Qualys adds advanced remediation capabilities to Qualys Cloud Platform

Qualys, Inc. has announced the addition of advanced remediation to the Qualys Cloud Platform in an official statement.

According to the statement, the latest update enables enterprises to fix asset misconfigurations, patch operating systems and third-party apps, and deploy custom software. The outcome is increased efficiency by reducing the need to employ several products and agents, as well as a more thorough approach to remediation.

Vulnerability repair must be completed in a timely and thorough manner in order to maintain excellent security hygiene and proactive risk management. Organizations, however, struggle to repair fast owing to a variety of causes, including misunderstanding between IT and Security on process ownership, particularly when the action needs complexity beyond the release of a basic patch.

To address the Spectre/Meltdown vulnerability, for example, a configuration change is necessary in addition to delivering the patch. Furthermore, some vulnerabilities only only a registry key change to be fixed, but others require a proprietary patch or an upgrade to bespoke software to be fixed. The difficulty that IT and security teams encounter is exacerbated by a lack of clarity between vulnerability detection logic and possible remediation complexity as a result of the necessity for numerous technologies.

“Fully remediating vulnerabilities goes beyond applying patches and can often require multiple tools and approaches based on the type of vulnerability,” said Richard Hallade, IT Security Officer of Red Cross Luxembourg.

“The new advanced remediation feature allows us to expedite remediation as we can rectify configuration issues and execute advanced patch jobs such as identifying various Windows 10 versions throughout our global environment, all with a single app and agent,” Hallade added.

“In this Log4Shell and Pwnkit era, organizations must be extra vigilant and patch weaponized vulnerabilities without delay, which requires efficiency and rapid remediation,” said Sumedh Thakar, president and CEO of Qualys.

The new capabilities enable organizations to: 

• Remediate Vulnerabilities Related to Configuration Changes : From a single console and procedure, teams can patch and change settings to repair any Windows-based vulnerabilities. They can, for example, employ Qualys to distribute the necessary fixes and perform the necessary registry modifications to address the Spectre/Meltdown issue.
• Deploy and Patch Any Windows OS-based Software to Any Device : Qualys Patch Management may install or patch any Windows-based programme, on-premises, in the cloud, or at a distant location. The Qualys Cloud Agent may distribute any software to all target devices, such as distributing proprietary fixes to all WFH users.
• Support Complex Patch Deployments and Environments :Allows the deployment of patches and configuration changes in complex environments with elaborate workflows and dependencies. For example, Qualys leveraged this feature to create a script for customers that removes the JndiLookup class related to Log4Shell, which quickly eliminates the vulnerability libraries from all systems.