GFI Bolsters LanGuard Patch Management Software

Networking and security software specialist GFI Software announced enhancements designed to strengthen LanGuard, the company’s network vulnerability scanning and patch management software for small to medium-size businesses. The company today released several enhancements to GFI LanGuard that enable IT administrators to deploy critical software patches to PCs, workstations, servers and other devices that have been powered off, as well as to create custom vulnerability scanning and remediation policies for vital systems or groups of systems.

Enhanced features of GFI LanGuard 2011 include Wake on LAN, which is designed to free administrators from working around their end users’ workday to scan and patch machines. A powered-down machine can be turned on, updated and shut down remotely, resulting in power consumption savings as well eliminating the need to perform patch management during normal business hours.

LanGuard 2011 also features custom protection settings, which enable administrators to specify custom protection criteria and settings for individual systems, so reports reflect that while a PC may not appear fully patched, it is not a threat to the network, as well as create custom computer groups, enabling administrators to group or filter computers based on custom criteria such as location, department or operating systems and then generate reports specific to those groups.

“The improvements we’ve made to GFI LanGuard 2011 will go a long way to improving the security of our SMB customers’ networks while simultaneously easing the burden on the network during normal work hours,” said Cristian Florian, product manager for GFI Software. “New threats are constantly created, and there is a heightened need for administrators to ensure that network vulnerability levels are accurately assessed and that their infrastructure is secure and patched, while interfering as little as possible with business operations.”

Recent findings by CSIS Security Group found that 99.8 percent of malware infections caused by commercial exploit kits could have be avoided if just six specific software packages were kept up-to-date with the latest patches. GFI LanGuard combines vulnerability scanning, patch management, and network and software auditing into one solution designed to enable IT professionals to scan, detect, assess and correct potential security risks on their networks.

GFI LanGuard also allows administrators to inventory devices attached to their networks, receive change alerts such as notification when a new application is installed, ensure antivirus applications are current and enabled, and strengthen compliance with industry regulations through automated patch management that defends against potential network vulnerabilities. The solution can manage up to 5,000 machines from a single console, integrates with more than 1,500 security applications and includes keyword search functionality, the company noted.