributes and contextual metadata about Amazon EC2 instances are also captured and available as data points to inform further Dynamic Asset Tagging within QualysGuard.
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Vulnerability scanning, pre-authorized by Amazon. In collaboration with AWS, Qualys has built safeguards into a new Amazon EC2 Scanning capability within QualysGuard that ensures that scanning will not inadvertently target other AWS customers' instances and that all AWS policies for vulnerability scanning are adhered to. Based upon this, customers may scan at their convenience, as Amazon EC2 Scanning using QualysGuard has been pre-authorized by AWS, negating the need to obtain explicit permission from AWS before proceeding with scanning as is typically required.
- Enhancements to the QualysGuard Virtual Scanner Appliance AMI (Amazon Machine Image), available to customers in AWS Marketplace. Qualys now has a scanner release in AWS Marketplace designated as "Pre-Authorized" for use with the Amazon EC2 Scanning capability within QualysGuard that leverages the AWS API connection.
"Many organizations moving assets to cloud environments are lacking the tools to effectively manage security and assess their compliance posture," said Philippe Courtot, chairman and CEO for Qualys. "Now, working with AWS and leveraging their open APIs, we are able to provide our customers with a comprehensive solution to address their security and compliance within AWS's cloud environments."
Pricing and Availability
These features are currently available to Qualys customers as part of their QualysGuard subscriptions. Annual QualysGuard subscriptions start at $2,495 per year for 32 IPs. At least one QualysGuard Virtual Scanner Appliance license at $995 per year is required for internal network scanning functionality on AWS. For more information, visit www.qualys.com/amazon.
About Qualys
Qualys, Inc. (Nasdaq:QLYS), is a pioneer and leading provider of cloud security and compliance solutions with over 6,000 customers in more than 100 countries, including a majority of each of the Forbes Global 100 and Fortune 100. The QualysGuard Cloud Platform and integrated suite of solutions helps organizations simplify security operations and lower the cost of compliance by delivering critical security intelligence on demand and automating the full spectrum of auditing, compliance and protection for IT systems and web applications. Founded in 1999, Qualys has established strategic partnerships with leading managed service providers and consulting organizations, including Accuvant, BT, Dell SecureWorks, Fujitsu, NTT, Symantec, Verizon, and Wipro. The company is also a founding member of the CloudSecurityAlliance (CSA).
For more information, please visit www.qualys.com.
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