BT Ignite Selects Qualys as European Vulnerability Assessment Partner

— April 24, 2002 — Qualys has announced a strategic relationship with BT Ignite to provide its customers with proactive, web-based vulnerability assessment. BT Ignite Content Hosting is the first hosting organisation in Europe to partner with Qualys to offer its clients an online vulnerability assessment service.

The new BT Ignite package, the Internet Vulnerability Scanner [IVS] powered by Qualys, enables customers to identify in real-time weaknesses within the network before Internet hackers discover and abuse them. By providing this service, BT Ignite is demonstrating the reliability of its services and giving customers confidence that their content is secure.

The IVS service is delivered over the Internet and uses advanced vulnerability detection techniques to assess a network’s security exposures. The online solution removes the need for dedicated in-house software packages and ensures that users are able to detect the latest network vulnerabilities as they emerge, suggesting remedies before intruders can take advantage of any vulnerabilities.

“With the growing number of worms, viruses and other attacks which can bring down a company’s network, it is increasingly crucial for businesses to ensure that they are taking the necessary steps to protect themselves and their customers,” commented Kevin O’Shea, Head of Solutions, BT Ignite Content Hosting. “The addition of IVS to our portfolio demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that our customers have confidence in their Web hosting solutions by providing them with the highest levels of security technology at a cost-effective price.”

Ricardo Lavie Peretz, Qualys Vice President of Europe said, “The IVS service is a departure from the norm in the hosting community, where many hosting companies are reluctant to divulge information on security, let alone provide their users with the applications and tools to perform vulnerability assessments on an as-needed basis. In reality, a hosting company should be prepared to provide their customers with a tool such as IVS, to audit their security and scan their networks. This will develop greater trust between the company and its customers, and provide a cost-effective secure environment for its customers to operate within.”

BT Ignite’s new service detects and evaluates more than 1,400 network vulnerabilities. It then delivers suggestions for corrective action and provides concise summaries of every security risk found, in user-friendly reports. These reports can be customised depending on the level of technical information required, making them accessible to readers from all levels within an organisation.

The service is sold as a stand-alone solution or as part of a comprehensive Web hosting solution from BT Ignite Content Hosting.

About Qualys

With more than 2,000 subscribers ranging from small businesses to multinational corporations, Qualys has become the leader in on demand vulnerability management and policy compliance. The company allows security managers to strengthen the security of their networks effectively, conduct automated security audits and ensure compliance with internal policies and external regulations. Qualys’ on demand technology offers customers significant economic advantages, requiring no capital outlay or infrastructure to deploy and manage. Its distributed scanning capabilities and unprecedented scalability make it ideal for large, distributed organisations. Hundreds of large companies have deployed Qualys on a global scale, including AXA, DuPont, Hershey Foods, ICI Ltd, Novartis, Sodexho, Standard Chartered Bank and many others. Qualys is headquartered in Redwood City, California, with European offices in France, Germany and the U.K., and Asian representatives in Japan, Singapore, Australia, Korea and the Republic of China. For more information, please visit www.qualys.com.

About BT Ignite

BT Ignite - BT Group’s international solutions and broadband business - is a leading provider of communications services to business and wholesale customers around the world. From e-commerce consultancy and solutions through to core networks and Internet connectivity, BT Ignite delivers across the entire IP value chain with a unique blend of content hosting, application service provision, systems integration and outsourcing capabilities. BT Ignite has established a strong European footprint and controls its own infrastructure. It serves customers through local sales and service support teams, with 54,000 route kilometres of fibre connecting 275 cities and over 20 content hosting centres. BT Ignite delivers worldwide services via its solutions operations and BT Global Business, in conjunction with other partners where required. BT Ignite is a member of the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) and the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST). Further information about BT Ignite is available at www.ignite.com

Qualys, the Qualys logo and QualysGuard are proprietary trademarks of Qualys, Inc. All other products or names may be trademarks of their respective companies.

Media Contact:
Tami Casey
Qualys
media@qualys.com