Data center services provider US Signal, a company offering connectivity, cloud hosting, colocation, data protection, and disaster recovery solutions, has released its Vulnerability Management as a Service (VMaaS) offering. Configured and managed by the company’s security operations center (SOC) team, US Signal’s VMaaS offering is designed to help resource-strapped IT teams proactively identify, classify, prioritize and remediate network vulnerabilities.
Once an organization has signed up for VMaaS, US Signal’s SOC team installs a selection of vulnerability scanning tools on the IT network – and then analyzes the findings to either mitigate or remediate vulnerabilities. Businesses can choose the most appropriate mix of scanning tools for their environment and have the option of purchasing a one-time vulnerability management report or subscribing to quarterly, monthly or weekly updates.
“Historically, many companies have struggled to set up and manage vulnerability scanning tools and to extract meaningful, actionable data from them,” said Trevor Bidle, CISO, US Signal. “But scanning tools are more important than ever as cybercrime has quadrupled during the COVID-19 pandemic. US Signal’s VMaaS offering provides valuable insight to overburdened IT teams, allowing them to focus on critical vulnerabilities to reduce their risk and limit exposure to threats such as ransomware. It also supports organizations that might not have enough security staff onsite or who wish to apply third-party checks and balances to ensure they are correctly and diligently implementing their security policies.”
Vulnerability Scanning
US Signal’s VMaaS offering comprises external, internal and agent-based vulnerability scanners, each corresponding to a need for visibility into a given network or device. The external scanners provide an outside-in view that utilizes internet-based scanners to examine internet-connected portions of an IT environment. The internal scanners provide an inside-in look that evaluates which (if any) vulnerabilities exist from inside the network perimeter, should a cybercriminal get inside. Finally, agent-based scanners are deployed to identify vulnerabilities such as open ports or unpatched software PCs, laptops and other equipment.
“Creating a Vulnerability Management as a Service offering lets organizations benefit from our years of experience in proactive network security operations,” added Mr. Bidle. “It also lets businesses leverage our SOC team as an extension of their own IT function. Heading into 2021 is an ideal time for organizations to consider how VMaaS could add further power to their IT security arsenal and shift them toward a more proactive stance against miscreants intent on damaging corporate networks.”
