Frost & Sullivan Whitepaper Urges Organizations To Rethink Current Vulnerability Management Practices

KARLSKRONA, SWEDEN, March 25, 2011 (Press-News.org) Outpost24, a leader in vulnerability management solutions, today announced the findings of a Frost & Sullivan report recommending that organizations prioritize the regular scanning of their internal and external networks. The Frost & Sullivan whitepaper, titled "Vulnerability Management Made Easy", highlights the growing risk that vulnerabilities pose to organizations, and recommends that customers select vendors which offer automated solutions which are cost-effective, easy-to-use and deploy, and reduce the total number of false positives. Outpost24's HIAB is singularly identified by the whitepaper as well placed to help large and mid-sized organizations remain secure and meet a growing number of compliance requirements.

According to the research, vulnerabilities are only set to increase further over the coming years, with the USA Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) detecting a mere 417 vulnerabilities in 1995, compared to 4,640 in 2010. This increase in number not only means that there is a higher risk of a data breach occurring, but also that scanning for and tracking vulnerabilities will become an even more onerous task for organizations who choose not to deploy automated detection systems. This validates the use of Outpost24's solutions which offer users the benefit of a mix-model approach through offering both appliance and cloud-based solutions.

Outpost24's OUTSCAN, is a cloud-based solution which proactively scans the network perimeter to identify and remediate any vulnerabilities which a hacker might try to exploit. Outpost24's HIAB appliance allows users to run both internal and external scans through its unique architecture. In contrast to competing solutions, any reports generated from the HIAB are stored securely on the appliance and never leave the network, providing a higher level of privacy. Indeed the whitepaper finds Outpost24's HIAB to be "a strong, cost efficient vulnerability assessment and management solution due to its good mix of functionality and ease of use."

In addition, Frost & Sullivan's latest whitepaper finds:

- That organizations must move to automated scanning solutions if they are to keep pace with new vulnerabilities
- That products must be easy to deploy and scale if they are to be of tangible use to organizations
- That organizations are concerned about where security vendors store vulnerability reports and recommends that data should ideally be stored on the device
- That products which have a low number of false positives and are centrally managed are typically more cost-effective
- That Oupost24's HIAB appliance provides organizations with enhanced security due its external and internal scanning capabilities

"Outpost24 welcomes the findings of this whitepaper as it emphasizes the very real threat that vulnerabilities can pose to organizations today," said Anders Persson, CEO of Outpost24. "Recent high profile breaches have demonstrated that if scans are not run on a regular basis, the risk of occurrences, and the embarrassment and cost that goes alongside them, is greatly increased. As the whitepaper states, taking an automated approach to vulnerability management is the solution. However, to be truly effective, any product must be easy to deploy, scale and use, and of course offer a low total cost of ownership."

About Frost & Sullivan
Frost & Sullivan is a global growth consulting company with over 47 offices across the world. We have been partnering with clients to support the development of innovative strategies for 50 years. The company's industry expertise integrates growth consulting, growth partnership services and corporate management training to identify and develop opportunities. Frost & Sullivan serves an extensive clientele that includes Global 1000 companies, emerging companies and the investment community by providing comprehensive industry coverage that reflects a unique global perspective and combines ongoing analysis of markets, technologies, econometrics and demographics. For more information, visit http://www.frost.com.

About Outpost24
Vulnerability Management Made Easy. Outpost24's on-demand vulnerability assessment and management solutions are used by over 1,000 corporate and government customers, including Travelex, Delta Lloyd Group, ING Life Limited, University of Helsinki, and Banco Multiva. Outpost24 is headquartered in Sweden with a global network of local sales offices.

Outpost24 delivers security solutions in a Software-as-a-Service (OUTSCAN & OUTSCAN PCI ) or Appliance (HIAB ) form factor. Outpost24's solutions provide fully automated network vulnerability scanning, easily interpreted reports, and vulnerability management tools. OUTSCAN PCI is the ideal tool for businesses of all sizes to achieve and demonstrate PCI DSS compliance.

Outpost24's solutions can be deployed in a matter of hours, anywhere in the world, providing customers an immediate view of their security and compliance posture.

For more information, please visit http://www.outpost24.com.