Secunia pushes patch management for small firms

At sign in lock
Security beyond the antivirus

Secunia has announced the availability a patch management solution for small businesses.

Named Secunia SmallBusiness, it is cloud based and works for up to 50 PCs. Secunia says it protects firms against threats from known software vulnerabilities that are not adequately protected by antivirus technology.

It uses the company's vulnerability intelligence and patch management expertise, and insights from the development of its Secunia Personal Software Inspector.

Key features of Secunia SmallBusiness include: control security updates on all PCs from one web-based console; automatic updates of non-Microsoft programs; verification of Microsoft update patches; one-click set-up to add new PCs in less than 30 seconds; and email support.

Morten R Stengaard, Director of Product Management and Quality Assurance at Secunia, said that, while patches are available for 72% of all vulnerabilities within 24 hours of disclosure, most users do not know this and believe antivirus and spam filtering are enough to protect them.

"If an SMB owner is not aware of these risks posed by these vulnerabilities, how will he or she ensure that their systems are secure?" he said.

"So the security industry should make an effort to explain the risks to the small business owners and their IT consultants and make an effort to develop products that are suited to the realities of small business life."