Qualys Offers Businesses a New, Free “Online Checkup” Service to Automatically Track whether Users’ PCs are Safe for Surfing the Web

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – Dec. 5, 2012 – Qualys Inc. (NASDAQ: QLYS), a pioneer and leading provider of cloud security and compliance solutions, today announced that Qualys^® BrowserCheck Business Edition, the company’s free cloud service, now enables IT administrators to automatically track whether users’ computers are up-to-date and safe for surfing the Web. This “online checkup” relieves organizations from having to manually chase the constantly-shifting landscape of patches and updates, and comes just in time for the holidays when people can often visit unfamiliar websites at home and at work. BrowserCheck continuously monitors which browsers, plugins, OS settings and security software are on each PC and whether newer versions have been released by vendors.

With BrowserCheck, businesses can quickly see if their computers are keeping current, or are falling behind which potentially would give online thieves an opportunity to steal information or break into corporate networks. Tracking whether computers are up-to-date and fixing issues quickly as they arise is widely cited as the first step in exercising good web “hygiene.” Automating these tasks can make businesses more efficient, boost security and show compliance auditors that industry best practices are being followed.

“Protecting against Internet attacks depends upon knowing whether your computers are up-to-date – and staying that way,” said Paul Simmonds, co-founder of the Jericho Forum and former CISO of AstraZeneca and ICI. “Qualys BrowserCheck is a great free tool that enables you to do just that, and the Business Edition allows organizations to see the current status of all their computers with minimal effort. I applaud Qualys for providing such a valuable utility as a free service.”

Qualys BrowserCheck is a free, cloud service available both for individuals and organizations at www.qualys.com/browsercheck. It works wherever users are online – in an office, at home, even on the road. It has been used by hundreds of thousands of people to find out quickly, in one place, whether they have the right versions of software needed to safely use the Web. In many cases, BrowserCheck even makes it possible to begin fixing out-of-date components with the click of a button.

With the business edition’s web-based console, IT administrators now can:

• Set how often users’ machines are scanned (such as daily, weekly, or monthly).
• Get easy instructions for connecting users’ computers to BrowserCheck.
• Continuously track which browsers and plugins are installed on each machine.
• Verify that crucial OS security settings are enabled and that OS security updates are being received.
• View at-a-glance dashboards and drill down into per-machine status.

“Our corporate networks are only as strong as the weakest browser,” said Philippe Courtot, chairman and CEO of Qualys. “With this new Qualys BrowserCheck Business Edition, organizations can now practice good online hygiene in an automated way.”

BrowserCheck currently provides ongoing scanning for PCs running Microsoft Windows XP or later; support for Apple MacOS X is planned for early next year. For larger businesses, the company is also planning to add the ability for IT administrators to connect Windows PCs to BrowserCheck using Microsoft’s familiar Active Directory-based tools.

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 Cloud Security Alliance (CSA).

For more information, please visit www.qualys.com.

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Media Contact:
Tami Casey
Qualys
media@qualys.com