Qualys, Inc. (NASDAQ: QLYS) is a pioneer and leading provider of cloud-based IT, security and compliance solutions with over 15,700 active customers in more than 130 countries, including a majority of each of the Forbes Global 100 and Fortune 100. Qualys helps organizations streamline and consolidate their security and compliance solutions in a single platform and build security into digital transformation initiatives for greater agility, better business outcomes, and substantial cost savings.

The Qualys Cloud Platform and its integrated Cloud Apps deliver businesses critical security intelligence continuously, enabling them to automate the full spectrum of auditing, compliance, and protection for IT systems and web applications across on premises, endpoints, cloud, containers, and mobile environments. Founded in 1999 as one of the first SaaS security companies, Qualys has established strategic partnerships with leading cloud providers like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and the Google Cloud Platform, and managed service providers and consulting organizations including Accenture, BT, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Deutsche Telekom, DXC Technology, Fujitsu, HCL Technologies, IBM, Infosys, NTT, Optiv, SecureWorks, Tata Communications, Verizon and Wipro.

“ATN International needed a way to protect both its on and off-premises endpoints as one of its biggest challenges was securing remote employee’s workstations,” says Daryl Petersen, Vulnerability Manager at ATN International. “With Qualys Remote Endpoint Protection, we can correlate vulnerabilities with available patches and actually patch remote endpoints directly from the internet all without having to use our VPN bandwidth. This was a huge benefit to us when the majority of our workforce was suddenly working remotely.”Powered by the Qualys Platform and Cloud Agent, malware detection in Remote Endpoint Protection uses file reputation and threat classification to detect known malicious files on endpoints, servers, and cloud workloads. As a result, customers can respond more quickly to malware ultimately increasing their overall security posture.

The free, updated, Qualys Remote Endpoint Protection offer allows security teams to leverage the lightweight Qualys Cloud Agent to: • Identify and inventory all remote endpoints including hardware and the applications they are running in real time • Ensure remote systems are secure with a real-time view of all critical vulnerabilities, malware and misconfigurations impacting the OS and applications • Decrease remediation response time by automatically correlating required patches with identified vulnerabilities, and prioritizing detected malware • Deliver patches and respond to malware from the cloud within hours with one click, and all without using the limited bandwidth available on VPN gateways.

“By leveraging our robust scalable Cloud Platform, we were able to quickly deliver an offering to secure remote workers’ computers and continuously monitor and patch vulnerabilities,” says Philippe Courtot, chairman and CEO of Qualys. “As a result, we have more than 700 companies, of which nearly 50 percent are new customers, signed up for the free 60 days offering. Today, we’ve added malware detection, which is a prelude to what you’ll see from us in the summer when we bring the unifying power of our Cloud Platform to Endpoint Detection and Response.”

Qualys has extended its support for organizations who are dealing with a surge of mobile workers. It has added malware detection to its cloud-based Remote Endpoint Protection offer. The offer gives organizations a free 60-day license. Those customers using an earlier version of this offer, can add malware protection free for 30-days. Philippe adds, “By leveraging our robust, scalable Cloud Platform, we were able to quickly deliver an offering to secure remote workers’ computers and continuously monitor and patch vulnerabilities. As a result, we have more than 700 companies, of which nearly 50 percent are new customers, signed up for the free 60 days offering. Today, we’ve added malware detection, which is a prelude to what you’ll see from us in the summer when we bring the unifying power of our Cloud Platform to Endpoint Detection and Response.”

Like other software vendors during the current pandemic, Qualys has been quick to provide free access to some of its tools. The goal is to help companies adjust to the impact of the most significant change in working practices in decades. That change in working practices has brought significant challenges when it comes to securing devices. Many users are using personal devices which means IT has limited visibility into how secure they are. The Qualys Cloud Agent helps with that. It allows IT to get a handle on its risks its faces from users who are under increased attack from cybercriminals.

Qualys initially offered free access to Remote Endpoint Protection for its existing customers. It then extended that to new customers. That has resulted in half of those using the Remote Endpoint Detection offering being net new customers. Adding in the Malware Detection is a nice upgrade that, perhaps, should have been in the first iteration of the offer. Extending the licences of those customers already on the limited time offer is also a good move.

However, there is a long-term play here for Qualys and one that makes sense. It, like other vendors, knows that money will be tight for customers in a post-COVID-19 world. By building relationships through the free offer, it will hope that it can convert those to sales down the line.