ForeScout Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of continuous monitoring and mitigation solutions for Global 2000 enterprises and government organisations, has announced a new partnership with Qualys that will enable the integration of Qualys Vulnerability Management (VM) and ForeScout CounterACT™, an appliance that identifies and evaluates network users, endpoints and applications to provide visibility, intelligence and policy-based mitigation of security problems. Integration between the two solutions will give joint customers real-time assessment and mitigation capabilities against vulnerabilities, exposures and violations.

Qualys VM is a cloud service built on Qualys’ leading cloud security and compliance platform, and provides customers with immediate, global visibility into potential IT system vulnerabilities, as well as information on how to protect against them. The solution helps continuously secure IT infrastructure and ensure compliance with both internal policies and external regulations.

As the newest member of the ForeScout ControlFabric™ ecosystem, Qualys will integrate its Vulnerability Management solution with CounterACT to enable IT organisations to improve the timeliness and efficacy of their vulnerability assessments, automate policy-based mitigation of endpoint security risks, and reduce security exposures and their attack surface. Benefits include:

• Real-time vulnerability assessment. The integrated ForeScout/Qualys solution can leverage CounterACT’s continuous monitoring capabilities to increase the chances of catching transient devices as they join the network. Once a new device is discovered, information can then be used by Qualys VM to produce more up-to-date and comprehensive vulnerability reports.
• Automate remediation and reduce the gap between detection and mitigation of risks. Once Qualys VM system scans a device, CounterACT then analyses the scan results, and initiates risk mitigation actions if vulnerabilities are detected.

“Vulnerability management is the foundation of IT security, allowing organisations to pinpoint critical weaknesses used by cybercriminals to break into networks harbouring sensitive data,” said Philippe Courtot, chairman and CEO at Qualys, Inc. “By combining the functionality of Qualys VM and ForeScout CounterACT, our joint customers can not only have continuous visibility into devices on their networks, they can also automate the remediation process to ensure that any malware that gets on the network does not put their IT posture at risk.”

“Qualys is a leader in the vulnerability management space, and we are pleased to welcome them into our ControlFabric ecosystem,” said Pedro Abreu, chief strategy officer at ForeScout. “The partnership further reinforces our commitment to our ControlFabric architecture and the various kinds of integrations that it enables — integrations that allow our customers to utilise real-time intelligence from their existing security investments to automate responses to changes in their environment.”

ForeScout CounterACT exemplifies ForeScout’s leadership in continuous monitoring and mitigation. Leveraging next-generation NAC technology, the CounterACT platform provides real-time visibility to users, devices, including BYOD devices, systems and applications and allows IT organisations to centrally apply granular policies to understand their true security posture and to automatically respond to a wide variety of security issues. Powered by ControlFabric technology, the platform also enables network, security and management solutions to dynamically exchange information, which, in turn, allows enterprises to respond to issues more effectively and better leverage their existing security investments.

SC Magazine Europe Award Win

ForeScout has also announced that its CounterACT platform was named as the top solution in the Best NAC Solution category at the 2015 SC Magazine Europe Awards in London on 2 June 2015. CounterACT was judged and won against solutions from Cryptzone, Hexis Cyber Solutions and Trustwave.

“Network security is top-of-mind with companies across the board as the explosive growth in personal device use on corporate networks shows no signs of slowing. And when it comes right down to it, you can’t stop what you can’t see,” said Michael DeCesare, CEO and president of ForeScout. “We’re pleased to be recognised by SC Magazine, as this award really acknowledges our ability to share actionable intelligence between previously disparate security solutions and the critical role that ForeScout plays in utilising that information, providing continuous network visibility and threat remediation capabilities.”

Each year, hundreds of products are entered in the EXCELLENCE AWARDS: THREAT SOLUTIONS categories. Each product is judged by a panel representing a cross-section of SC Magazine readership, which is comprised of large, medium and small enterprises from all major vertical markets including financial services, healthcare, government, retail, education and other sectors. Entrants are narrowed down to a select group of finalists before undergoing a rigorous final judging process to determine the winner in each category.

“It’s more important than ever to recognise the tireless efforts of the men and women across the globe who work to combat these threats and provide cyber security. CounterACT is a significant achievement and one that shows ForeScout’s dedication to innovation and protecting against the ever-changing threat landscape,” said Tony Morbin, editor-in-chief of SC Magazine UK.