Qualys Joins the Open Group's Security Forum as Industry Leader in Enterprise Vulnerability Management

Redwood City, CA — February 18, 2004 — Qualys™, Inc., the market leader of on-demand Network Security Audits and Vulnerability Management, today announced that it has joined the Open Group Security Forum initiative and will help establish standards for enterprise vulnerability management based on open standards and global interoperability.

Through the power of its diverse membership among leading organizations, the Open Group’s Security Forum is accelerating the development of specifications, tools, guidelines and best practices to help businesses manage their IT-related responsibilities, liabilities and trust relationships. The charter of the Open Group’s Enterprise Vulnerability Management Initiative includes:

• Establishing a common set of best practices for managing vulnerabilities in enterprise systems.
• Establishing a mechanism for measuring vulnerability.
• Adapting practices of the dependability and safety community to the security problem in an innovative manner.
• Learn from academic, industry, and other leaders about state of the art vulnerability management techniques and approaches, and establish a research agenda that meets industry needs.
• Identify and establish technical standards that enable vulnerability management data interchange and interoperability.
• Reduce the cost of vulnerability management through improved products and automated VM tool/market development.

“Having Qualys participate in the definition of the Open Group’s vulnerability management guidelines and best practices adds practical experience and market leadership to the initiative,” said Paul Simmonds, Director of Global Information Security at ICI Plc., an Open Group member and a Qualys customer. “The same insight Qualys applies to solving the vulnerability management needs of its enterprise customers can now be shared with the Forum and applied in defining industry-wide standards.”

“Qualys’ expertise in vulnerability management is a welcome addition to The Open Group,” said Allen Brown, President and CEO of The Open Group. “We expect Qualys to be a significant contributor to our Security Forum initiatives. The ability to manage risk and ensure safety, dependability and security of mission critical systems is a key component supporting our members’ vision of Boundaryless Information Flow™.”

About QualysGuard

The QualysGuard Web Service automates Network Security Audits and Vulnerability Management ensuring the security of information networks. With the highest degree of accuracy, data integrity, scalability, and ease of use, QualysGuard is available in a variety of packages designed to meet the specific needs of enterprises, SMBs, consultants, or managed service providers.

About The Open Group

The Open Group is a vendor-neutral and technology-neutral consortium, whose vision of Boundaryless Information Flow will enable access to integrated information within and between enterprises based on open standards and global interoperability. The Open Group works with customers, suppliers, consortia and other standard bodies. Its role is to capture, understand and address current and emerging requirements, establish policies and share best practices; to facilitate interoperability, develop consensus, and evolve and integrate specifications and open source technologies; to offer a comprehensive set of services to enhance the operational efficiency of consortia; and to operate the industry’s premier certification service, including UNIX® System certification. Further information on The Open Group can be found at http://www.opengroup.org.

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.

QualysGuard is a registered trademark of Qualys, Inc. Qualys and the Qualys logo are trademarks of Qualys, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Media Contact:
Tami Casey
Qualys
media@qualys.com