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 at RSA Conference USA 2013 that Qualys® BrowserCheck Business Edition, the company's free cloud service, now gives organizations end-to-end automation for continuously monitoring which browsers, plugins, security settings and OS updates are present on users' computers. IT administrators can now use the solution's web console to install BrowserCheck on employees' and contractors' computers, set up periodic automatic scans that don't interrupt users, and view reports of the results. Using the service, businesses can more effectively manage computer security across their organizations and show compliance auditors that systems are being kept up-to-date.
"Business software vendors like Microsoft, Oracle and Adobe frequently release updates that include patches protecting against the latest security threats. Unfortunately, it can be difficult for computer users to keep up with these updates, and even harder for businesses to ensure that machines across their organization are updated," said Scott Crawford, research director for EMA. "The free Qualys BrowserCheck Business Edition is a useful solution to help businesses keep employee computers up-to-date and secure."
The enhanced Qualys BrowserCheck Business Edition web console automates the continuous monitoring of browser-related software on employees' computers and helps them update their systems when needed. It provides:
- Automated Deployment. IT administrators can download a Microsoft System Installer (MSI) file that can be pushed to users' PCs through software-deployment tools such as Microsoft's System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM). This file adds a small extension to the IE, Chrome and Firefox web browsers that performs the BrowserCheck scans and communicates securely with the BrowserCheck web console.
- Automated Scanning. BrowserCheck can silently scan users' computers daily, weekly or monthly – without requiring any effort by the user. It identifies which browsers and plugins are installed on each computer, which security packages (such as antivirus, firewalls and disk encryption) are enabled, and whether any Microsoft Security Updates are missing.
- Automated Tracking. The results of each scan are securely transmitted to the BrowserCheck web console for analysis and archiving. IT administrators can see the current status of each computer and examine specific scans to see how a particular machine has changed over time.
- Automated User Notification with "Fix It" Buttons. When a BrowserCheck scan detects that something is out-of-date, it notifies the user and shows which software or setting needs updating. The user can then click a simple "Fix It" button to download the appropriate patch or update directly from vendors' websites.
"The constant churn of fixes and patches from software vendors makes it difficult for businesses to accurately track what's on their computers and whether they're up-to-date, needless to say what browsers are used throughout their organizations," said Philippe Courtot, chairman and CEO of Qualys. "By providing automated, continuous monitoring, Qualys BrowserCheck gives businesses a reliable way to measure and manage what they actually have so that they can follow best practices for security and address growing compliance mandates."
BrowserCheck provides free, automated scanning for PCs running Microsoft Windows XP through Windows 8; support for Apple MacOS is planned for April of this year. For more information about Qualys BrowserCheck, visit qualys.com/browsercheck.
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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